Water Resources Research Center  

March. 10, 2016 / Volume 4, Issue 9       
WRRC CONFERENCE 2016
WRRC Annual Conference Online Registration to Close on March 15th!
 

The WRRC Annual Conference will be held at the University of Arizona on Monday, March 21. Online registration is available for only a few more days! Onsite registration will also be available, but don't delay - you won't want to miss a single session of this interest packed agenda.

#AZwater: "Tech, Talk, and Tradeoffs" will feature a diversity of speakers representing vast water knowledge. Keynote speakers and panelists will address water management policies of the Office of the Governor, tribal governments, and more. Municipal water providers will discuss their development of sustainable and diverse water portfolios. Farmers will speak on traditional methods and new technologies furthering sustainable farming in arid Arizona.

At our post-conference reception, you can enjoy lively conversation stimulated by the day's happenings. Tech stations around the reception hall will give people a chance to work with the prize-winning Beyond the Mirage water awareness web experience.

 
 
Learn more about the WRRC Conference, and register here  
WRRC EVENTS
Charles Bayless - Perspectives of an Electric Utility Executive on the Water-Energy-Climate Nexus
March 29, 2016  
 
The WRRC presents its 2016 Distinguished 
Speaker

Please note: This special talk will be held in the new ENR2 building.

Speaker: Charles Bayless, retired Chairman and CEO of Tucson Electric Power and Illinois Power.

Time/Location: 12:00 p.m. / The University of Arizona ENR2 Building, Room S107

Charles Bayless will speak about the interaction between water, energy, and climate and the shifts that will need to occur at the industry level to take responsibility for our water and natural resources. He will discuss the complex and growing relationship between water, energy, and climate, focusing on how the Nation's largest water user, the electric power industry, and the Nation's largest electricity user, the water industry are inter-related.

Bayless was President and Provost of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology and currently serves on the boards of several water and energy organizations. 

Note: This presentation will also be webcast live via GotoWebinar.
Brown Bag Seminar - 
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Lower Santa Cruz River Basin Study
April 5, 2016 
 
Speakers: Eve Halper, Natural Resources Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation, and Kathy Chavez, Water Policy Manager, Pima County

Time/Location: 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. / WRRC Sol Resnick Conference Room (350 N. Campbell).

Note: This presentation will also be webcast live via GotoWebinar.

For a complete list of upcoming Brown Bag seminars click here
Tucson Launch of the BEYOND THE MIRAGE Interactive Web Experience
March 19, 2016 

Time/Location: 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. / Borderlands Brewing Company - 119 East Toole Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701.

BEYOND THE MIRAGE is a partnership of University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Arizona Public Media to educate and engage every person in the reality of water in the Southwest.  With the official launch of the interactive web experience, expert insights captured in professional documentary-like clips are made available to anyone with an internet connection.

Register for this FREE event here

Find more on BEYOND THE MIRAGE  here
WEEKLY REPORT
Dr. Kelly Mott Lacroix and Nate Delano Finalists for the Presidential Management Fellows Program 
 
Two WRRC staff members, Dr. Kelly Mott Lacroix and Nate Delano, have been awarded finalist status for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows Program. The Presidential Management Fellows Program, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, is a two-year program that aims to develop the next generation of federal government leaders through experience, mentoring, and rotational opportunities. The fellowship is open to individuals who recently received a post-graduate degree; Kelly finished her Ph.D. in Arid Land Resource Sciences in May 2015, and Nate completed his M.S. in Water, Society, and Policy in December. Three other finalists also hail from the University of Arizona: Kathleen Compton, Lynette Miller, and Rolando Pintos. 
Taking Action for Threatened Monarch Butterflies at Rio Salado

Fifty 5th and 6th graders from Bethune Elementary School worked to assess the impact of habitat restoration on threatened monarch butterflies and other critters last Friday. They found milkweed, sweetbush, and fairy duster plants flourishing, but no signs yet of the monarch migration from their wintering grounds in Mexico. Last year, through an APW partnership with Phoenix Parks & Recreation, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, the Southwest Monarch Study, and the National Civilian Conservation Corps, over 1,400 middle and high school students from 20 schools planted more than 200 trees and plants and improved irrigation infrastructure to create a habitat where monarch butterflies and their caterpillars will flourish. Investments in this program will allow thousands of Phoenix area students to contribute citizen science for years to come.
 
Learn more about the UA Cooperative Extension Program, Arizona Project WET here
 
JEQ Publishes Antibiotics in Agroecosystems: State of the Science 
   
The publication of the March-April 2016 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ) marks the culmination of a three-year effort led by WRRC Associate Director Jean McLain. McLain, with colleagues from the USDA and the University of Nebraska, organized a 2014 workshop, attended by internationally-renowned researchers, to debate standardization of methods used to detect antibiotic resistance in soil and water. The resulting series of six review papers leads a special section of JEQ that includes 20 additional volunteered papers. McLain and her colleagues will discuss their review papers in a nationwide webcast from the USDA's Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center on March 25. 
 
 
Renewable Natural Resources Foundation Report Release
 
The Renewable Natural Resources Foundation has released a special edition of the Renewable Resources Journal, which reports on the 2015 Congress on Sustaining Western Water. The report features a summary of the presentations, and recommendations of expert speakers and delegates representing government, industry, academia, and the NGO community from the Congress, which took place December 1-2, 2015 at the American Geophysical Union in Washington, DC. Speakers addressed the need to cope with persistent drought in the West as populations continue to grow and significant agricultural production is maintained. WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal, presented a perspective from the Southwest, noting that current legal, technical, and financial challenges should be met with the same spirit that historically led to innovative solutions. She emphasized that assessing solutions requires understanding of legal, institutional, and governance frameworks as well as knowledge of the unique geography of the region.  
 
To view a copy of the report, click here

Follow up on the Community Town Hall, Keeping Arizona's Water Glass Full.
 
The Arizona Town Hall is holding a series of community outreach programs based on recommendations from the 107th Arizona Town Hall, "Keeping Arizona's Water Glass Full". All community outreach programs feature presentations and action-focused discussions. WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal will be among the presenters at the Tucson program and Cado Daily, Water Resources Coordinator, University of Arizona Cochise County Cooperative Extension, will take part in the Sierra Vista and Douglas presentations.

Five outreach programs are planned in March in communities around Arizona.

You can find more information about these programs here
 
 
The Run for World Water 5k 
 
Arizona Water Association will hold its 4th Annual Run for World Water on March 14th, 2016,  in Tempe, AZ. There will be a 5k and a 1k run/walk. All proceeds from the race will benefit Water for People, an International Non-Profit organization working to bring safe water and sanitation to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Bolivia, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, and India.

Have fun and help reduce water poverty with Arizona Water Association !

More information and registration can be found here

Learn more about Water for People here 
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER
The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) -  A unit of the University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Arizona Cooperative Extension - promotes understanding of critical state and regional water management and policy issues through research, community outreach and engagement, and public education. 

University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center | 350 N Campbell Ave | Tucson | AZ | 85721