In the City of Prescott, the Watson Woods Riparian Preserve, along Granite Creek, is an oasis for wildlife and humans surrounded by development. The city’s wastewater treatment plant and transfer station are located a block to the east, a lumber company and a concrete block manufacturer are located to the south, Highway 89 and some dense subdivisions are to the west. Over the last century, this riparian area has been a sand and gravel mine, a dumpsite, a 4-wheel playground, and a shooting range. In 1995, the City of Prescott established the Watson Woods Riparian Preserve and transferred its management to Prescott Creeks, a grassroots organization working to improve the health of the local Granite Creek Watershed. With the labor of community volunteers, Prescott Creeks realigned four sections of the degraded creek channel giving them a more natural course and revegetated the floodplain to restore riparian habitat and improve water quality. In an area where non-point source pollution is a serious water quality issue, these changes help slow stormwater runoff and filter E-coli bacteria and other contaminants.

Yet another conservation easement has been worked out along the Babocomari River, making the fourth such agreement in the area since January. The total area now protected stands at 1,410.2 acres and 4.61 miles of river. What is occurring along the Babocamari River reflects a national trend: the increased use of conservation easements as a strategy to protect natural resources. According to the Land Trust Alliance the amount of land protected by local and state land trusts using easements doubled to 6.2 million acres between 2000 and 2005.

Includes insert: "The Ecological Implications of Verde River Flows" / Does it take a Crypto Creature to catch public attention and raise concerns about critical water issues citizens should know and care about? The Water Services Department of Bryan Texas found the approach effective in educating citizens about the threat of cryptosporidium in drinking water. Whatever else might be said of the strategy of relying heavily on the skills of a cartoonist, the message came readily across that the crypotosporidium pathogen is mean, nasty and dangerous, a pest best shunned. Another cautionary water message that recently caught public attention was that drinking water supplies throughout the country contain pharmaceuticals.

Includes supplement: Water Sustainability Program, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona / How much water is needed to produce a hamburger? At one time this was not the type of question many water officials deeply pondered. They were more concerned with the amount of water used to irrigate a lawn or operate a washing machine than worry about hamburgers, sugar, milk, oils and vegetables as significant water-using commodities. This was food that could be purchased, served and consumed, with nary a flow, sprinkle or drip evident to disturb the most devote water-saving consumers and dampen their appetites. Now drought and water shortages have created stricter water accountability.

Includes supplement: WRRC Hosted ADEQ's 20th Anniversary Conference. / Recently passed legislation will allow Cochise County voters to create a special water management district on the upper San Pedro River as part of a plan to preserve its flow. The legislation has varied significance. Many in the environmental community view the new law as first and foremost a river-preservation effort; others see the bill as representing a breakthrough in the state's ongoing effort to adopt a rural water management strategy. Either way most would agree that the legislation is certainly timely, addressing critical problems in need of solution, both river preservation and rural water management.

In a brief commentary piece that appeared in the Aug. 23 Arizona Republic titled “Why the Valley could be the Venice in the desert” editorial writer Kathleen Ingles lauds efforts underway in Scottsdale to develop its canal areas as attractive public space. She hopes the completion of the gateway art project, part of the Scottsdale Waterfront, “sparks more interest in taking advantage of the scenic value of our canal system. Excluding the Central Arizona Project, metropolitan Phoenix has 131 miles of major canals. Four times more than Venice."

Includes supplement: USGS insert prepared in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, City of Tucson Water Department, Pima County, the Town of Oro Valley, and the Metropolitan Domestic Water Improvement District. "Land Subsidence and Aquifer Compaction in the Tucson Active Management Area, South-Central Arizona- 1987-2005" by R.L. Carruth, D.R. Pool, and C.E. Anderson. / Prescott Valley town officials are pleased with the results of an auction of 2,724 acre-feet of effluent water rights that could net the town over $67 million, funds the town will use to acquire needed water supplies for the rapidly growing area. The favorable results at auction have been attributed to the careful planning and calculated efforts that went into researching and structuring the unprecedented water marketing transaction. Developing the auction structure, terms and procedures required a special effort because there were no previous examples to use as a model; the town was breaking new ground.

