Tag: Arizona Department of Water Resources

Arizona Department of Water Resources field hydrologists conducting “basin sweep” to collect water level measurements in the Northwest Basins Planning Area

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         February 27, 2023

Arizona Department of Water Resources field hydrologists conducting “basin sweep” to collect water level measurements in the Northwest Basins Planning Area

PHOENIX- Beginning the week of February 27th, 2023, and continuing through April 2023, Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) field services staff will make an extensive effort to measure water levels in wells in the Northwest Basins Planning Area. This survey of wells – or basin “sweep,” as it is known – was last conducted during the Spring of 2018. 

The data collected will be analyzed and used to obtain a comprehensive overview of the groundwater conditions and used to support scientific and water management planning efforts. Among others, data uses will include:

  • Analysis of water-level trends
  • Groundwater modeling
  • Water-level change maps
  • Hydrologic reports
  • Water resource planning and management.

The Northwest Basins Planning Area is located in the far northwest portion of the State and comprises the Detrital, Hualapai (Hualapai INA), Meadview, and Sacramento Valley Groundwater Basins. The Planning Area lies within Mohave County. The City of Kingman is the largest community in the Planning Area.

For more information regarding this matter, please contact Public Information Officer Shauna Evans at smevans@azwater.gov or (602) 771-8079. Details about the nature of basin sweeps and groundwater modeling can be found here. If you would like to volunteer your well for participation in this groundwater survey please contact the Hydrology Division at (602) 771-8535.

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Turning the tables: reporters covering the Colorado River explain their challenges to Colorado River water users

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Left to right: Peter Prengaman (AP); Crystal Thompson (CAP); Alex Hager (KUNC); Hunter Bassler (12 News)

Left to right: Peter Prengaman (AP); Crystal Thompson (CAP); Alex Hager (KUNC); Hunter Bassler (12 News)

The 2022 Colorado River Water Users Association meetings are setting records for attendees. It has never before sold out. This time, it has.

It literally has “sold out” of credentials for media, too. The halls of the Caesar’s Palace vast meeting-room levels are swarming with more media than these meetings ever have seen before. This “colloquium” gives attendees a unique window into the news world and how it covers Colorado River water issues.

Peter Prengaman, an environmental news editor at the Associated Press, describes a package of Colorado River stories that AP and other journalists have created for AP subscribers, including Arizona publications such as the Yuma Sun and the Arizona Daily Star.

AP, says Prengaman, previously covered climate-change issues as a science story. In this latest Colorado River series, as well as in other coverage, the news service is attempting to examine climate change more “holistically,” including pursuing stories on water issues around the world.

“A lot of people are only now starting to engage with climate change,” he said. “But the science, really, is 40 or 50 years old.”

Alex Hager, a reporter who produces NPR-style stories for public radio at his home station of KUNC, as well as for numerous other public-radio stations around the US and Canada. In addition, he produces written web features on his subjects, which include a considerable number of stories related to the Colorado River.

His work on the Colorado River is funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Hager observes that there is “a strict firewall” between his reporting and the funding foundation.

Hager notes that a lot of his story subject come from sources “other than PR pitches.” That got a laugh from the audience, which seems to include a fair number of PR people.

Like a great many other people who are attempting to understand the complex issues facing the Colorado River, Hager acknowledges that learning the complex language of water has been a continuous challenge.

Hunter Bassler of KPNX, Channel 12 in Phoenix, is a digital reporter and producer, mainly for the news station’s website.

“Visually showing the effects of climate change is pretty difficult,” said Bassler.

Through his online articles, he said, TV reporters can see whether a story can translate into something they can turn for television. Water stories, he said, need to be interesting, accurate and digestible – a real problem, he acknowledges, given their complexity.

“Water agencies have done a fine job of making water data available online,” he observed.

Jerd Smith of Fresh Water News, a service provided by Water Education Colorado, described how her news service was created to help bolster the dwindling coverage afforded by traditional news media whose newsrooms have been decimated in recent years from layoffs.

