AMWUA Blog
Healthy Arizona Forests Are Vital To Valley Water Supplies
If you live in the Phoenix Metro Area, more than half your drinking water likely comes from the Salt and Verde rivers. Springs, streams and wetlands in a 13,000-square-mile watershed feed these mountain rivers. In recent decades the watershed, which includes five National Forests, has been battered by ...
Jul 02 2018
Colorado River: Can Arizona Act to Protect Vital Water Source?Now is the time to act on a plan to keep Lake Mead from falling to perilously low levels because of continuing drought and long-standing over-allocation of Colorado River water. That was the unmistakable message when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, ...
Jun 25 2018
Need Inspires Tempe To Create Unique Training FacilityIn 2013, the City of Tempe had 25 water professionals with over 850 years of institutional knowledge and all of them were eligible to retire before the end of 2017. Tempe needed a way for these employees to pass on their knowledge and experience to the next generation before their departures. The city solved this problem by constructing the Tempe Environmental Sampling Campus, a teaching tool so ...
Jun 18 2018
5 Things You Need To Know Right Now About Arizona’s DroughtArizona water supplies are under pressure from ongoing drought, climate change and the over-allocation of the Colorado River among states. Here’s what you need to know about how your AMWUA cities are handling this record-breaking drought. ...
Jun 11 2018
Water Resources: The State Agency That Keeps Arizona WorkingA secure water supply fuels Arizona’s agriculture, tourism, mining, and even its power. Reliable water supplies are essential to attract industries with high paying jobs and meet the needs of homes, schools, hotels and hospitals. Without sustainable water our economic growth would stop. The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) is the state agency charged with helping to ensure that does no...
Jun 04 2018
Engineer Trained In Mexico Helps Glendale Recycle Its WastewaterKarla Camou Guerra is a native of Hermosillo and had a good career as a metallurgist for gold mining companies operating in Mexico. When she was still in her twenties, Karla was about to help one of those companies open a new mine in Honduras. “I was perfectly happy,” Karla said. “I had a good job.” Then, on a visit to Phoenix, friends introduced her to a guy and the idea of that new job in Hondur...
May 28 2018
AMWUA Text Alert Takes Guess Work Out Of WateringAn automated irrigation system waters your yard without you having to think about it – and that’s the problem. If you set the system and then forget it, this convenient device can cost you money, waste precious drinking water and weaken your trees and plants. Forgetting an irrigation system most often means a homeowner is overwatering grass, plants and trees. Soggy soil can prevent trees and plant...
May 21 2018
Price of Uncertainty: Arizona Water Rights Trapped In LawsuitArizona has responsibly managed its water supplies to fuel the growth and prosperity of its largest desert cities for decades to come. While this is a great accomplishment, what is less talked about is a 44-year-old lawsuit that has yet to determine who has the rights to use water from the Gila River and its five tributaries. Arizona’s economic growth has continued in spite of the uncertain nature...
May 14 2018
Glendale: 100th Acre Converted From Grass to Desert LandscapeIn 1986, the City of Glendale established a plan to help lower the amount of water its residents used. The city didn’t mandate conservation or simply cheerlead residents to take action. It offered incentives. Glendale set up a voluntary program that gave residents rebates on their water bills if they invested in efforts to reduce the amount of water they used, such as installing low-flow toilets ...
May 07 2018
Disappointing Session: Action Not Words Are Needed To Solve Arizona Water IssuesWater has been a hot topic at the Legislature ever since last summer when the Governor initiated a statewide conversation about this subject. AMWUA had high hopes at the beginning of the year that the Legislature would ...