AMWUA Blog
Water Shortages: The Big Picture
The drought and potential shortages of Colorado River water have everyone talking. That's good news because no one seems to pay attention to water issues if there isn't a crisis brewing. It's also the bad news because everyone--pundits, politicians and prognosticator--has an opinion, which makes it tough to determine how the pieces fit together so we can see the big picture....
Jun 16 2014
Mrs. Kelly Gets New Toilets, But Flushing Problems Persist
Charlene Kelly lives on Phoenix's Westside with her daughter and a grandchild who likes to flush toilets just for the joy of it....
Jun 09 2014
Groundwater Management: Why It Still Matters
It took until June 12, 1980 for Arizona to decide it was not ok for farmers, cities, developers, and businesses to pump as much groundwater as they wanted,whenever and wherever they needed it. By that time, water users in Maricopa County were depleting 30 times the amount of groundwater that was naturally replenished through rain and snow each year....
Jun 02 2014
Myth: A Desert Garden Will Save Water and Money
MYTH 1: A desert garden means replacing grass with ugly gravel....
May 26 2014
Storm Water: From The Streets To Your Rivers and Parks
As if you needed a good reason to pick up after your dog, here is yet one more: storm drains. Phoenix, a city of blue skies and sunshine, maintains an 895-mile storm drain system. Desert storms are few but the hard and fast rain rushes across yards, driveways, sidewalks and streets. The torrents carry away oil from dripping cars, goop from open dumpsters, fertilizers from gardens and lawns, bits o...
May 19 2014
Can Bucket Masters Save The Valley's Water?
Every fourth grade scientist wants to be the Bucket Master. Who wouldn't?...
May 12 2014
Upside Of A Superfund Site
Two companies contain and clean contaminated groundwater under the Phoenix Goodyear Airport located in the west Valley. That's not the only good news. Now both of these companies are saving the City of Goodyear $325,000 in irrigating costs each year. The companies give Goodyear enough clean water to irrigate the town's largest park and its Cactus League-baseball training complex....
May 04 2014
Remembering Senator Turley
It was a golden era in state politics. Bruce Babbitt was Governor, Stan Turley was President of the Senate, Burton Barr herded the House Republicans, and Alfredo Gutierrez led the Senate Democrats. I was the Executive Director of the Arizona Groundwater Management Study Commission and new to the scene (a kid really at age 28), but it didn't take long to realize that these were great men working to...
Apr 27 2014
Big Leaks Require Big Damage
There are dripping bathroom faucets and backyard irrigation puddles and then there are the big leaks. Age, accidents and weather regularly cause city water lines to break. In Phoenix water lines can reach 9 feet in diameter. These breaks rarely cause gushers or sink holes like breaks in older cities. In the Greater Phoenix Metro area water main breaks damage roads and sometimes sidewalks....
Apr 20 2014
Is There Effluent In My Park?
A 6-acre lake in the middle of Peoria's Pioneer Park opened to fishing in September. It will draw an estimated 3,000 anglers a year. These urban anglers will catch and keep about 80 percent of trout, catfish, sunfish, and bass within 30 days after they're stocked. The fish live in a lake of reclaimed water, also called effluent. Yes, it is treated sewage that once flowed down your toilet and your ...