“We share our content with media organizations across (Colorado),” said Smith.

Smith noted the importance of including maps with water stories, since “all water stories are local stories.” She pointed out the need for reporters to “get out and build relationships” rather than report from “your closets and basements” – an issue that to many observers became much more serious during the pandemic.

Teal Lehto, who bills herself as “Western Water Girl,” produces water-related videos on Tik Tok, a video-format social media platform that “is the most popular platform” for people under 30, she observed. Lehto has over 50,000 regular viewers.

Like Public Radio’s Alex Hager, she said, “I also use my closet as my studio.”

Lehto noted that she only started her water-news video platform in April. “And, now, here I am up here (on a CRWUA panel) today.”

“My platform is proof that young people are interested and will be engaged, but only if you are speaking their language,” she said.

Comment Period for Arizona Water Protection Fund Fiscal Year 2023 Grant Applications Now Open

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 12, 2022

Press Release

CONTACT: Shauna Evans

(602) 771-8079

smevans@azwater.gov

Comment Period for Arizona Water Protection Fund Fiscal Year 2023 Grant Applications Now Open

PHOENIX – The Arizona Water Protection Fund* has received grant applications for its fiscal year 2023 funding cycle. 

Grant applications are now available for public review at the Arizona Water Protection Fund website at https://www.azwpf.gov/grant-information/2023. 

Written comments regarding grant applications may be submitted during the 45-day public comment period, which begins September 14, 2022 and ends October 28, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.  Written public comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., October 28, 2022.  Written comments can be mailed, sent via email, or sent by fax.  If mailed, written comments must be postmarked no later than October 28, 2022.  Please include application numbers and project titles. For additional information, please contact Reuben Teran, Executive Director at (602) 771-8528.

Mailing AddressFaxEmail
Arizona Water Protection Fund
Arizona Department of Water Resources
Attn: Reuben Teran
1802 W Jackson St. Box #79 
Phoenix, Arizona 85007		(602) 771-8687rteran@azwater.gov

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* The Arizona Water Protection Fund supports projects that develop or implement on the ground measures that directly maintain, enhance and restore Arizona’s river and riparian resources

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“Appreciation Week” Recognizes Essential Services of Arizona Water Professionals

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         April 6, 2022

“Appreciation Week” Recognizes Essential Services of Arizona Water Professionals

PHOENIX – During the week of April 11-17 Arizona leaders from both within and outside the state’s “water community” will take time during Arizona Water Professionals Appreciation Week to recognize the thousands of water professionals working to provide residents with clean and sustainable water supplies. Appreciation Week also aims to highlight career opportunities in the water industry and increase awareness of the state’s unique water resources.

The kick-off of the fourth-annual Arizona Water Professionals Appreciation Week — April 11-17 — is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday, April 11 at the State Capitol.

All Arizona water professionals are invited to be recognized at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 11 in the Rose Garden at the state capitol to participate in the photo opportunity and receive a free lapel pin.

As in previous years, Sen. Rosanna Gabaldon (D-Sahuarita) will read the Senate Proclamation from the Arizona Senate floor the day of the celebration. The Senate reading will be recorded and archived on the Arizona Legislature website (azleg.gov) under the Arizona Capitol Television tab.

More information regarding the Arizona Water Professionals Appreciation Week celebration can be found at arizonawaterprofessionals.com.

See Also

This event is sponsored by AZ Water Association. For more information, please contact Suzanne Durkin-Bighorn, Executive Director suzannedb@azwater.org or Juliet McKenna, event co-organizer, jmckenna@elmontgomery.com

How Will AZDCP Fit Into The Colorado River Basin Drought Contingency Plan?

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While Arizona water managers and affected stakeholders have been meeting almost daily over the past several months to finalize the state’s Drought Contingency Plan (DCP), plans have been underway on a parallel track for several years to ensure the framework is in place for the entire Colorado River Basin DCP.

