IN THIS ISSUE: Chocolate Fest, Brown Bag Recap, WOTUS, APW, Mary-Belle Cruz Ayala, Women in Science | |
Registration Now Open
for WRRC Chocolate Fest!
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Please join us on Friday, February 10 from 3:30 to 5:00 PM for the WRRC’s annual Chocolate Fest. This year, we are thrilled to be hosting this fun event in person at the WRRC’s offices! There will be real chocolate for all those who can attend in person. Weather permitting, it will be an indoor-outdoor event. The agenda this year is simple: gather with friends and colleagues, enjoy chocolaty treats, and see the winning photographs from our 2022 Annual Photo Contest. In keeping with tradition, this year’s celebration will be a chocolate potluck. Start thinking about what you would like to bake, concoct, purchase, or brew, then bring your favorite divine chocolate delectation to share. For those who want to tune in remotely, the program and photos will stream online through Zoom. We look forward to seeing you on February 10 at the first in-person Chocolate Fest since 2020!
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WRRC and Indigenous Resilience Center
Co-Sponsored Special Event: Kamilaroi (Indigenous) Knowledge and Methodologies to Inform Water Management
Date: Wednesday, February 1 (Thursday, Feb 2 for Australia)
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Arizona Time (9:00 am – 10:15 am Canberra, Australia Time)
Location: Webinar Only
Speaker: Bradley Moggridge, Associate Professor in Indigenous Water Science, University of Canberra
Indigenous knowledge and methodologies are missing components in water management in Australia. On this dry, flat, and ancient continent, Traditional Knowledge has been passed on from generation to generation for millennia (over 65,000 years). This is a profound reliance on knowledge of surface and groundwater, which has been critical to ensuring the survival of Indigenous peoples in a dry landscape through the role of traditional knowledge in finding and protecting water places. Indigenous knowledge and methodologies can provide new (but old) evidence that is culturally appropriate, and which generates a cultural safe space with Indigenous researchers and communities leading. This special event presentation is co-sponsored by the WRRC and the Indigenous Resilience Center.
Register Here
More Info
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Yan Zheng Presents on Water Quality Challenges for MAR
On January 18, Dr. Yan Zheng gave a WRRC Brown Bag presentation entitled “The 21st Century Water Quality Challenges for Managed Aquifer Recharge.” Zheng is a chair professor in the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China, and co-chair for the International Association of Hydrogeologists’ Managing Aquifer Recharge Commission. In her presentation, she pointed to a recent UNESCO publication on managed aquifer recharge (MAR) indicating that MAR is a sustainable approach for enhancing climate resilience, but also spoke to the difficulties of implementation and the threat pollution poses to groundwater sustainability. Mentioning her early career experience as a toxicologist, Dr. Zheng shared new findings on trace organic pollutants including antibiotics, which partially degrade but may have effects on human health or the environment, and commented that groundwater monitoring programs should pay more attention to novel chemical and biological entities, especially when using MAR to bank water for future use. The final part of Zheng’s presentation addressed the challenge of governance and regulation for MAR and related water quality concerns, citing the importance of risk management. Zheng concluded by stating that regulations for complex water issues surrounding MAR require a multidisciplinary approach, drawing expertise from multiple fields.
View the Recording
More Info
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WOTUS Definition Updated Again, AZ Protects its Own
On December 30, 2022, the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced their Final Rule, establishing a revised and, according to the joint EPA/USACE press release, “durable definition” of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The Rule was published in the Federal Register on January 18 and will be effective on March 20, 2023. The revised definition of WOTUS largely reverts to the pre-2015 definition and provides additional interpretation and guidance. According to the agencies, the rulemaking seeks to balance historical Clean Water Act implementation and the legal precedent established in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC) and Rapanos v. United States. As was the case with the previous two revised WOTUS definitions (in 2015 and 2020), challenges by stakeholder groups are likely. The Rule’s implementation is also complicated by the ongoing Supreme Court case Sackett v. EPA, in which the “significant nexus” standard established in Rapanos is in question. The regulatory uncertainty caused by evolving definitions of WOTUS motivated the Arizona legislature to act in 2021 to protect water resources within the state. To this end, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality developed the Arizona Surface Water Protection Program (SWPP). After an extensive rulemaking process, the SWPP rule has been published and goes into effect on February 20, 2023. More information on the SWPP rule, the rulemaking process, and the waters it protects is available here.
