Government and Policy
Arizona’s housing crisis goes hand-in-hand with state’s water & heat crises
A recent study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition ranked Arizona among the five worst states for affordable housing, with just 26 available options for every 100 extremely low income households.
New developments in Tucson may face tougher water-saving measures
Local water conservation advocates Val Little and Eliza Stokes say the city needs to take additional steps to protect drinking water supplies from future uncertainties in river flows.
Little, founder of the nonprofit Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona, is also a member of the city’s Citizens Water Advisory Committee. Stokes is communications and campaign manager for the nonprofit Watershed Management Group, which both installs and advocates for rainwater harvesting systems for homes and businesses.
Fixing the ailing Colorado River: Where will the water savings come from?
Think of five years worth of Tucson Water’s annual deliveries to 739,000 people.
That’s how much water, totaling about 500,000 acre-feet, that leaders of the three Colorado River Lower Basin states hope to soon find ways to save each year from the river’s dwindling supply, said Bill Hasencamp, a top Southern California water official. Read more...
‘Sun Tran Stories’ documents passenger lives
Losing a job can leave you feeling hopeless and lost.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure Supplement for Avondale's Street Tree Master Plan
City of Avondale Low Impact Development Street Tree Master Plan Supplement for Integrating Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Developing a Net-Water Positive Vision for the Sierra Vista Subwatershed
The objective of this report is to provide recommendations for how new development can reduce water demands and better utilize urban enhanced runoff to shift towards a water positive future to enable groundwater aquifer stabilization and recovery and support sustained flow in the San Pedro River.
A Stormwater Action Plan for Sierra Vista
The Sierra Vista sub‐watershed drains to the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) and the City and region are currently withdrawing more water than is naturally replenished each year. This water deficit can be reduced through a holistic view of stormwater management within the subwatershed. Although this Stormwater Action Plan is specifically focused on the City of Sierra Vista it can serve as a guide for further adoption of Low Impact Development (LID) and green infrastructure practices throughout the Sierra Vista subwatershed.
Appendices For A Stormwater Action Plan for Sierra Vista
- Appendix A – Hydrologic Modeling
- Appendix B – Opportunities for Enhanced Channel Recharge
- Appendix C – Cost Benefit Analysis Details
- Appendix D – Sierra Vista Development Code
- Appendix E – A Water Balance Scenario for Sierra Vista Sub‐watershed
- Tech Memo - Buena #3 Geomorphic and Geologic Assessment
- Tech Memo - Opportunities for recharge using grade-control structures
A Stormwater Action Plan for the Health of Sierra Vista and the San Pedro River
Watershed Management Group is working with the City of Sierra Vista to “fill the void” in the local water budget and enhance flow in the nearby San Pedro River. Taking what we’ve learned from our experiences working at homes, neighborhoods, and businesses, we applied Low Impact Development (LID) strategies across the Woodcutter Wash sub-watershed in Sierra Vista. Modeling the flow of stormwater produced at each site, and as it flows down to the San Pedro River, revealed that LID features (e.g. rain gardens) produce positive, tangible benefits when adopted on a broad scale.
