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WRRC Weekly Wave
September 18, 2015
Volume 3, Issue 28
In This Issue:
- Sept. 22 Brown Bag: Navajo Solar Desalination Demonstration Project
- Water RAPIDS Wins Award of Merit at AZ Forward Gala
- Sept. Tucson Water Bill Features C2E Insert
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Water RAPIDS Program Wins Award of Merit at Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Awards Gala
On Sept. 12, the Water Resources Research Center's (WRRC) Water RAPIDS (Water Research and Planning Innovations for Dryland Systems) program received an Award of Merit at Arizona Forward's 35th Annual Environmental Excellence Awards in the Environmental Education/Communication category.
Arizona Forward celebrated projects from around the state that demonstrate the delicate balance between environmental quality and economic prosperity.
The goal of the Water RAPIDS program is to help communities balance a secure water future for residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors with the water demands of the natural environment. The Water RAPIDS team offers a range of services, including assistance with watershed management and planning that integrates natural resources, water resources, and community development.
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Ardeth Barnhart
Presentation: Navajo Solar Desalination Demonstration Project
Speaker: Ardeth Barnhart, Director, University of Arizona Renewable Energy Network
Time/Location: 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. / WRRC Sol Resnick Conference Room (350 N. Campbell)
Presentation: Roosevelt Irrigation District West Van Buren Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF) Project
Speakers: Donovan Neese, Superintendent, PE, MBA, Roosevelt Irrigation District (RID), & Joel Peterson, Principal Engineer, PE, RID
Time/Location: 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. / WRRC Sol Resnick Conference Room (350 N. Campbell)
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AZ Daily Sun: Water Festival Helps Fourth Graders Learn Conservation
Arizona Project WET was recently featured in an Arizona Daily Sun article on the Sept. 17 Flagstaff Water Festival. Project WET held the day-long event at Floxglenn Park in partnership with the City of Flagstaff and SCA, a leading global hygiene and forest products company. At the festival, service learning volunteers from Northern Arizona University College of Education as well as community members and staff from SCA and the City engaged local 4th graders in an interactive and fun exploration of groundwater systems, watersheds, water conservation, and the water cycle. A total of 1,080 fourth grade students, 39 teachers, and 156 parents from several Flagstaff schools participated in the water-themed educational activities. Created by Arizona Project WET, the Arizona Water Festivals have reached 80,652 students statewide since the year 2000. The program is grant-funded and relies on the support of local sponsors, such as utilities and local businesses, to support effective K-12 water science education. Arizona Project WET is a program of the WRRC and Arizona Cooperative Extension both part of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is recognized by the Project WET Foundation for excellent state-specific water education resources.
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September Tucson Water Bill Features Conserve2Enhance Insert
Tucson Water featured the Conserve2Enhance (C2E) program in its Sept. 2015 utility bill insert. The insert provides customers with information on how households and businesses can conserve water through the C2E program. Tucson C2E has been in place since 2011 when a collaboration between WRRC, Tucson Water, and nonprofits Sonoran Institute and Watershed Management Group created the first-ever C2E pilot program. The program connects voluntary water conservation to community action by linking participant donations, based on their water savings, to funding for local environmental enhancement projects. To date, Tucson participants have conserved over 7 million gallons of water through conservation strategies ranging from behavioral changes to rainwater harvesting installations, and the program has received $86,961 in donations. Donations have come directly from participant water savings and the "Riparian Enhancement and Open Space" check box on Tucson Water monthly bills. The check box program allows all Tucson Water customers to contribute to C2E on their monthly water bill, regardless of if they are registered Tucson C2E participants. Tax deductible donations can also be made trough the C2E website. Funds are awarded to local environmental enhancement projects through an annual application process overseen by the Tucson C2E Advisory Board. View Insert More on C2E
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Special Issue of Water Discusses Recharge and Water Banking
"Policy and Economics of Managed Aquifer Recharge and Water Banking," a special issue of Water, addresses the development and implementation of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) to help alleviate drought-caused water shortages and secure water supply for the future.
This special issue comprises 13 papers that examine the regulatory framework and the economic feasibility of MAR to mitigate the effects of rapid population growth, climate change, and drought on water supply. The papers are based on research done in different parts of the world including Arizona, India, Saudi Arabia, and northern Gaza.
The issue was edited by guest Editors Dr. Sharon B. Megdal, WRRC Director, and Dr. Peter Dillion, Research Scientist, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia.
Along with Kenneth Seasholes from the Central Arizona Project, Megdal and Dillion also co-authored a paper for this issue, "Water banks: Using managed aquifer recharge to meet water policy objectives." The paper describes water banking in the state of Arizona from a policy perspective, and explores conditions under which water banking could successfully be applied to other parts of the world.
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Arizona Project WET: Tucson Education Program Underway
A team of university students and AmeriCorps members is preparing to be part of Arizona Project WET's Tucson Education Program for this school year. These individuals, or Water Educators, facilitate interactive groundwater lessons in local classrooms and engage different audiences in field experiences at the Sweetwater Wetlands. Third grade students learn about the water cycle, our watershed, water conservation, and the wetland ecosystem during their field experience. Students in 6th - 12th grades conduct scientific investigations, contribute data to an ecological citizen science project, and explore the significance of the riparian area. Last school year, APW's Tucson Education Program provided instruction to 9,500 students. For more information about how to get your classroom involved, email Jessica Ahlstrom at apwscheduling@gmail.com
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UCOWR/NIWR 2016
Conference: Call for Special Sessions
The Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) Annual Water Resources Conference are holding their UCOWR/NIWR Annual Water Resources Conference on June 21-23, 2016, in Pensacola Beach, FL. The Conference will focus on critical water issues in the southeastern United States.
The Conference Planning Committee invites you to propose a Special Session for the conference. A Special Session Organizer's role is to propose a relevant and timely subject, recruit speakers to submit abstracts to the session, and moderate the session during the June 2016 Conference. Special Sessions can be in the form of a panel discussion or a group of 4 or 6 oral presentations on a specific topic. Deadline to submit special session proposals is October 19, 2015.
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Call for Water-related Submissions to UCOWR's JCWRE
The Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education (JCWRE) is now accepting general manuscript submissions for the yearly summer issue, beginning in 2016.
JCWRE is the principal publication of the Universities Council on Water Resources. It is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to disseminating original work in water research, policy, education, and extension.
A journal issue comprised of general water-related submissions will be published yearly in the JCWRE summer issue. Previously, JCWRE issues have been composed of invited papers. This is the first general call for manuscripts.
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Catch up on Past WRRC Brown Bag Seminars via GoToWebinar
Miss out on a Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) Brown Bag seminar?
PDF presentations and GoToWebinar webcasts of select past Brown Bags are available on the WRRC website.
International, U.S., regional, and local speakers addressed WRRC audiences on a range of timely water topics, from funding water infrastructure and addressing water quality to desalination and water supply resiliency. To catch up on past WRRC Brown Bags, click here and choose the Brown Bag seminar that interests you. View Upcoming Brown Bag Seminars |
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