Image: ADEQ
Revised WOTUS Rule
Arizona SWPP
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Meet APW’s Newest AmeriCorps Members
Arizona Project WET added two new AmeriCorps members to its Tucson educational team this week. Seliah McCaslin (left) and Monica Stoll (right) will be working on the rainwater harvesting program and be joining APW's team of water educators. Seliah graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in environmental studies and political science with an interest in environmental and social justice issues. Monica is the daughter of former APW staff member Mary Ann Stoll and was brought up around APW's programs and tools. She studied material science engineering and is looking forward to continuing her education in publishing. Both members will be walking students through the process of installing rain gardens while teaching them how green stormwater infrastructure can have a positive impact on their communities.
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New Opportunity for WRRC Post-Doc
Mary-Belle Cruz Ayala
Post-doctoral researcher Mary-Belle Cruz Ayala is leaving the WRRC to start a position with the state government in her home of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Mary-Belle earned her PhD at the University of Arizona Arid Lands Resource Sciences Program. In 2020, she began working for the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP), a federally funded program in Arizona focused on assessing the binational Santa Cruz River and San Pedro Aquifers. While working for the WRRC, Mary-Belle was dedicated to TAAP and research activities on transboundary aquifer topics. In 2022, she participated as co-author of two papers related to the TAAP. She will be missed, but all of us at the WRRC wish her well and are excited about her continuing work on water issues in Mexico.
MAR Paper
Transboundary Aquifers Paper
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Director Megdal Interviewed on
Women in Science
WRRC Director Sharon Megdal was recently interviewed by Rosario Sánchez as part of the Women in Science Initiative hosted by the Permanent Forum of Binational Waters. The initiative seeks to “highlight and raise awareness about the work and projects being accomplished by women in the science field particularly at the border region.” In her interview, Megdal addressed some of the challenges facing women in science and related professional fields. She mentioned her dislike for the perception of some fields as “hard” sciences and others as “soft” sciences, arguing that “we’re all scientists.” Sánchez’s questions touched on the common feeling among female academics of never doing enough and over-committing, as well as the structural and institutional challenges that women face in the workplace. Dr. Megdal spoke about being driven by “wanting to feel like I’m making a difference.” Megdal’s parting advice to young women was to have confidence in themselves and not be afraid to ask questions.
View the Recording
Women in Science
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Please visit WRRC's website for a complete listing of water jobs & opportunities.
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Jan 5, 2023, CAWCD Board Meeting Recap
Five Maricopa County Board Members take office and Board celebrates General Manager Ted Cooke’s last Board meeting before retirement. More Info
Paper on Upper Colorado River Basin Water Availability Assessments
Tillman, Fred D, Natalie K. Day, Matthew P. Miller, Olivia L. Miller, Christine A. Rumsey, Daniel R. Wise, Patrick C. Longley, and Morgan C. McDonnell. 2022. "A Review of Current Capabilities and Science Gaps in Water Supply Data, Modeling, and Trends for Water Availability Assessments in the Upper Colorado River Basin" Water 14, no. 23: 3813. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233813
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AHS Tucson Chapter - Judges Needed for SARSEF
Each year the Tucson Chapter and the AHS Foundation participate in the Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair (SARSEF) as sponsored award judges, giving $25 to $100 checks for hydrology science projects to grades K–12. These monetary awards are generously provided by AHS, AHSF, and the Central Arizona Project (CAP). If you are available to judge a grade group in this fun and beneficial event to encourage future budding hydrologists, please contact David Barnes at SARSEF@azhydrosoc.org no later than Tuesday, February 28.
Surface Water Protection Program: Notice of Final Rulemaking
The Surface Water Protection Program (SWPP) Rule ensures Arizona’s most important waters are protected regardless of federal actions that may change the scope of surface water regulation in the future. The rule is due to be published in the January 27 issue of the Arizona Administrative Register and will be available on the Secretary of State's website. In the meantime, ADEQ has posted the Notice of Final Rulemaking. The effective date for the SWPP rule is February 20, 2023. More Info
Tucson Water One Water 2100 Survey
Please take the One Water 2100 public survey today and let Tucson Water know which water management strategies are most important to you. Water supply and conservation were the two top areas of concern identified through shareholder, technical partner, and public input. Now, your input is needed to help guide long-range decisions about water management practices and the Capital Improvement Program. The survey is open until January 31. More Info
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