The WRRC and the International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC) have published a Special Edition of the Arroyo: Addressing Environmental Challenges of Arid Lands. The publication of this Special Edition represents the final activity of the IALC, an independent consortium of institutions dedicated to promoting “cooperation, education, and technology transfer to address issues facing the world’s drylands.” Marking 30 years of collaboration on issues affecting arid and semiarid regions, the IALC hosted a three-day conference in May 2021 to underscore its mission. The Special Edition Arroyo summarizes the presentations and discussions of the conference and highlights the IALC’s Call to Action published in the Conference Declaration. Honorary Chair Joe Hess concluded the conference commemorating the sunsetting of the IALC: “We therefore pass the baton to other consortiums, government agencies and universities to carry on this important endeavor that affects the well-being of all mankind and brings peace between nations.”

Native Voices in STEM Spring 2022 Seminar Series: Wastewater-Based Epidemiology in Tribal Communities

Date: March 14, 2022

Time: 3:00-4:00 pm Arizona Time

Location: Webinar Only

Speaker: Otakuye Conroy-Ben, Assistant Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University

Dr. Otakuye Conroy-Ben is an Assistant Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University. Conroy-Ben received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in Analytical Chemistry and PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the biological effects of polluted water. Her research interests include environmental endocrine disruption, metal and antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and wastewater epidemiology.

Date: March 22, 2022

Time: 12:30 pm-1:30 pm Arizona Time

Location: Webinar Only

Join us virtually on Tuesday, March 22 from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm for a World Water Day Teach-In! Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva's District 5 Office will be hosting this space to encourage the community to learn more about the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project and the water challenges we face as a desert community. The City of Tucson Interim Assistant City Manager Timothy Thomure and representatives of the WRRC will be presenting, followed by Q&A.

Mar 29: WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: Looking Upstream: An Upper Basin Perspective; Jennifer Gimbel, Interim Director and Senior Water Policy Scholar, Colorado Water Center; Jim Lochhead, CEO/Manager, Denver Water; Steve Wolff, General Manager, Southwestern Water Conservation District

Apr 6: Udall Center Workshop: State of the Art in Green Infrastructure Research & Practice: Reframing Stormwater from a Hazard to a Resource in Tucson, Arizona

Apr 7: WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: Public Interest, Indigenous Rights, and the Los Angeles Aqueduct; Sophia Borgias, Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Programs, Boise State University

Apr 11: Native Voices in STEM Spring 2022 Seminar Series: Environmental Justice; Tommy Rock, PhD in Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University

Apr 19: WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: Civil Society in the Binational Agreements of the Colorado River: Advocacy Meets Shuttle Diplomacy; Carlos A. de la Parra, Chair of the Board, Restauremos el Colorado, AC

Apr 27: WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: Sharon Nappier, National Program Leader for Water Reuse, US Environmental Protection Agency - Office of Water

May 3: Special Event: Counter Mapping; Jim Enote, CEO, Colorado Plateau Foundation

Exciting and Full Schedule of Spring Events

Somehow, we are already at the threshold of Spring Break at UArizona. As we enter the second half of the semester, the WRRC looks forward to an exciting lineup of Brown Bag webinars and special events. March 14 is the next installment of the Native Voices in STEM (NVIS) seminar series, which focuses on wastewater epidemiology in Tribal communities, and is organized by UArizona Indige-FEWSS and several other UArizona departments and units, including the WRRC. On World Water Day (March 22), the WRRC will participate in a virtual "Teach-In" hosted by Pima County District 5. In collaboration with the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University, the WRRC will host Looking Upstream: An Upper Basin Perspective on March 29. Join us for a panel moderated by Colorado Water Center Interim Director and Senior Water Policy Scholar Jennifer Gimbel, with speakers Jim Lochhead, CEO/Manager of Denver Water and Steve Wolff, General Manager of the Southwestern Water Conservation District. Then, kicking off events in April, the WRRC is co-sponsoring a Udall Center Workshop on green infrastructure research on April 6. On April 7, we will welcome Sofia Borgias, assistant professor at Boise State University for a presentation titled Public Interest, Indigenous Rights, and the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The final seminar of the NVIS series will be held April 11 with Dr. Tommy Rock presenting on Environmental Justice. Carlos A. de la Parra, Chair of the Board, Restauremos el Colorado, AC, will speak on civil society in the binational agreements on the Colorado River on April 19, and on April 27, Sharon Napier, National Program Leader for Water Reuse at the EPA Office of Water will speak on the programs of her office. In the afternoon of May 3, Jim Enote, CEO of the Colorado Plateau Foundation will discuss Counter Mapping, an effort to create maps that bring an Indigenous voice and perspective back to the land, countering Western notions of place and geography.

Upcoming WRRC and Collaborative Events

Despite overlapping mandates, land use and water management agencies are typically separate. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s newest policy focus report from the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy investigates how uniting land and water planning is necessary to address the challenges posed by climate change, population growth, and drought. In Integrating Land Use and Water Management, author Erin Rugland, Program Manager, Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, outlines best practices in water management and land use planning and provides policy tools that can be used for their integration. The report features four success stories from across the US, including Colorado, Florida, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. According to the report, state policy is crucial to integrating land and water planning, and Rugland provides four recommendations for policymakers to accomplish integration goals. Among her recommendations are state mandates, building capacity through funding and technical assistance, collaborating locally, and coordinating regional expertise and oversight.

APW is excited to roll out and share our new virtual water festival program. An in-person festival is not possible for some of the school districts this year due to the current challenging circumstances, so instead, APW has created an interactive virtual option so teachers and students have an opportunity to engage in a hands-on exploration of the Incredible Water Cycle Journey and a Water Conservation Technology activity. APW has designed two activity kits around these topics, which get dropped off at schools where teachers can then watch pre-recorded interactive videos with their students to complete each mission and assist their students in becoming Water Wizards. APW is very grateful for its dedicated sponsors, whose flexibility and willingness to be open to new ideas helped to create this new opportunity for community members. Thanks to the City of Avondale and the City of Phoenix, the Littleton and Roosevelt School Districts will be the first participants. APW believes this was the best solution to providing hands-on educational activities in a safe way during these uncertain times. With this new program helping students to better understand how water moves through the natural systems in Arizona and learning the importance of water conservation technologies, APW continues to educate the next generation of water stewards.

UArizona Director, Cooperative Extension Job Listing

The University of Arizona seeks a strategic and innovative leader to be the next Director of the UArizona Cooperative Extension System (CES).

Please visit WRRC's website for a complete listing of water jobs & opportunities.