IN THIS ISSUE: Conference Registration, Chocolate Fest, 104(b), Factsheet, Upper Colorado River Commission, Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network | | |
|
Registration Now Open for WRRC
2024 Annual Conference
| |
|
Early bird registration for this year’s conference opens today! The WRRC Annual Conference will be held on March 12–13, 2024, at the University of Arizona Student Union Grand Ballroom, with livestreaming availability. This year’s theme is Implementing Water Solutions Through Partnerships. The conference program will showcase collaboration-based solutions across the state through speaker presentations and panels while providing multiple networking opportunities that include an evening reception and poster session. This conference will bring new information to the table regarding solutions to Arizona’s water challenges, aiming to inspire new partnerships and collaborations. See the registration link below to join us this spring for an engaging and informative meeting. Register early for both days for $160. Standard registration, beginning February 13, will be $175. We are pleased to offer a discounted student registration rate of $60. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, there is still time! Sponsorship application information is available below.
Image: Clayton B. Lyon. WRRC 2023 Annual Conference
Register Early and Save!
Become a Sponsor
| |
|
Arizona Association of Women in Water & Agriculture: Networking Mixer and Annual Meeting – Co-sponsored by the WRRC
AAWWA "Wine, Women & Water" Cocktails &
Networking Mixer – Enjoy an evening of spirits, networking with colleagues, new friends, and water!
Date: January 30, 2024
Time: 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm Arizona Time
Location: To be announced soon!
AAWWA Annual Meeting – Spend a day being inspired by women in the water industry! Visit the vendor market, breakfast, lunch, and network with women throughout Arizona who have an interest in water.
Date: January 31, 2024
Time: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Arizona Time
Location: University of Arizona Student Union (Grand Ballroom): 1303 E University Blvd. Tucson, AZ
Register Here
More Info
| |
|
Celebrate 20 Years of Chocolate Fests
with the WRRC
We invite you to join the WRRC on Friday, February 16, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm for our 20th Annual Chocolate Fest. During this in-person event, you’ll get to enjoy some delicious chocolate creations from Tucson kitchens and beyond. We encourage you to bring your homemade (or store-bought) goodies to share as part of our chocolate potluck. Aside from getting to enjoy these sweet treats, you’ll have the opportunity to mingle with water colleagues and see the winning photographs from our 2023 Annual Photo Contest. So, mark your calendars and start thinking about chocolate! We hope to see you next month at Chocolate Fest 2024.
Register Here
| |
|
WRRC Invites Research Proposals for
104(b) Program
Faculty and research personnel at any of Arizona's three public universities are invited to submit research proposals to the WRRC for grants of up to $10,000. Grant funds are provided by the Water Resources Research Act (WRRA), Section 104(b) program, through the US Geological Survey. Proposals should feature student work and explore new ideas to address water problems in Arizona and the Southwest and expand understanding of water and related phenomena. Proposals from a broad range of academic disciplines and professional programs will be considered. Additionally, proposals that increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, and address issues in historically marginalized or underserved communities are highly encouraged.
Proposals are due by 5:00 PM Friday, March 1, 2024. Funded projects will start on September 1, 2024, contingent on congressional budget approval. For more information visit the webpage below or email Communications Coordinator Jessie Hampton (jessiehampton@arizona.edu). For information on the other WRRA grant program administered by the WRRC, the National Competitive Section 104(g) Grants, click here or read about it in next week’s newsletter.
Program Info & Instructions
| |
|
Did You Know?
Water demand in Greenlee County is split among different water user groups, primarily agriculture (53%) and mining (29%). Municipal water uses, including domestic and commercial (10%), and livestock operations (8%) make up the remaining water demands. Cattle ranching and mining are important cultural and economic activities within Greenlee County dating back to the 1870’s. Currently, 82% of the land in Greenlee County is grazed by livestock while 5.5% is under agricultural production. Water use associated with livestock can involve growing feed, including hay and alfalfa, and maintaining stock ponds. Greenlee County is also home to Morenci Mine, the largest copper mine in North America. Water supplies are used in the extraction, treatment, and processing stages of mining operations, as well as for dust control at mining sites and are sourced from the San Francisco River, Chase Creek, and Eagle Creek, as well as leased Central Arizona Project water from the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
Greenlee County Water Factsheet
Source
| |
|
Proposal Seeks to Strengthen Tribal Involvement with Upper Colorado River Commission
After decades of exclusion from negotiation tables, Tribes that rely on the Colorado River may soon have a voice within an important commission overseeing the critical water resource. State and federal leaders did not include Tribes in the creation of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which laid the foundation for the management of the river’s water. Even as recently as 2007 and 2019, rules for managing the Colorado River were developed without Tribal participation. Under a proposal made by six Tribal nations to the Upper Colorado River Commission, which was announced in December at the 2023 Colorado River Water Users Association Conference, Tribes in the Colorado River’s Upper Basin (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) could gain a permanent seat at the table to decide the river's future. The Commission, an interstate water administrative agency consisting of federal and state officials, will consider the plan and may vote on it sometime in February, according to Executive Director Chuck Cullom. If approved, the proposal could prove to be an important step forward in increasing Tribal representation on Colorado River matters.
Read More
| |
|
Leadership Network Propels Indigenous Women in the Water Industry
Historically, Indigenous women have held leadership positions in their tribes as nurturing culture bearers. Colonization challenged the matriarchal nature of some native Tribes, pushing Native women into societies and workplaces that devalued them. To help Indigenous women reclaim their leadership roles, a group called the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network (IWLN) provides Indigenous women with networking and education opportunities, scholarships, and leadership skills. Women’s leadership identity in most Indigenous cultures is that of “being stewards of Mother Earth and Father Sky" as UArizona’s Karletta Chief, who has benefited from the IWLN, describes. Because of this, environmental sciences and natural resource fields provide culturally fulfilling positions for Indigenous women, while the field benefits from a strong knowledge base from these women. The IWLN, founded in 2021, was honored at the Colorado River Water Users Association meeting held in Las Vegas in December 2023, as AZ Central explains in its coverage. The IWLN is part of the Tribal water initiative in the Colorado River Basin, helping native women to become water managers and leaders like Lorelei Cloud, a current IWLN co-chair and first Tribal member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Valerisa Gaddy, a post-doctoral researcher with the WRRC whose research involves assessing methods of microbial water quality, is also a member of the IWLN.
AZ Central Article
Indigenous Women Leadership Network
| |
|
Please visit WRRC's website for a complete listing of water jobs and opportunities.
| |
NOTICES, PUBLICATIONS, and MEDIA | |
|
Special Issue: Water Research and Creative Activity
As increasing stress is placed on water resources, University of Arizona faculty, researchers, staff, and students are building collaborative strategies and innovations to tackle some of the most complex problems facing Southern Arizona and society as a whole. Follow along this semester as they share some of these inspiring stories.
More Info
New Extension Publication: Evaluating an in-situ, Low-Cost Soil CO2 Sensor
as a Soil Health Assessment Tool in Agricultural Soils
This study from authors Debankur Sanyal, John Heun, Charles Stackpole, and Pedro Andrade-Sanchez is available to read or download. Read Here
| |
Do you have a story idea, water job announcement, or event to share?
| | | | |
