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IN THIS ISSUE: Colorado River, WRRC Survey, World Water Week, Simone Williams, Water Advisory Council
Tier 2 Shortage Declared for 2023 – Basin States Fail to Reach Colorado River Usage Agreement
After Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton’s Senate testimony in June, the Colorado River Basin states had until Monday, August 15 to reach an agreement to save two to four million acre-feet of water in 2023, or Reclamation would take action to preserve the system. As WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal explained in an interview with The Center Square, “The 2-4 million acre-foot water curtailment is an unprecedented ask, not only in size but in speed at which the states were asked to respond.” The deadline has passed with no agreement reached. In a press statement Tuesday, officials from Central Arizona Project (CAP) and Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) explained that “The Basin States have not yet produced a viable plan nor has the United States proposed a plan that achieves the protection volumes identified by the Commissioner. Achieving volumes at this magnitude will take significant contributions by all water users in the Colorado River Basin.”

EVENTS
WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: Pima County Water Factsheet: Tailoring Meaningful Water Information at the County Scale for and with Local Stakeholders
 
Date: Aug 24, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm–1:15 pm Arizona Time
Location: Webinar Only
 
Speakers:
Kathleen M. Chavez, PE, Water Policy Manager, Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation
Michael Seronde, Program Manager, Water Resources Research Center

The Arizona Water Factsheet series was undertaken by the UArizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) to help address the local nature of water challenges and solutions in the state. This initiative aims to accomplish a simple yet challenging task – create a succinct resource that answers common questions about water resources for every county in Arizona. The WRRC draws upon a wide range of water-related data for state, regional, and county-wide scales, which are narrowed based on local Technical Advisory Committees' (TAC) input. For the Pima County Factsheet, the TAC included staff from Pima County, Cooperative Extension, Pima Association of Governments, and others. This process of pooling potential water topics and available data, and then evaluating and improving the product with local experts, results in relevant and trustworthy factsheets. This presentation will explore the stakeholder-driven process for producing the Arizona Water Factsheets, including for Pima County, and will cover a range of water topics tailored to the unique characteristics of the county.
 
WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: The Rio Reimagined Initiative: River and Community Revitalization Along the Salt – Gila River Corridor 

Date: Aug 30, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm–1:15 pm Arizona Time
Location: Webinar Only
 
Moderator:
Melissa McCann, Director, University City Exchange, Arizona State University
Panelists:
R.J. Cardin, Director, Parks and Recreation, Maricopa County
Nichole Engelmann, Endangered Species Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Tice Supplee, Director, Bird Conservation, Audubon Southwest

A vision for the Rio Salado restoration that started over 50 years ago has been re-catalyzed in 2017 to include 58 miles of community and river revitalization along the Salt-Gila River corridor by active and diverse governmental and community partnerships with the leadership and generous support of the Arizona Congressional delegation and Arizona State University. In 2017, the Rio Reimagined Partnership began convening to discuss the opportunities for reconnecting communities along an existing urban greenway within Metropolitan Phoenix that could embody a new era of urban resilience including environmental, social, and economic vitality. The panel will include an update on the initiative, feature coalition partners, outline active priorities and projects, and share regional challenges and opportunities from various perspectives.

 
NEWS
Help Guide Future WRRC Programming!

The WRRC uses our events, publications, and multiple media platforms to engage with partners, stakeholders, and the public throughout Arizona and beyond. Our annual conferences and Brown Bag Seminar Series provide opportunities for discussions on a wide range of water topics with local, state, national, and international experts. Since 2020, all Brown Bags webinars have been held via Zoom, and our conferences have been delivered in virtual or hybrid formats. The virtual platform enables broad participation from diverse audiences and presenters. Please help us by taking this short survey to shape the content of our future outreach programming.

