Good Press
Kathleen Kuntz (Tucson Local Media Reporter) wrote a nice article over the holidays entitled, Marana Shields Tortolita Preserve From Development In New General Plan.
TA attended two events on 1/9/20. Here is a summary:
Hike & Bike Forum-Highlands
Presented by Marana Parks & Recreation (MP&R) and sponsored by Dove Mountain Civic Group.
MP&R Master Plan-under development with upcoming public meetings on 1/23, 1/29 and 2/6. Go to Master Plan Web-Page to find out more and take the on-line survey.
Spring Activities-lots of MP&R activities available. Go to MP&R Web-Page and sign-up for your favorite class or event.
Projects-Shared Used Path-Cal Portland to Avra Valley Road, El Rio Preserve, Central Arizona Project (CAP) Trailhead and more. Go to Marana Projects Web-Page to learn more about these projects and many other projects being constructed by Marana.
TA reached out to MP&R and offered to collaborate and help.
Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG)-Pima County Public Works-OSC, Tucson
LDIG-monthly gathering of local and state water agencies to discuss latest drought conditions across the state of AZ. Attendees include: TA, Marana Water, Tucson Water, Metro Water, National Weather Service-Tucson, Central Arizona Project (CAP), Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), Pima County Office of Sustainability & Conservation (OSC) and more.
Drought Conditions-short term and long term drought conditions have improved in all parts of AZ except the northeast sector. Go to ADWR Drought Web-Page to get more details.
Colorado River System Status-System Contents (amount of water in Lake Mead, Lake Powell and other smaller reservoirs) is at 52% as of 1/5/20. Go to United States Bureau of Reclamation-Lower Colorado Region Website for the details. Lake Mead was just below elevation 1090' trigger for Tier Zero Restrictions of the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) in 2020. This means Arizona must cut 192,000 acre-feet of its annual 2.8 million acre-feet allocation. Go to the Central Arizona Project Website for more information.
Low Impact Development-Stormwater Harvesting-Evan Canfield (Pima County Regional Flood Control District) gave a presentation on how site planning can be used to reduce the peak of smaller storms by utilizing on-site stormwater capture techniques. 85% of storms in Tucson area are less than 0.5 inches of precipitation. 80% of precipitation on undeveloped land will percolate on-site into the ground and recharge the aquifers. Only 15% of precipitation on developed land will percolate on-site in the ground with the remainder becoming stormwater runoff. On-site stormwater capture techniques can only reduce the peak runoff by 7%. On-site capture/storage of large amounts of stormwater is impractical. Go to the Pima County Regional Flood Control District Web-Page for more information. TA got some good information/contacts to begin its Tortolita Fan stormwater/watershed research.
Share & Publish
If you have important information that will aid the TA Mission, please share. We will review and publish if appropriate.