Chronic, often severe drought in the Southwest is seriously straining the Colorado River system. With Lake Powell less than half full and Lake Mead below 40 percent of capacity, the seven Colorado River states are preparing to act should Lake Mead continue falling toward critical surface levels. At the same time, some states – including Arizona – are developing drought contingency plans supporting intrastate needs to contend with future Colorado River shortages.

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released drafts of the Upper Basin DCP and Lower Basin DCP documents. This gives the first glimpse at what will be included in the interstate agreement amongst the Upper Basin and Lower Basin states. These documents contain actions that are in addition to the provisions of the existing system-wide agreement, formally known as the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

According to the Bureau’s website:

  • The Upper Basin DCP is designed to: a) protect critical elevations at Lake Powell and help assure continued compliance with the 1922 Colorado River Compact, and b) authorize storage of conserved water in the Upper Basin that could help establish the foundation for a Demand Management Program that may be developed in the future.
  • The Lower Basin DCP is designed to: a) require Arizona, California and Nevada to contribute additional water to Lake Mead storage at predetermined elevations, and b) create additional flexibility to incentivize additional voluntary conservation of water to be stored in Lake Mead.

These documents show the interstate framework into which the intrastate (in our case, AZDCP) will fit. AZDCP work continues and we anticipate our intrastate implementation plan and framework will be completed by the end of November, prior to the December Colorado River Water Users Association meeting, at which point the entire plan will come together.

For more information on AZDCP, visit ADWR’s website or CAP’s website.

Arizona’s Summer Monsoon Season Has Been A Lively One. But ‘Liveliest Ever?’

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After a so-so start to the southern Arizona summer “monsoon” season, storms pounded Tucson through early August with almost rhythmic frequency.

It was much the same in the metropolitan Phoenix area, which saw an unusual spate of strong storms moving through Arizona’s south-central Valley on five out of six days beginning on August 7.

This year’s summer storm activity has been widespread. Arizona’s eastern mountains saw almost daily rainfall from mid-July through early- to mid-August.  To the north, meanwhile, the strong storms started in earnest early.

Persistent, heavy rain battered the Flagstaff region commencing in mid-July, generating flash floods and localized flooding in many Flagstaff-area neighborhoods.

On July 18, a an estimated “1,000-year” storm dumped an astonishing six inches of rain on Flagstaff, with 4.5 inches of it pouring down in a span of just two hours.

The summer storm season has been so strong at times, in fact, that it has prompted some to ask: Is this the strongest monsoon-storm season ever for Arizona?

There’s no simple answer to that.

Arizona takes its summer monsoon season seriously. There is an extended web of agencies, including the Arizona Department of Water Resources, that performs a vast array of services tied to storm activity.

The National Weather Service, for example, monitors the conditions that may provoke Arizona storms. It reports both locally and from the service’s Climate Prediction Center (a function of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in Maryland.

A complex, multi-agency system in Arizona, meanwhile, uses sophisticated land- and satellite-based technology to track storm production, including rain levels and flooding, and gets that information out to the public as soon as possible.

ADWR is the lead State agency for the Arizona Flood Warning System, or AFWS.

The AFWS is comprised of local, state and federal entities that collaborate on statewide strategies for flood management.

Podcast: Arizona Water Resources talks with Brian Cosson, Flood Warning Coordinator for ADWR

So, what is all that data telling us about the strength of the 2018 summer monsoon season thus far? It has set records in Flagstaff. But elsewhere?

Paul Iñiguez, a meteorologist with the NWS in Phoenix, recently told the Arizona Republic that from the standpoint of rainfall, the summer monsoons have been very productive in central Arizona, too.

“From June 15th through August 12th, this is the second most rain on average across (Phoenix) since 1990,” Iñiguez said. “It’s been wet.”

Some of the strength of the summer storms may be derived from “moisture surges” egged along by “tropical cyclones.”

Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch at the Climate Prediction Center with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told KJZZ recently about how “tropical cyclones” in the eastern Pacific basin are connected to Arizona’s monsoon storms.

Hurricanes, typhoons and other major Pacific storms all come under the general heading of tropical cyclones.

“Sea-surface temperatures, or ocean temperatures at the surface are strongly positive, meaning warmer than normal,” said Gottschalck. “And when those temperatures that are warmer than normal have been persisting for quite some time, there is more energy for tropical cyclones to develop.”

He said a spate of tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific likely contributed to the moisture surges in Arizona and New Mexico that, among other things, produced the amazing string of consecutive stormy days in central Arizona.

Big Pacific storms, he said, do not have to  make direct hits on the Southwest to have an impact.

“The systems very often create moisture surges up the coast,” he said. “That very often tends to create stronger coverage of rainfall. In general, these storms don’t have to make direct hits on Arizona and New Mexico to do that.”

(For more on research into monsoon activity in Arizona, view the video below)

 

Agenda for first Steering Committee gathering on Colorado River drought-contingency planning is released

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The agenda is out for Thursday’s meeting of the newly formed Steering Committee that will recommend how to adopt and implement a Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan for Arizona.

The agenda can be found here and here.

Thursday’s agenda includes plans for discussing four key elements for implementing a drought-contingency plan in Arizona. They will include: plans for mitigating the impact on agriculture of a Colorado River water delivery shortage; tribal “intentionally created surplus” (ICS) water for Lake Mead; an Arizona Conservation Plan; and issues involving excess Colorado River water.

The Steering Committee was formed as a collaborative effort by the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project to help protect Lake Mead from falling to dangerously low levels.

The Steering Committee’s mission is to recommend an LB DCP that is  acceptable to Arizona water users. In addition to the July 26 event, eight more Steering Committee meetings are scheduled to be held between now and December. All meetings are open to the public.

Thursday’s meeting, scheduled for 1-4 p.m. at CAP’s headquarters at 23636 N 7th Street in north Phoenix, will be recorded for a later posting on the ADWR and CAP websites.

 

 

Planning for July 10 Drought Contingency Plan public briefing underway

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Lake Mead bathtub ring Mark Henle Arizona Republic

Lake Mead and the infamous “bathtub ring” photo courtesy Mark Henle/Arizona Republic

The next step toward bringing a Drought Contingency Plan in Arizona to closure is scheduled for Tuesday, July 10, at the Heard Museum in central Phoenix.

Co-hosted once again by the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, the public meeting is set for 1-4 pm at the museum auditorium, located at 2301 N. Central Ave.

The first step in this process – which is expected to open the door for legislative authorization for the ADWR Director to sign the system-wide DCP – began with a three-hour briefing on June 28.

The briefing, as well as the renewed commitment to drought-contingency planning in Arizona, is spurred by the serious conditions facing the Colorado River system, especially the Lower Basin region and Lake Mead.

The risks of Lake Mead falling below critically low reservoir elevations have tripled in the past decade, increasing the risks of potentially draconian reductions to Arizona’s Colorado River supply.  The tools provided in existing guidelines created by agreements among the Colorado River states now are insufficient to address the current risks to the system.

Information about that June 28 briefing, including a video recording of the entire proceeding, is available here.

Also available at ADWR’s Drought Contingency Planning website is a background packet about the briefing, as well as the complete package of slide presentations by ADWR Director Buschatzke, Central Arizona Project General Manager Ted Cooke and Terry Fulp, the Lower Colorado Regional Director for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

A major focus of the July 10 briefing will include answering inquiries from the public about the DCP.

ADWR and CAWCD staff fielded dozens of questions during the June 28 briefing, including questions from audience members and from online viewers. The event on July 10 – which will include technical staff from both organizations on hand – will devote more time for responding to questions from the public.

