Water in the Tucson region is a limited resource. Ground water has been developed in the past as a primary source of water to supply all uses, and the present possibility emerges that the output products of this system of uses can be salvaged and combined with the primary source for further use. A water-salvage industry is conceived in which the outputs of water uses, augmented by storm runoff, become the inputs to the industry; water treatment is the main activity of the industry; and water of improved levels of quality is its principal output. The regional sources of salvageable water are defined as 1) domestic-industrial effluents from the metropolitan sewage collection and disposal system, 2) domestic and industrial effluents from isolated locations, called discrete sources, and 3) storm runoff from both urban and non-urban watersheds. At the 1970 level the available quantity of such waters is estimated to be in excess of 35,000 acre-feet per year and increasing. Historically, only the first of these classes of water has been salvaged and reused in the Tucson region, and then only for irrigation of fiber, field, and forage crops. The current level of treatment technology is adequate to upgrade the quality of any or all of these salvageable waters to the requirements of additional agricultural as well as recreational and industrial uses. What needs to be determined is the degree of economic feasibility of allocating the salvaged waters to these uses under the prevailing institutional constraints. The selected types of potential uses in the water reuse subsystem are industrial uses as represented by power plants and by mining and milling operations, the recreational uses of urban fishing and boating activities and park irrigation, and agricultural uses in the form of irrigation of field and forage crops, cotton, orchard, and produce. Each of the classes of use is embodied in an industry which realizes a net return to the water input. An urban recreation survey indicates, for example, that under maximum intensity of use the net returns to water for fishing and boating might be as much as $500 per acre-foot. The objective relative to all uses is to maximize aggregate net returns to water from the combined supply, and the measure of effectiveness is a net benefit function representing the difference between gross benefit and incremental cost for water in each activity. The available salvaged waters are substituted incrementally for ground water in the total regional water supply function. Calculated numerical examples of allocation of combined supplies, in a linear programming format with restraining institutional conditions, demonstrate that under optimal allocation the treated municipal-industrial effluent would be used to some extent to serve not only agricultural but recreational and industrial uses. This result is attributable in part to the condition that the metropolitan water agencies bear the obligation of primary and secondary treatment at no direct cost to the user. Under benefit maximization this effluent also could serve a significant part of the water needs of the remote mining operations; under existing institutional arrangements, however, this industry is minimizing cost by pumping from the nearest available ground-water source. Preliminary calculations indicate that structural adjustments involving construction of new facilities in the Tucson region for the utilization of salvaged waters could be economically justified, their feasibility being highly sensitive to the extent of use for urban recreational activities.

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This thesis integrates wildlife management and biology, urban residential development, and the hydrology of desert watercourses. Literature is surveyed within each area and information is applied to the issue of wildlife conservation in urbanizing areas of Eastern Pima County. It is recognized that some natural wildlife habitats and wildlife species are valued by urban residents. Valuable areas of wildlife habitat are being lose due to conventional residential development strategies. This paper discusses the impact of typical residential development on native Southwestern wildlife species and habitat. Alternative development design guidelines are proposed which would provide viable wildlife habitat within developed areas. Design guidelines which are presented in this paper are applicable to low elevation arid areas in the Southwest where developers are seeking to integrate natural wildlife habitat within residential areas.

The objective of this study was to estimate the effects of various types of urban open space on single-family residential property values in the Tucson basin in 1986. The statistical results were mixed. Urban parks which emphasize recreational facilities decreased housing prices whereas private golf courses and natural open space areas increased property values. The negative impact on housing price appears to be the result of disamenities caused by recreational consumption (noise, traffic, congestion), and recreational facilities (blocked views). The positive impact on price seems to be a function of the benefits derived from such amenities as urban wildlife and scenic mountain and city views. Public decision-makers need values of urban natural amenities to make informed policy and management decisions. The implicit prices generated here are useful in assessing whether the market prices of homes are expressing the benefits of urban open space.

The objective of this study was to provide an estimate of the protected dual left turn saturation flow rates in the Tucson area. The data were collected from dual left turn lanes at six intersections. The headway times were measured in order to calculate the saturation flow rates at each of the study sites. Observations were made at four intersections with left turn protected and at two intersections with permitted plus protected left turns. Saturation flow was measured from the third to the last vehicle in the queue. Observations were made during the time of expected peak traffic flow. A stop watch was used to measure the time intervals to the nearest tenth of a second. The saturation flow rates were then calculated and varied from 1621 to 2017 Vehicles Per Hour of Green Per Lane (VPHGL) for the inside lane to 1737 to 1802 VPHGL in the outside lane.

Citizens of El Salvador and Guatemala have experienced life-threatening situations in their native lands that have forced them to make choices in order to survive. Those choices include coming to the United States in search of political asylum. Travelling through Mexico and arriving and settling in the United States require the use of a variety of adaptive strategies. By employing kinship and friendship networks, using community services, organizing voluntary associations, learning English, and compartmentalizing their own culture while being absorbed into the larger Mexican and Anglo cultures, they are able to meet their needs. Of those who come to Tucson, many leave due to difficulties in finding jobs and the lack of affordable legal aid. Those who stay do so because they are awaiting court dates, desire to remain close to their families or have been successful in finding work.