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December 21, 2018 / Volume 6, Issue 36
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WRRC 2019 Conference -
Early Bird Rate Ends Today
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At 11:59 p.m. today, December 21, the early bird rate of $100 to register for the WRRC annual conference, Arizona Runs on Water: Scarcity, Challenges, and Community-based Solutions, will end. After that, registration will rise to $125. (Student rates will remain at $50.) One exciting conference highlight will be the Arizona Legislator's Panel featuring Speaker-elect, Representative Russell (Rusty) Bowers, Representative Rosanna Gabaldón, Senator and Representative-elect Gail Griffin, Senator Sine Kerr, and Senator Lisa Otondo. Moderated by WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal, the panel discussants will reflect on the day's presentations and the water issues and decisions facing Arizona. The panel will follow a series of lunchtime lightning presentations selected from the case studies submitted through the WRRC website. Share your water story here to be selected as a speaker.
Register by December 21 to get the Early Bird Rate. See the full agenda here.
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UPCOMING BROWN BAGS
- January 30 Jeanne VanBrisen - Distinguished Speaker from Carnegie Mellon
- February 14 Emery Coppola - Webinar - Use of Artificial Intelligence in Water Management
- April 24 Tanya Quist - UA Arboretum Integrates Desert Landscaping and Tree Shade Project into its Website
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Smartscape - Spring 2019 Course Registration is Open!
February 5 - March 7, 2019
Time/Location: 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. / Maricopa County Cooperative Extension office (4341 East Broadway Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85040)
Join the next Smartscape training session for landscape professionals and increase your knowledge in the design, installation, irrigation, and maintenance of desert landscapes.
The University of Arizona, Maricopa County Cooperative Extension is accepting registrations for the spring 2019 Smartscape series. Classes will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from February 5 - March 7.
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The U.S. Department of the Interior's announcement of a deadline for Colorado River Basin states to reach joint agreements showed the need for states to figure out new ways to share and manage water. This issue, among others, was discussed at the Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA) 2018 Annual Conference, held December 12-14 in Las Vegas. The conference included a colloquium moderated by WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal entitled "Israeli and U.S. Water Technology: Versatile Solutions for Colorado River Challenges." The colloquium featured a panel discussion of Israelis and Americans in agriculture, desalination, and municipal utilities. Participants included: Tamar (Tami) Shor, Ndrip and Israel Water Authority; Dan Thelander, Tempe Farming Co.; Maureen Stapleton, San Diego County Water Authority; Abraham Tenne, Consultant and Israel Water Authority (Ret.); Oded Distel, Israeli Ministry for the Economy; and David Johnson, Southern Nevada Water Authority. Booky Oren of Booky Oren Global Water Technologies Ltd. led off the Open Mic session following the panel discussion.
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 Reclamation-Ten Tribes Partnership Study Published
On December 13, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a study conducted collaboratively by Reclamation and the member tribes of the Ten Tribes Partnership. The Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study report highlights tribal observations and concerns, including lack of water security, incomplete distribution systems, and regulatory and economic challenges, and explores opportunities offering a wide range of benefits to Partnership Tribes and other water users. The study builds on the scientific foundation constructed by the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study, which was published by Reclamation in 2012. It contains information on how Partnership Tribes currently use their water, projects how future water development could occur, and describes the potential effects of future tribal water development on the Colorado River System. The Ten Tribes Partnership was formed in 1992 by ten federally recognized tribes with federal Indian reserved water rights in the Colorado River or its tributaries, including the Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Colorado River, Fort Mojave, and Quechan Indian Tribes, and the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
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Lia Leaf Tea House, Water Champion
APW has many partners statewide that extend the reach of our work. One such partner in the northern part of the state is the City of Flagstaff Water Conservation Program. They co-sponsor the Flagstaff Water Festival and Aqua STEM School Water Audit Program.
APW staff work with students to conduct school water audits: removing old, inefficient aerators, replacing them with efficient ones, and calculating the school's annual water savings after the switch. The City of Flagstaff has a similar program for businesses, the
Water Wise Business Program, which helps businesses reduce their water use by replacing inefficient toilets, shower heads, aerators, etc.
One business that recently received their Water Wise Business certificate is Lia Leaf Tea House. Being a tea house, using water is essential to what they do. They switched to super-efficient 0.5 gallons per minute aerators, and this small action produced an annual water savings of 82,125 gallons.
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The 2018 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, which was held in Washington D.C. in December, is well known for its earth and atmospheric science emphasis, but it also offers a breadth of opportunities for those working in education and public engagement. This year, Arizona Project Wet Coordinator Betsy Wilkening, presented on Community Collaboration to Build a Resilient Watershed as part of a Climate Literacy and Workforce Session. She also presented a poster about using the Climate Resilience Toolkit during a Community Resilience Session, attended a teacher workshop, and participated in Climate Literacy Workshop: Sustaining Cities Climate Action Social Innovations through Education, Civic Engagement and Workforce Development. WRRC Associate Director Claire Zucker presented a poster as part of the Science to Action: Frontiers in Effective Decision Maker-Scientist Partnerships session. The poster, Creating a Living Laboratory: Collaborative Water Projects in Rural Arizona, was co-authored by WRRC Research Associate Ashley Hullinger as it focused on her work on community engagement in the Upper Gila River Watershed and in Cobre Valley, Arizona. University of Arizona's Dan Ferguson, Director of CLIMAS and Associate Research Professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, was one of the session's organizers.
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