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August 30, 2019 / Volume 7, Issue 18
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Get Your Cameras Ready -
WRRC Photo Contest Is Back!
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The WRRC Annual Photo Contest is back and it's your chance to show us Arizona water in any way that your camera can capture. Use your creativity and technical ability to express the many ways water transforms our state and how our state transforms water. Capture anything from people and nature to business and agriculture. It's completely up to you. Just make sure your picture relates to water and that it's taken in Arizona. We can't wait to see your work!
That said, if you are inspired by our 2020 conference title "Water at the Crossroads: The next 40 years", then go for it!
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WRRC Brown Bag -
The Ecology of Water Harvesting
September 10, 2019
Speaker:
Vanessa Buzzard, Senior Research Specialist, UA School of Natural Resources and Environment
Water harvesting systems are common in residences throughout Tucson, but little work has been done to explore how these systems impact ecological processes. We therefore set out to characterize changes in ecosystem processes relating to soil health after installation of various water harvesting systems.
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WRRC Brown Bag -
Water and Sustainability in Arizona: A Mixed Record
September 18, 2019
Speaker:
Dr. Paul Hirt, Professor of History and Senior Sustainability Scholar, Arizona State University
This lecture examines the legal and historical context of water rights and water development in Arizona and the challenges we face in managing both surface and groundwater supplies sustainably in a warming and drying future.
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Upcoming Brown Bags
- October 8, Dick Thompson, and Maya Teyechea, Hydrologists, Tucson Water, "Santa Cruz Heritage Project Updates"
- October 16, Channah Rock, Professor, UA/ENVS, "Food Borne Outbreaks"
- October 23, Itzchak E. Kornfeld, Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "Environmental Law"
- November 8, Haley Paul, Policy Manager, Audubon Arizona, "The Economic Impact of Arizona's Rivers, Lakes, and Streams"
- November 19, Betsy Wilkening, Keith Ladd, Nicole Iroz-Elardo, UA/APW and CAPLA, "Heat Mapping"
- December 4, Laura Condon, Assistant Professor, UA/HAS, "Effects of Groundwater Pumping"
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League of AZ Cities and Towns Annual Conference Offers an Opportunity to Engage
The WRRC reached out to municipal leaders at this year's League of Arizona Cities and Towns annual conference. As part of the University of Arizona booth, Director Sharon B. Megdal and Associate Director Claire Zucker engaged with a variety of elected officials and others to talk about water issues across the state. The conference agenda demonstrated a growing interest in water by featuring one workshop on the history of Arizona water rights litigation, another on sound management of water supplies, and a third on what the Drought Contingency Plan means for Arizona. Those stopping by the booth enjoyed studying the WRRC Arizona Water Map poster, as well as a new interactive poster entitled "Do You Know Your Water?" that poses questions about water management, use, hydrology, and quality. It was great to engage with so many people who are interested in their city, region, and state's water prospects.
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On August 26, experts gathered at a 2019 Congressional Conference to talk about one of Arizona's most precious resources - water. This ASU-sponsored event, titled "Revolutionizing Arizona's Water Future", was held in Tempe, AZ.
The conference featured sessions on water for manufacturing, water policy, water and energy, and water technologies. It included participation by both WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal and University of Arizona Interim Vice President for Research Dr. Kimberly Ogden. Dr. Megdal served as a panelist for "Exploring the Essential Nature of Water for Sustained and Resilient Manufacturing", moderated by U.S. Representative Greg Stanton. Later that day, she introduced the lunch keynote speaker, U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva, chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Dr. Ogden, who is also the Director of the Institute for Energy Solutions, served as a panelist on "Multi-sector Solutions at the Water-Energy Nexus for Resilience, Economic Develop, and Social Equity", moderated by U.S. Representative Paul Gosar.
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NOAA Highlights Recharge the Rain Project
The rule of thirds in photography is used to create a visually pleasing image. Unfortunately, Tucson has experienced a new variation on the rule of thirds and it's not a pretty picture. In July 2019 Tucson experienced not only the
third hottest July on record, it was also the
third hottest month on record. The average temperature was 3.3
°F higher than normal. Additionally,
Climate Central
reported that Tucson is America's third fastest warming city, with its average temperature warming 4.48°F in 1970, the year that the first Earth Day was celebrated. Let's take this recent picture of Tucson composed of record breaking thirds as a call to action.
Arizona Project WET (APW) and Watershed Management Group (WMG) are cooperating on a NOAA Environmental Literacy Grant project, Recharge the Rain, to build community resilience. K-12 teachers and students in Tucson are designing and installing rain gardens at their schools to grow much-needed shade with rainwater. As NOAA states in a recent report, "Resilience education offers students and adults a sense of hope, self-efficacy, and an action-oriented approach to addressing local climate challenges." Recharge the Rain is gaining more attention as one of the highlighted projects in a Photo Story published by NOAA. Tucson students are spreading the message that all of us can act to build a resilient community.
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Are you interested in finding water-related seminars at the University of Arizona? Do you need to locate a water expert or are you looking for a water-related job or internship? The UA Water Network website offers one-stop shopping for these types of inquiries. On the "
Get Connected" page, you will find links to ten different UA seminar programs that address water and environmental topics. This fall, you can learn about topics as wide-ranging as climate change, genome diversity, urban planning, monsoons, and sea turtles. Postings of jobs, internships, or grants, check out
the
Jobs and Opportunities page. Click on
Water Experts and find a specialist from the range of water expertise at UA. Choose one of the 5 themes on the home page to learn about UA research and activities in drought and climate, environmental systems, management and policy, society and culture, and technology and industry.
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Public Working Group Meetings Address Groundwater Management to 2025 and Beyond
The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) is holding meetings of the Management Plan Working Group (MPWG), a stakeholder forum for the development of the 5th Management Plans for Active Management Areas (AMA).
Beginning in 1980, a series of management plans has contained progressively more rigorous management requirements to move each AMAs toward its long-term water management goal. Prescott and Tucson AMAs have adopted 4th Management Plans and the 3rd Management Plans remain in effect in the Phoenix, Pinal, and Santa Cruz AMAs. The goal of the MPWG is to assess existing AMA conservation programs and develop new management strategies for the 5th Management Period and beyond. The 5th Management Period is 2020-2025. The first two MPWG meetings presented an overview of Management Plans, the available
data resources for each AMA, and a discussion of the work group structure, including subgroups. Subgroup meetings are scheduled for September: Municipal Subgroup, Weds. Sept. 4, 10:00-11:00 am; Agricultural Subgroup, Thurs. Sept. 5, 1:00-2:00 pm; Industrial Subgroup, Mon. Sept 9, 1:00-2:00 pm; and Safe-Yield Technical Subgroup, Mon. Sept. 23, 1:00-2:00 pm. All these meetings will be held at
ADWR, 1110 W. Washington St, Suite 310, Phoenix, Conference Room 3175. These meetings are open to the public and webinar information will be provided by email ahead of each meeting date. To receive webinar information by email contact
[email protected].
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