top of page


Water Woes XL-Back To The Future*
Construction of Hoover Dam (1933)--Photo, Library of Congress- RareHistoricalPhotos.com The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR)...

Mark L. Johnson
Jun 282 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXIX-Double Trouble
Glen Canyon Dam-Lake Powell-Photo by Matt York, AP The Arizona Reconsultation Committee (ARC) met on June 17, 2025 and the following...

Mark L. Johnson
Jun 241 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXVIII-High & Dry
Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) meeting today (5/14/25) via Zoom. LDIG is a bi-monthly gathering...

Mark L. Johnson
May 142 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXVII-Drought-Colorado River-Local Water Items
Arizona Turns Red! National Weather Service (NWS) Tucson reports only 0.91" of precipitation at the Tucson Airport for the last six...

Mark L. Johnson
Apr 122 min read
Â


Marana Housing/Population & TRICO
Dove Mountain Development Looking Towards Saguaro Reserve Project From Upper Javelina Trail (3/5/23) Marana Housing/Population Marana...

Tortolita Alliance
Feb 102 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXVI - Low Snow & Colorado River Operations Alternatives
Very Little Snow-San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Approaching Continental Divide-Photo by Jim Quigley (1/27/25) Low Snow Upper Colorado...

Mark L. Johnson
Feb 42 min read
Â


Flood Control & The Fan
Tortolita Fan Watershed-Pima County Flood Control District-Watershed Master Plan Pima County Flood Control District (PCFCD) has recently...

Mark L. Johnson
Jan 302 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXV-Rebates & Rates
Marana Water Weather-Based Irrigation Controller Rebate Hats off to Marana Water (MW) for implementing rebates for installing a...

Mark L. Johnson
Dec 14, 20241 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXIV-Colorado River System-Beyond 2026
The United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) released (11/20/24) five alternatives for operating the Colorado River System after 2026. ...

Mark L. Johnson
Nov 25, 20242 min read
Â


The Secret Plan To Develop The Tortolita Fan
On April 17, 2024, Tortolita Alliance (TA) filed a Public Records Request (P RR) with the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) for "all...

Mark L. Johnson
Oct 2, 20244 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXII Cautious Optimism
Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) meeting today (9/11/24) via Zoom. LDIG is a bi-monthly gathering...

Tortolita Alliance
Sep 11, 20241 min read
Â


Water Woes XXXI Agua Veto
Governor Hobbs Vetoes 5 and Signs 3 Water Bills The Arizona legislature approved 8 water bills at the very end of the 2024 legislative...

Tortolita Alliance
Jun 21, 20242 min read
Â


Water Woes XXX-Open House-Supply v Demand-Population
Marana Water Open House Marana Water held an Open House on Wednesday (5/29/24). It included four presentations; (1) Marana Water...

Mark L. Johnson
Jun 14, 20245 min read
Â


Tangerine Road Corridor-Part I
Tangerine Road (between I-10 and Dove Mountain Boulevard) parallels the Tortolita Preserve. Therefore, it is critical that we carefully...

Tortolita Alliance
Jun 8, 20247 min read
Â


Water Woes XXIX-Monsoon Outlook & Colorado River Conditions
Post Monsoon Storm-Double Rainbow-Tortolita Preserve (8/28/21) Monsoon 2024 The monsoon season extends from June 15 through September 30....

Mark L. Johnson
Jun 1, 20241 min read
Â


Water Woes XXVIII-Water Info Now Flowing
Snoqualmie Falls-Snoqualmie, WA (4/28/24) On a recent visit with my grandchildren in North Bend, WA, I took them over to Snoqualmie Falls...

Mark L. Johnson
May 15, 20243 min read
Â


Water Woes XXVII-Ebbs & Flows
Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell)-photo by Jim Quigley This blog covers several topics concerning Southwest water items including; (1) Local...

