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About the Book: This selected series of international studies is aimed at achieving a balance between the house and the desert, assuming an energy-conscious future. In the book experimental houses and examples from the world's deserts are discussed, documented and illustrated. The studies were sponsored by the Arid Lands Natural Resources Committee of the University of Arizona.

Project Completion Report, OWRT Project No. A-086-ARIZ / Agreement No. 14-34-0001-8003, Project Dates: 10/01/77-9/30/78 / Acknowledgement: The work upon which this report is based was supported by funds provided by the State of Arizona and the United States Department of Interior, Office of Water Research and Technology as authorized under the Water Resources Act of 1964. / From the Introduction: "The research work under this contract has been conducted by graduate student David B. Dunbar and summarized in his M.S. thesis entitled "Analysis of a Parameter Estimation Technique for Linear Hydrologic Systems Using Monte Carlo Simulation" submitted to the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1981. The present report is a brief summary of Mr. Dunbar's thesis." David Dunbar's thesis is available at: http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/191728 / The primary accomplishment of this research has been demonstrating the power of the deconvolution technique developed by Neuman and de Marsily (1976) in dealing with noisy rainfall- runoff records of short duration. Such records are encountered in arid environments where rainfall often occurs in short isolated bursts and the data are measured with a considerable margin of error. Our research work consisted of superimposing known noise on synthetic rainfall- runoff data and examining the ability of the Neuman -de Marsily deconvolution method to estimate the correct impulse response of the system when the data include only a single storm event. Approximately 50 Monte Carlo simulation runs were performed for each of three different noise models considered in our work. The results clearly demonstrated that the deconvolution model leads to reliable estimates and can be used with confidence in the presence of realistic noise levels. In addition to the Monte Carlo simulation tests and their analysis, certain improvements were introduced into the original deconvolution technique. In particular, the original version of the technique required that the hydrologist exercise subjective judgement in choosing the "best" solution for the deconvolution problem from a large number of admissible solutions. Our new method of selecting the "best" result is based on a comparative analysis of residuals and is more reliable than the earlier subjective approach. The improved method has been applied to real as well as synthetic rainfall -runoff data.

"Pure and simple" is an expression that does not fit when water quality is the topic. To assure the delivery of good quality, pure water is not a simple matter at all, as water quality managers well know.

The Arizona Groundwater Management Act (GMA) of 1980 confronts a problem that has concerned state officials since the early 1930s: the overdraft of Arizona's groundwater resources. The GMA was not the first legislative effort in Arizona to control groundwater use. Advised that a groundwater law was a prerequisite to authorization of the Central Arizona Project (CAP), the state Legislature enacted the Critical Groundwater Code in 1948.

The continued funding of the Central Arizona Project depended upon Arizona implementing water conservation measures in several critical areas in the state. Water consumption patterns in these Active Management Areas (AMAs) will be guided between 1980 and 2025 by a series of five management plans to be developed by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR).

That water, so common, essential and basic, should be a cornmodity to be bought and sold, marketed and transferred, may seem odd. Yet social and economic conditions in Arizona, and throughout the West, have evolved in such a way that water transfers appear as an attractive option to some and a controversial issue to others

The changing of the Earth's climate, which is a topic of increasing concern, is a cornplex issue. Much more than a meteorological phenomenon, climate is a force that helps define our social environment, as well as our relationship to the natural world. Therefore, the effects of climate change -- whether parts of the earth are becoming wetter or drier, or hotter or colder -- would be broad and profound.

Washes and arroyos cut or carve patterns into desert surfaces and are as much a natural form of the Arizona landscape as serrated mountains. Meandering over much of the desert, their crevices help make up the texture and shape of desert lands. Indeed, even in developed and urbanized desert areas, washes and arroyos often remain a conspicuous feature, a natural remnant within the urban fabric.

Because Arizona's small water systems are of lesser size than major water companies, they should not therefore be viewed as relatively simple, uncomplicated operations. Despite a smaller scale - or rather because of it - such systems confront complex situations. These can be extremely difficult to resolve at times, complicating operations and even threatening the existence of some small water systems in the state.