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January 31, 2020 / Volume 8, Issue 4
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The WRRC Conference "Get Ready"
Webinar Series Kicks Off
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Mark your calendars for the first installment of the 2020 WRRC Conference "Get Ready" Webinar Series which will be held on February 4, 2020, from noon-1:30 PM. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Groundwater Management Act, this first webinar will focus on the water management challenges Arizona faced in 1980 and how the framework set in place by the Act has shaped water management since that time. Arizona Department of Water Resources Deputy Assistant Director Carol Ward and Program Manager Natalie Mast will present Reflections of the Past, Looking to the Future: The Groundwater Management Act, focusing on Arizona's groundwater management strategies, and the lessons learned that will guide policy for the 5th Management Plans and the Active Management Areas beyond 2025. Attend via the web or join us here at the WRRC to participate in our satellite webinar location in the Sol Resnick Conference Room.
Upcoming webinars in the "Get Ready" series will be held on February 18, featuring updates from committees under the Governor's Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council, and on March 3, with Central Arizona Project staff presenting on a range of topics tied to the Colorado River.
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February 13, 2020
This year, we are adding to the Chocolate Fest tradition with a theme: Honoring the flowing Santa Cruz River. Over the past ten years there have been profound changes in the Santa Cruz River, and at the 16th Annual Chocolate Fest we will have a short program celebrating the changing river. We will also applaud the 2019 WRRC photo contest winners.
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons |
Know About Your Water
Green Valley - Sahuarita
Time/Location:
10:30 a.m. - noon, Desert Hills Center, 2980 S. Camino del Sol, Green Valley, AZ
This encore presentation, sponsored by the Green Valley Council Environment Committee, will touch on everything you want to know about water resources in the Green Valley-Sahuarita area. The culmination of a project funded by the Freeport McMoRan Community Investment Program, this interactive presentation offers neutral, independent information on water supplies, uses, and quality, as well as community and individual actions to conserve and augment water resources in the region.
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Upcoming webinars in our "Get Ready" series:
February 18, featuring updates from committees under the Governor's Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council.
Webinar registration.
March 3, a presentation in collaboration with the Central Arizona Project on a range of topics linked to the management of the Colorado River system.
Webinar registration
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Upcoming Brown Bag Seminar
February 20, Margaret Snyder and Libby Kahler, Groundwater Levels and Aquifer Storage Change.
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 Udall Center Joins Universities Water Network
The University of Arizona Udall Center has recently joined the Universities Partnership for Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (UPWCD), a platform led by knowledge partners in the field of water cooperation and diplomacy.
The newly launched UPWCD website encourages partners to share and access information about relevant activities, co-develop research and education tools, and jointly support professional training in this field.
As a partner, the Udall Center hopes to engage researchers and collaborators from across the University of Arizona to contribute to the UPWCD's mission.
A recent publication by Udall Center researchers, titled "U.S.-Mexico hydrodiplomacy: Foundations, change, and future challenges," is already featured on the Partnership website. To find out more about the Partnership, contact Andrea Gerlak or Robert Varady at the Udall Center.
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Water Conservation Makes $ense
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"It was an amazing hands-on learning experience my class will never forget!" said Mrs. Tracy Renbarger of Western Sky Middle School in Litchfield ESD. Ms. Renbarger was referring to a recent partner activity with Arizona Project WET (APW), Liberty Utilities and Western Sky to conserve water on campus by conducting a school water audit.
Ms. Renbarger's students were introduced to water audits by participating in the Water Scene Investigation program, which focuses on home water savings by changing an aerator on a bathroom faucet at their home. The students decided to apply their new knowledge at their school by changing 83 aerators throughout the school. The school is now saving an estimated 1,273,290 gallons of water per year and approximately $4,000 per year! When combined with their home water savings, they are now saving their community a total of 1,655,412 gallons per year! Wow!
Thank you to Mrs. Renbarger and her students for showing outstanding water stewardship and making a difference in their school!
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WRRC Offers Statewide Context at Upcoming Sulphur Springs Valley Seminars
The WRRC will present statewide water information at the Willcox Water Project Sulphur Springs Valley Seminars, February 12, 2020, at Sunsites Community Center from 12:30pm to 4:00pm and Willcox Community Center from 5:00pm to 8:30pm. WRRC Research Analyst Ashley Hullinger will present information from the
WRRC's Arizona
Water Map Poster
and answer questions from the audience. Retired hydrogeologist Kristine Uhlman will answer the question, "What is an aquifer?" and talk about private well ownership. The Willcox Water Project is a forum for developing water solutions through community engagement. The Sulphur Springs Valley Seminars are a series of free public meetings at which experts provide information to support community discussions.
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AHS/GRAC Invite Student Posters
Student posters are being invited for the Joint BSMAR17/SWEPSYM conference to be held
April 1 - 3, 2020 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Phoenix/Tempe
. Abstracts are due to
[email protected]
by February 7, 2020. Poster topics may include any aspect of recharge project design, construction or operation, water management and governance through managed aquifer recharge, and case studies. Cash prizes totaling $700 will be awarded for the best posters as judged by a panel of Arizona Hydrological Society members. Poster presenters must register for the conference. BSMAR17 is the Biennial Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge, presented by the Arizona Hydrological Society and California Groundwater Resources Association, and SWEPSYM is the Southwest Extreme Precipitation Symposium, a symposium track organized by the Floodplain Management Association.
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Sonoran Architectural Innovations Designed to Beat the Heat
Adapting to extreme heat requires innovative architectural practices that will become increasingly necessary in coming years. The business magazine, Fast Company, published a January 2020 editorial that highlighted the efforts of Phoenix-based architecture firm, Studio Ma. The studio's headquarters implement regenerative design elements that include solar panels, which meet the firm's own energy demand. The co-founder of Studio Ma, Christiana Moss also mentions that the building "is completely shaded from the harsh summer sun we get, and we've done that by creating a space between the building's inside and outside skin," which in tandem with vegetation growth helps regulate temperature.
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