The June 28 briefing closed with the announcement that an “Arizona Steering Committee” will be formed to discuss and recommend how to adopt and implement the Drought Contingency Plan in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River system in a way that is acceptable to Arizona water users.

While the delegates to the Steering Committee will be by invitation jointly provided by ADWR and CAWCD, the meetings and discussions will be open, and the public is invited to participate. The Steering Committee is tentatively scheduled to conduct its first public meeting on July 26th.

Additional details can be found at https://new.azwater.gov/lbdcp  and www.cap-az.com/AZDCP .

The July 10 Meeting

What: A further discussion, including more public inquiries, on the Arizona Discussion on a Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan

When: July 10, 1-4 p.m.

Where: The Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix 85004

Who: The Arizona Department of Water Resources, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Attention focusing on planned June 28 Colorado River briefing by ADWR and CAP

On By azwater

New Mexico journalist John Fleck, whose well-informed blog has long served as a sort of news pathfinder regarding Colorado River issues, just posted a lengthy take on the briefing to be co-sponsored by the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project in Tempe on June 28.

The briefing, which is to feature Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman as keynote speaker, will examine the systemic risks posed by potential shortages on the Colorado River.

The event also represents the kick-off of a continuing Arizona discussion on how to adopt and implement the plans of the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada for contending with a delivery shortfall, known as the Drought Contingency Plan (see details of the briefing below).

The June 28 event will be livestreamed.

According to Fleck, a shortfall in deliveries of Colorado River water will constitute a lesson in the difference between an “allocation” of water from the river and an “entitlement” to that water. Fleck illustrates the various challenges facing Colorado River water-users with an examination of agriculture in Pinal County, where the river water delivered via the CAP canal system is subject to availability. It’s an interesting analysis and well worth a read.

The June 28 event:

What: An Arizona Discussion of the Risks to Arizona’s Colorado River Supply and the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan

Who: Panel will include Bureau Commissioner Brenda Burman; ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke; and, CAP General Manager Ted Cooke; the event also will feature presentations from BOR staff on the conditions on the Colorado River and the potential for delivery shortfalls in coming years

Where: Arizona Historical Society Museum at the Arizona Heritage Center at Papago Park – hosted in the auditorium; 1300 N. College Ave, Tempe 85281

When: June 28, 1-4 pm.

How: The briefing will be livestreamed online; visit azwater.gov or CentralArizonaProject.com for details

 

Respected water blogger sees a (barely) hidden message in federal press release on Colorado River management

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Burman
Bureau of  Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman

Well-respected water journalist and author John Fleck is serving up some intriguing thoughts on his blog about a recent press release issued by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Author of Water is for Fighting Over: and Other Myths about Water in the West, Fleck contends the Bureau’s press release was less of a traditional press announcement than an implicit call to action directed at the Colorado River basin states.

John Fleck at Morelos Dam
Journalist and author John Fleck

Fleck argues that Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman used the press statement as an opportunity to kick-start the effort to finalize drought-contingency planning among the seven Colorado River states.It’s hard to argue with Fleck’s point. As quoted in her press release, Commissioner Burman observes that “(w)e need action and we need it now.

“We can’t afford to wait for a crisis before we implement drought contingency plans,” she said.

Fleck noted that the press release also took the unusual step of including messages supportive of drought-contingency planning from representatives of all seven Colorado River basin states. He said his favorite quote was from John Entsminger of Nevada, who observed that “Mother Nature does not care about our politics or our schedules.”

Well spoken, indeed. But the representative from Arizona, we should note, also had interesting points to make:

“The completion of the lower basin states’ Drought Contingency Plan is vitally important to Arizonans,” wrote Tom Buschatzke,  Director of the Arizona Department of  Water Resources.

“The plan reduces the likelihood of Lake Mead declining to critically low levels and incentivizes the use of tools to conserve water in the Lake so that reductions in delivery of Arizona’s Colorado River supplies are avoided or lessened.”