130 research outputs found
VIDEO: Session 1: The State of the River, Panel A: Understanding Supply and Demand
No full textVIDEO:
10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
SESSION 1: The State of the River
Panel A: Understanding Supply & Demand
Moderator: Larry MacDonnell, University of Wyoming College of Law
Panelists:
Terry Fulp, Deputy Regional Director for the Lower Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation
Bill Rinne, Director of Surface-Water Resources, Southern Nevada Water Authority
Commentators:
Eric Kuhn, Colorado River Water Conservation District
Jennifer Gimbel, Colorado Water Conservation Board
Sharon Megdal, Board Member, Central Arizona Water Conservation Distric
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EVALUATING POTENTIAL FOR FLOATING SOLAR INSTALLATIONS ON ARIZONA WATER MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE
No full textThis capstone project evaluates the current state of floating solar photovoltaic technology and proposes use of the technology on water management infrastructure in Arizona. The study finds that floating solar photovoltaic has a higher energy density (100 W/m2) than land-based, utility-scale solar and does not involve significant cost increases. The study proposes and models a small pilot installation on Lake Pleasant Reservoir, part of the Central Arizona Project, and finds that lifetime costs per unit energy are higher than what the Central Arizona Project currently pays for energy, assuming US median per-wattinstalled costs for commercial solar. This cost however does not factor in savings from water conservation, existing infrastructure, reduced land costs, or other benefits. The study recommends water reservoirs by hydropower dams as ideal locations for floating photovoltaic installations. Justified with a significant background on Arizona’s environmental, social, and economic sustainability, as well as regulations calling for increased renewable energy generation and reduced carbon emissions, this study recommends aggressive implementation of floating solar photovoltaic technology within a sustainable development paradigm
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Integrating Water Resources Into Land Use Planning: Connecting Local Land use Decisions and Water Resource Impacts
No full textWater supply development has changed significantly in the last fifty years. Expanding existing water supplies or locating and securing new water supplies has become increasingly difficult and highly constrained. In addition, awareness of and experience with the deleterious environmental impacts of water supply development has further constrained future development. Given this new paradigm, it is imperative that growing areas identify water supplies to accommodate new development before the development occurs. This report provides an analysis of the physical and institutional characteristics of land use and water resource development in Pima County, Arizona. Using this analysis, policy recommendations are formulated to improve the County’s integration of land use and water resource planning. In the case of Pima County, a comprehensive plan water resources element is used as the policy vehicle for reforming public policies
Correction: Niazi, A., Prasher, S.O., Adamowski, J., Gleeson, T. A System Dynamics Model to Conserve Arid Region Water Resources through Aquifer Storage and Recovery in Conjunction with a Dam. Water 2014, 6, 2300–2321
No full textWe have recently been made aware by Prof. Sharon Megdal (The University of Arizona) and Dr. Peter Dillon (CSIRO) of some errors and omissions in our recent paper [1]. The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper:[...
On Regulation, Deregulation, and Economics
No full textThis article considers some key elements of the current debates on utility deregulation and industry restructuring. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between economic theory and actual regulatory policymaking. The author explains that the emphasis of regulatory debates has, in large part, shifted from rather routine cases to matters that fundamentally affect market structure. Jurisdictional issues, difficulties associated with determining how to relax regulation of an industry that still has monopoly elements, and problems with the process itself are addressed. The author concludes that important and necessary policy debates would benefit from more substantive dialogue among all involved.
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Environmental Federalism and the Safe Drinking Act: The Arizona Arsenic Experience
No full textThis thesis examines the effect of the revised arsenic standard on Arizona public water systems (PWSs) in the context of environmental federalism. The thesis begins by briefly describing federalism, environmental federalism, and the revised arsenic standard. It goes on to discuss the benefit and cost estimates of the standard in detail and asserts that it is unclear whether the standard is a potential Pareto improvement for Arizona. The remainder of the thesis examines the distributional consequences of the revised standard with respect to Arizona PWSs. Using statistical and econometric techniques the thesis discovers that large PWSs are disproportionately affected by the standard. In addition, it finds that small PWSs are affected in absolute terms, which raises the issue of small system financing. These policy implications are then discussed in the context of the compliance history of PWSs to date. The thesis concludes by asserting that more reliable health benefits estimates are needed to determine if the uniform national arsenic standard is inefficient in Arizona
Managed Aquifer Recharge for Water Resilience
Get PDFThis book is a hard copy of the editorial and all the papers in a Special Issue of the peer-reviewed open access journal ‘Water’ on the theme ‘Managed Aquifer Recharge for Water Resilience’. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is the purposeful recharge of water to aquifers for subsequent recovery or environmental benefit. MAR is increasingly used to make water supplies resilient to drought, climate change and deteriorating water quality, and to protect ecosystems from declining groundwater levels. Global MAR has grown exponentially to 10 cu.km/year and will increase ten-fold within a few decades. Well informed hydrogeologists, engineers and water quality scientists are needed to ensure that this investment is effective in meeting increasingly pressing needs. This compilation contains lessons from many examples of existing projects, including several national and continental summaries. It also addresses the elements essential for identifying and advancing projects such as mapping aquifer suitability and opportunities, policy matters, operational issues, and some innovations in MAR methods and monitoring. This collection exemplifies the state of progress in the science and practice of MAR and is intended to be useful, at least to water managers, water utilities, agricultural water users and urban planners, to facilitate water resilience through new MAR projects
THE INSTITUTIONAL SETTING FOR UPPER SANTA CRUZ WATERSHED BINATIONAL GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT
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An Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment of the Upper Santa Cruz River Using Environmental Management Tools
No full textMany cities are bolstering their groundwater and surface water supplies by directly discharging treated wastewater effluent into the environment; the treated water may permeate through the vadose zone and into the aquifer, thereby recharging groundwater, and the surficial flow of the discharge allows otherwise ephemeral rivers to flow perennially. The Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant (NIWTP) releases effluent wastewater directly into the Santa Cruz River. The Santa Cruz River flows between the United States and Mexico through several metropolitan areas. An issue of critical concern is the long-term impact of the discharge of treated effluent from the NIWTP to surface water and groundwater quality in the region. Several factors including failing infrastructure, operational limitations, and continued rapid population growth impart complexity to this issue. The affected community is generally low- to middle-income, so the costs for obtaining and maintaining new and advanced treatment options necessary for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern is economically burdensome. A recent study has shown that the discharge point of the NIWTP is in an area of high aquifer vulnerability, and there is evidence of environmental contamination from the presence of cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, nitrates, and zinc, among other compounds. The objective of this study is to identify and assess areas of potential soil and groundwater pollution and associated risk to environmental and human health using modeling and environmental management tool analyses
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