Mark L. Johnson
Apr 14, 20243 min read
Â


Marana Retreat Newsbeat
The Marana Town Council held its annual retreat (2/14-16/2024) in Chandler, AZ---75 miles away from the citizens of Marana!! There is no...

Tortolita Alliance
Apr 11, 20244 min read
Â


Marana DAWS Modification-ADWR Decision On Objections-Draft Decision & Order and TA Response Letter
Picacho Peak & Full Moon Decision On Objections and Draft Decision & Order The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) issued a...

Tortolita Alliance
Feb 28, 20242 min read
Â


Marana DAWS Modification-Objection Letter & Hearing Update
Tortolita Alliance (TA) filed its 6th Public Records Request (PRR) to obtain copies of the Objection Letters and obtain information...

Tortolita Alliance
Feb 16, 20243 min read
Â


DAWS Flaws
Tony Davis wrote an excellent article regarding the Marana DAWS Modification Application (Application) that headlined in today's Arizona...

Mark L. Johnson
Jan 14, 20244 min read
Â


Marana Water DAWS Modification-Reminder-Objection Letter
Our Marana In Marana Water DAWS Modification-Part IV-Objection Letter we provided the Background, Revised Public Notice & Objection...

Mark L. Johnson
Jan 6, 20241 min read
Â


Marana Water DAWS Modification-Part IV-Objection Letter
Our Marana Water is the sustenance of life. We cannot live without it. Yet the Town of Marana-Marana Water (MW) plans to quadruple the...

Mark L. Johnson
Dec 30, 20232 min read
Â


TA Alert-#2!-Marana Water DAWS Modification Application-Public Notice
Public Notice The public notice (left) requesting written objections to the Marana Water Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS)...

Mark L. Johnson
Dec 21, 20231 min read
Â


TA Alert!-Marana Water DAWS Modification Application-Public Comment Period
Application-Public Comment Period Marana Water filed a Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS) Modification Application on 5/18/22. For...

Mark L. Johnson
Dec 19, 20232 min read
Â


TA Tidbits #48 One Water Public Comments & No LIV Golf-Tucson (2024)
One Water-Public Comments Arizona Daily Star (Tony Davis) reported recently that many public comments regarding the Tucson Water (TW) One...

Mark L. Johnson
Nov 25, 20231 min read
Â


Water Woes XXV-Assured Water Supply Committee Comment Letter
In May 2023, Governor Hobbs established the Governor's Water Policy Council and associated Assured Water Supply (AWS) Committee. The...

Mark L. Johnson
Oct 4, 20231 min read
Â


Tortolita Preserve-Post Storm(s) Report
Tortolita Preserve-After The Monsoon (8/27/23) Hiked the Tortolita Preserve (TP) Main Loop (7 miles) this early this morning. Reports of...

Mark L. Johnson
Aug 27, 20232 min read
Â


TA Tidbits #45-Mr. Big Stuff, Pygmy Owl, Monsoon & More
Mr. Big Stuff Tortolita Preserve (TP) This huge Sonoran Desert Tortoise paid a visit to a property adjacent to TP near Moore Road and...

Mark L. Johnson
Aug 20, 20232 min read
Â


Tucson Water Responds
Tortolita Alliance (TA) provided a detailed Comment Letter (6/7/23) regarding the Tucson Water-One Water 2100 Plan-May 2023 Draft (Plan)....

Mark L. Johnson
Jul 9, 20231 min read
Â


Tucson Water-One Water 2100 Plan Comments
Tortolita Alliance has filed the following comment letter with Tucson Water (TW) this morning regarding TW's One Water 2100 Plan. You can...

Mark L. Johnson
Jun 7, 20231 min read
Â


Water Woes XXIII-H2O Medley
The following is a medley of recent H2O developments with the Colorado River, Marana Water and Tucson Water. New-Colorado River...

Mark L. Johnson
May 28, 20232 min read
Â


Water Woes XXII-Cautious & Frugal
The water situation in the West has improved but it is only one year in a 24-year period whereby the Colorado River reservoir system has...

