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July 16, 2021 / Volume 9, Issue 4
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IN THIS ISSUE: Reflections, Rural Infrastructure Funding, ESP Special Issue, APW, Jean McLain, Great Lakes Basin
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Reflections: On the Meaning of Water Resilience |
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Resilience seems to have replaced security in discussions of water availability. Because the term was appearing everywhere, I started thinking about the definition of resilience even before we titled the WRRC 2021 Annual Conference “Tribal Water Resilience in a Changing Environment.” A Google search yielded the following definition from Oxford Languages: “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” This definition was not satisfying. It only triggered additional questions: What does it mean to recover and what is the time dimension for quickly?
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WRRC 2021 Annual Conference: Tribal Water Resilience in a Changing Environment
Dates: Aug 30-Sep 1
The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center is excited to open registration for the 2021 Annual WRRC Conference, Tribal Water Resilience in a Changing Environment. Held virtually over three days, August 30-September 1, the program will offer information, diverse perspectives, networking, and much more. The conference will kick off with an afternoon session (1-4 PM Arizona time) on Monday, August 30, followed by morning sessions (8-11 AM Arizona time) on Tuesday, August 31, and Wednesday, September 1. In addition, special conference activities will be scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Visit our conference webpage for updates on the agenda and additional information, including how to become a conference sponsor! Please feel free to post and share this registration announcement to help us get the word out. We hope you will join us!
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Dates: Jul 20, Jul 27, Aug 3, Aug 10
Dates: Aug 9-11
Dates: Aug 26-27
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AZ Legislature Acts to Fund Rural
Water Infrastructure
The Arizona Legislature has acted to help rural communities make improvements in their water infrastructure by carving out $40 million from the $200 million set aside for water infrastructure projects. According to House Speaker Rusty Bowers, new funding for water infrastructure projects is “key to securing Arizona’s future,” and is among the highest priorities for the Legislature. The additional Water Supply Development funds for rural water providers are available immediately. Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson encouraged small water utilities to take advantage of this opportunity “to improve their water systems and benefit customers.” The Water Supply Development Fund, established in 2007, provides financial assistance to rural water providers in need. Any regulated water utility that is located outside of the Active Management Areas and meets other statutory criteria related to location, size, and project management capabilities may apply. Loans of up to $1 million and grants of up to $100,000 are available.
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Special Issue Features Udall Center
Guest Editors
In the 2020-21 special issue of the highly-cited journal Environmental Science Policy titled “New Directions in Hydrodiplomacy to Meet Global Water Challenges: Learning from the Past, Shaping the Future,” more than 30 water researchers examine innovations in water governance and diplomacy in some of the world’s most challenging transboundary areas. The issue, which includes 12 papers, has a major section on hydrodiplomacy in North America, and another on basins in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. The Guest Editors of this special issue are UArizona Udall Center researchers Robert G. Varady and Andrea K. Gerlak (also Interim Director of the Udall Center), as well as Udall Center affiliates Margaret O. Wilder (UArizona School of Geography & Development) and Nicolás Pineda Pablos (Director of Public Policy Studies and Professor-Investigator at El Colegio de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico). The 12 papers are distributed across six different issues, but have been grouped together under “Article Collections” on the ScienceDirect website, and can be found here. The most recent of the essays, an editorial titled "Ruminations and insights on hydrodiplomacy,” was released on June 16, 2021, provides a coherent and conceptual companion to the articles themselves, and is available for free download until August 5, 2021.
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New APW Director
The Arizona Project WET (APW) team searched far and wide for the best new director for its program and realized in the end that they didn't need to search far. APW is thrilled to announce that Holly Thomas-Hilburn has been selected to lead APW into the future via her new role as its Director! Holly started with APW over a decade ago, driving the Arizona Water Festival equipment all around the state and growing to love Arizona’s scenic highways, passionate water communities, and of course, APW’s hands-on approach to water education. Since then, she has worked on practically every APW program, through curriculum development, evaluation, and funding proposals, giving her the tools to jump in and take the lead. With Holly at the helm, APW is excited to explore new opportunities and try new things, while learning from the past and continuing to make improvements, a key part of the APW process. Holly looks forward to putting her passion for education and her evaluation skills to work as the team dives into a bright future.
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Jean McLain Addresses AZ Senior Academy
On July 7, WRRC Research Scientist Jean McLain traveled to the eastern reaches of Tucson to deliver a lecture to the Arizona Senior Academy (ASA). Approximately 60 attendees (in-person and online) listened to Dr. McLain speak on “Water from a Public and Environmental Health Perspective…OR Recycled Water: Is it for Drinking?” In her presentation, Dr. McLain covered her recent research focused on antibiotic resistance in recycled water, the formation of toxic algal blooms, and describing how source tracking (such as tracing COVID-19 through wastewater) works. The ASA, founded by former UArizona President Henry Koffler, hosts a year-round menu of public concerts and lectures, making this venue an “audience magnet for much of eastern Tucson and beyond.”
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New Article Examines Groundwater Governance on US Northern Border
The recent special issue of Water, co-edited by WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal, contains an article on transboundary groundwater governance in the Great Lakes Basin that provides an analysis to lay alongside research at the US-Mexico border. On both borders, the resource is challenged by climate change and other human-caused pressures. The article, “Twenty-First Century Science Calls for Twenty-First Century Groundwater Use Law: A Retrospective Analysis of Transboundary Governance Weaknesses and Future Implications in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin,” was co-written by Khafi Weekes and Gail Krantzberg of McMaster University in Canada. The authors systematically link groundwater level outcomes to laws, policies, and practices at multiple governmental levels, identifying gaps and problematic incentives. They conclude that groundwater governance in the region lags scientific knowledge to the detriment of groundwater resources, but remain optimistic about the abilities of governments in the region to adapt.
Image: NASA/Jess Schmaltz
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Please visit WRRC's website for a complete listing of water jobs & opportunities.
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