AMWUA Blog

Jan 02 2017

Steve Olson arrived at AMWUA in the summer of 2005. He had the unenviable task of assuming the job of executive director from Roger Manning, who had been an institution at AMWUA for more than twenty years. Steve would face the challenge of guiding a non-profit through a difficult economic recession. But Steve was not new to the world of water policy or to city issues. His career in water spanned t...

Dec 26 2016

There wasn't much David Iwanski didn't know about Arizona water when he joined AMWUA's Board of Directors in 2014. Avondale Councilmember Iwanski trained as an attorney, spent four years in the Army and served as an aide to the late Arizona U.S. Congressman Eldon Rudd. It was Rudd who instructed him to learn everything he could about water and energy in the West. That led to a job with the U.S. Bu...

Dec 19 2016

In the last two years, the Town of Gilbert has more than doubled the number of Homeowners Associations enrolled in a free program that takes the guesswork out of landscape irrigation. The program walks HOAs through the steps that lead to thriving landscapes while using less water and saving money. That information fosters greater harmony among HOA board members, residents, property managers and la...

Dec 12 2016

When I meet people and they find out I work in water, they always ask me this question: When are we going to run out of water? Arizona legislators - particularly those who were just elected - have the same concerns and questions about the state's water supplies. Many of these lawmakers from both urban and rural communities attended AMWUA's legislative forum on December 7th to get answers. AMWUA as...

Dec 05 2016

When City of Chandler Councilmember Rick Heumann joined the AMWUA Board of Directors six years ago he knew this about water: "I drank it." He knew Chandler had a water treatment plant and a wastewater treatment plant - and that he had been assigned to the board of an important regional water agency. When it came to water management, Mr. Heumann called himself a blank slate - but he wasn't really. ...

Nov 28 2016

Water is life and nowhere is that more apparent than in the desert. Fountains and pools of water were built into ancient cities, including desert cities, for both practical and aesthetic reasons. They provided access to water for human needs, to support livestock, to grow food crops and gardens. Water features also cool the air creating microclimates and mitigating noise. They allow city dwellers ...

Nov 21 2016

The Salt and Verde rivers are two of the hardest working rivers in the United States.Traveling through Arizona's northern high country and onto the desert plains, the Salt and Verde provide more than half of the AMWUA cities' water supply. On November 15th, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Clarkdale Mayor Doug Van Gausig convened a meeting of mayors, councilmembers, city staffs and business leaders ...

Nov 14 2016

Pima County's Southwest Water Campus is the winner of the New Arizona Prize: Water Innovation Challenge and it has a big job ahead of it. These creative water professionals intend to increase the public's acceptance of reclaimed water - that's highly treated wastewater - for drinking, in this particular case for drinking beer. While the winner received $250,000, the real winner is Arizona....

Nov 07 2016

Here's one of the easiest ways you can save money and water: learn how to manage your irrigation controller. AMWUA cities' conservation professionals continue to report that many homeowners, businesses and HOAs irrigate their landscapes throughout the winter as if it were still 110 degrees outside. It's such a waste because most desert-adapted plants can make it through the winter months with litt...