ADWR: Do your part in water conservation

The Arizona Department of Water Resources asks the public to do its part in educating, celebrating and taking action to promote conservation.

"All citizens of Arizona should use water as efficiently as possible and practice a low water-use lifestyle as a way to help ensure a long-term sufficient water supply," ADWR Director Herb Guenther said.

"There are many ways to strengthen Arizona's 'culture of conservation' and through our combined efforts we will succeed."

ADWR is answering the call by conducting a series of workshops and Web-inars on water conservation practices; participating in school water-use audits, promoting xeriscape, offering leak-detection opportunities to Arizona water providers, providing low-water-use pre-rinse spray valves to Arizona eateries and participating at various water-education events around the state, including Make a Splash with Arizona Project WET Water Festivals.

Sources of information on conservation are nearly inescapable; especially at www.azwater.gov. ADWR offers the following suggestions:

* Listen to an ADWR-sponsored online Web-inar about water efficiency. The schedule is at www.azwater.gov. You need only a computer and a phone.
* Plant low-water use, drought-tolerant landscapes and group plants based on water needs. See www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/StatewidePlanning/Conservation2/Residential/.
* Water correctly - even xeriscapes can waste water.
* The ADWR Web site is chock-full of great water-saving ideas. They're inexpensive and they work. See them at www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/StatewidePlanning/Conservation2/Technologies/.
* Restaurateurs, ADWR has a blue plate special - replace your old high-flow spray valves with the water-efficient "Rinse Smart" valve. They're free and they work.
* Install high-efficiency toilet and think about "waterless" urinals, too.
* Install water-efficient devices, such as faucet aerators, shut-off nozzles and showerheads.
* Check for indoor and outdoor leaks often and fix them immediately.
* Remember the water-energy connection. Saving water saves energy.
* Teachers in Arizona will find an amazing array of conservation lessons already prepared and ready for the classroom.
Find out more by attending an Arizona Conserve Water Workshop for Educators. The information is at www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/StatewidePlanning/Conservation2/Education/.

One of the most enjoyable, and instructive, ways to embrace the "culture of conservation" is by conducting a water-use audit, either at school or in the home.
For more information, visit www.azwater.gov.

 

ADWR, Arizona hailed as “Partner in Conservation”

May 7, 2009 - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar honored the Arizona Department of Water Resources for its work on achieving a landmark agreement on how to operate the Colorado River.

Tom Carr, assistant ADWR director and a key figure in reaching the agreement, was in Washington, D.C., to accept the award on behalf of ADWR. The honor also went to two organizations related to ADWR – the Arizona Water Banking Authority and the Arizona Water Institute

Joining Arizona in the “Partner in Conservation” award were the remaining six states that border on the Colorado River, a 1,400-mile waterway that provides water to 23 million people and 2 million irrigated acres in the Colorado Basin and northwestern Mexico. The award also was shared by dozens of Indian tribes, environmental advocates and resource-management groups.

Salazar recognized the participants for finalizing an agreement known as the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lakes Powell and Mead.

The guidelines were developed during a period of severe drought, declining reservoir levels and continued growth in demand for water. The agreement, also known as the Interim Guidelines, has been hailed as the most significant change in river management since the Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922.

These guidelines, and the associated Record of Decision (“ROD”), represent the culmination of talks between the seven basin states and the Interior Department on how to manage the lower Colorado River during times of shortage, and how to coordinate the operations between the two largest reservoirs on the Colorado River. The agreement will be in effect until 2026.