WRRC Director Participates in
World Water Week

Stockholm World Water Week (August 23 – September 1, 2022), the leading conference on global water issues, this year tackles the theme Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water. WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal is participating in two sessions during the week. As a member of the Women in Water Diplomacy Network, she will take part in network-sponsored activities throughout the week, including a forum to endorse the network’s statement “A Rising Tide,” which is a call to “prioritize gender equality as a lever of positive change across transboundary water management.” She will be part of discussions during a session that shares the statement and builds on the results of the forum. In addition, Megdal will give a co-authored presentation, “Water banking to maximize aquifer value in a changing climate,” and participate with other international experts in a World Café Roundtable at a Stockholm International Water Institute Seminar on valuing groundwater.​

WRRC Grad Student Receives Scholarship
 
WRRC Graduate Research Assistant Simone Williams has been awarded the Richard A. Herbert Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, established by the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) in 1980 and renamed in honor of Richard A. Herbert, comes from a fund “for the enhancement of education in water resources.” AWRA grants two or more $2000 scholarships each year: at least one each to undergraduate and graduate students, respectively. Eligible students must be AWRA members pursuing degrees in water resources-related programs. Simone Williams is a PhD Candidate in the UArizona Arid Lands Resource Sciences PhD Program. She holds a Master’s degree in Earth and Environmental Resources Management and has over 24 years of professional experience in government, private sector, and civil society organizations. Her dissertation research focuses on examining groundwater vulnerability and contamination risk due to land use hazards and climate change in karst, arid, and other critical geographic regions. In her work, she applies interdisciplinary approaches to bridge the information and communication divide between scientists, resource managers, and citizens. Through her research and practice, she has contributed to building the resilience of vulnerable communities and marginalized groups in areas that are highly susceptible to hydrometeorological disasters. Congratulations, Simone, for this noteworthy achievement!

New Water Advisory Council Discusses Federal Support for Western Drought

On August 8, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced the creation of her new Water Advisory Council to “develop solutions in response to Arizona’s worsening drought conditions.” Members of the new council gathered at Hoover Dam for the announcement and to discuss the $4 billion in drought mitigation funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act recently signed by President Biden. According to a recent article, the Act outlines three areas for the US Bureau of Reclamation to direct these funds: provide funding to pay users not to divert water (critical in the near term for farmers who rely on Colorado River water), incentivize conservation and efficiency programs such as drip irrigation, and support the restoration of riparian ecosystems and habitat impacted by drought. According to Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke, who is a member of Senator Sinema’s water council, “It’s a perfect time” for this funding to come through, in light of the recent $1 billion investment in water from the state and the unprecedented near-term challenges associated with Colorado River shortage. The Water Advisory Council consists of 21 key stakeholders representing agriculture, utilities, conservation groups, Tribes, water officials, and academic experts. WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal will serve as a member of the advisory council. 

Image: Bureau of Reclamation, Hoover Dam

WATER JOBS
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.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA
  • Speaker presentations and slides from the ISMAR 11 Conference have been posted. More Info


  • AZPM Water Harvester: An Invitation to Abundance Brad Lancaster believes that cities around the world can live off rainwater. This is the story of how he transformed his Tucson neighborhood by experimenting with water harvesting, worked with the city to legalize those methods, and empowers others by showing that sustainability rooted in abundance is possible. 

  • The Green Planet: Desert Worlds (Link expires 08/24/22) Sir David Attenborough explores the hostile world of the desert, where plants can spend decades waiting for rain or travel to find it. Survival tactics include using weapons, camouflage and forming surprising alliances with animals. More Info

OTHER NOTICES
  • New interactive map available from ADWR’s Adjudications Division. More Info

  • Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) available for White Mountain Apache Tribe rural water system. More Info

  • Sharon K. Collinge joins UArizona as director of the Arizona Institute for Resilient Environments and Societies (AIRES). More Info

  • Applications open for University of Arizona Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) Mini and Annual Grants. More Info

  • ADEQ Surface Water Protection Program Draft Rule Version 3 is now available for review. More Info
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