Includes supplement: Arizona NEMO: Watershed Projects and Programs / With desalination looming big on the water resource horizon, many water officials are looking at their options. One option Arizona officials are considering is building a desalination plant in Puerto Penasco that would be a joint Mexican-Arizona project, with both the resort community and the state benefiting from the desalinated water supplies. With desalination an emerging technology, other kinds of options will be available in the future. One such option is seawater desalination vessels, ships capable of onboard desalination for onshore use.

Includes supplement: Colorado River or Tributary Water - U.S. Geological Survey Update of the Accounting Surface Along the Lower Colorado River, by Stephen M. Wiele, Stanley A. Leake, Sandra J. Owen-Joyce, and Emmet H. McGuire. / It is no doubt a sign of the drought-struck times that efforts to strictly account for lower Colorado River water use are now focusing on individual landowners and homeowners who have drilled wells and pump water along the lower Colorado River. Up to now, efforts to regulate Colorado River water use have mainly been directed at the big water users: states, Indian nations and irrigation districts. Collectively these small-scale water users, most of whom are householders taking care of domestic water needs, consume a significant amount of Colorado River water, an amount estimated at between 9,000 and 15,000 acre feet.

A community program that included keynote addresses rounded out the day's events on Sept. 1. University of Arizona's President Robert Shelton greeted about 225 people attending the community event. Ben Grumbles, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, further extended the welcome. The keynote speakers were Uri Shani, director general of the Israeli Water Authority, and Shaddad Attili, chairman of the Palestinian Water Authority. Attili, who was unable to attend the event in person, provided his message via DVD. Ayman Jarrar, director general for the regulatory and water control directorates of the Palestinian Water Authority, joined Shani at the podium to answer questions. Shani described Israel's predicament confronting the dire consequences of ongoing drought affecting the Middle East. “The trend is very clear, and we need to understand it. If we don't work on the future development of water, we don't solve anything. Demand is increasing, and the supply is decreasing, and we are left with no solution,” he said. With brackish water threatening groundwater reserves, Shani said the importance of desalination as a water source has increased. Conservation measures, a national priority, have decreased Israeli water consumption. Agricultural allocations are half what they were nine years ago. Contributing to the conservation savings is the relatively minimal water lost to evaporation and leakage, about 10 percent in Israel compared to much higher rates in other areas of the developed world. The use of reclaimed water has also increased dramatically. Attili discussed the precarious state of Palestinian water supplies. He said that water is a daily problem in the Palestinian Territories, with many communities lacking basic infrastructure for delivery of clean water and for water treatment. “We are trying to create a vibrant Palestinian state; our state will not be vibrant if there is not enough water.” He stressed the need for Israel to increase water allocations. Going beyond an acknowledgment of the political work to be done, Attili spoke of water supplies as a humanitarian cause. He said, “In the end of the day, it is a basic human need.” Jarrar sounded a pessimistic note with regard to an immediate solution to Palestinian water problems. He said what is needed is “political will from both sides, which is unfortunately not available at this time.” He said, “We are suffering, and the time should come to end our suffering with regard to the water supply.” He expressed confidence in Uri Shani's willingness to work with the Palestinian Water Authority, but also made clear that final decisions on critical water issues were often politicized and made at a higher level of government than the water authorities. The keynote session ended on a hopeful and conciliatory note. Despite the obstacles, Jarrar expressed optimism that trust can be built between the two sides, leading to adequate water supplies for both Israelis and Palestinians and contributing to peace in the region. Shaddad Attili also expressed confidence that he and the Palestinian Water Authority can work with Uri Shani and the Israeli Water Authority to resolve conflict in the area of water. Shani found significance in the fact that part of the conflict is about water. He said, "The general method to extinguish fire is to use water. I believe water can lead to peace, and this is my hope. Nobody promised us to have easy solutions, but it can be done.” The AzIP workshop was organized to help both Israelis and Palestinians achieve the goal of resolving conflict over water and working together to find shared solutions.