Mark L. Johnson
May 14, 20232 min read
Â


Water Woes XXI-H2O Hits The Fan
The media has pummeled us lately with plenty of water news. There is one significant Colorado River action that needs review....

Mark L. Johnson
Apr 16, 20234 min read
Â


Marana Water DAWS Modification Part III-DAWS On Pause
DAWS Process/Status Let's summarize the previous Marana Water (MW) Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS) Modification blogs: Part...

Mark L. Johnson
Mar 22, 20232 min read
Â


Water Woes XX-Are We All Wet?
Snowpack (Aqua) Western US (1/22/23)-NASA Satellite Image Tortolita Alliance (TA) has been proactively keeping the community informed of...

Mark L. Johnson
Mar 12, 20232 min read
Â


TA Alert! Sustainable Landscapes Expo Saturday-March 11
The Annual Sustainable Landscapes Expo will be held this Saturday (3/11/23) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 at the U of A Cooperative Extension...

Mark L. Johnson
Mar 8, 20231 min read
Â


Smart Irrigation To Save Water
Typically, 50-75% of the water use at a home in the arid southwest goes to outdoor landscape irrigation. Therefore, it is very important...

Mark L. Johnson
Feb 18, 20233 min read
Â


Marana Water DAWS Modification Part II-Analysis
Introduction The 6-Step Procedure for developing the Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS) was described in Part I. In Part II, we go...

Mark L. Johnson
Jan 29, 20239 min read
Â


Marana Water DAWS Modification-Part I Introduction & DAWS Basics
Introduction Marana Water (MW) applied to modify its Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS) with the Arizona Department of Water...

Mark L. Johnson
Jan 22, 20233 min read
Â


Water Woes XIX-New Water-Issues & Who Pays?
This blog covers the current state of the Colorado River water supply and the urgent need to develop new sources of water (New Water) to...

Mark L. Johnson
Dec 28, 20229 min read
Â


TA Reflections & Future
The Beginning The Tortolita Alliance (TA) was formed three years ago in response to efforts by the Town of Marana (Marana) and the...

Mark L. Johnson
Dec 4, 20222 min read
Â


TA Tidbits # 40-Water, BioBlitz and Crime & Planes
Water Year 2022 Update Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team on November 8,...

Mark L. Johnson
Nov 26, 20222 min read
Â


TA Tidbits #39-Saguaros, BioBlitz & H2O
Tortolita Preserve-Fiery Monsoon Skies Old Growth Sagauro Deaths-Bacterial Infection & Climate Change Strong-arm passed on 8/4/22 and is...

Mark L. Johnson
Oct 20, 20223 min read
Â


Tucson Water-One Water 2100 Analysis
Tucson Water (TW) is preparing an 80-year Water Master Plan called One Water 2100. This is an update to their previous Water Plan...

Mark L. Johnson
Oct 8, 20226 min read
Â


Storm-Water-Shed
Upper Wild Burro Canyon Watershed (7/31/22) Hiked the Wild Burro Trail and Alamo Springs Loop Trail early this morning after nice...

Mark L. Johnson
Jul 31, 20223 min read
Â


Water Woes XVII-Disaster Looming
The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) issued a press release in response to yesterday's Senate Committee on Energy and Natural...

Mark L. Johnson
Jun 15, 20221 min read
Â


Water Woes XVI-Is The Worst Yet To Come?
Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team today (May 11, 2022). LDIG is a...

Mark L. Johnson
May 11, 20221 min read
Â


May Day! May Day! May Day!
The Conjunction Moon, Jupiter & Venus line up early Wednesday (4/27/22) morning over the Tortolita Preserve. Good things come in...

Mark L. Johnson
May 1, 20221 min read
Â


TA Tidbits #35 Petitions, Owls & New Water Agency
Town Council Candidates Need More Signed Petitions Thanks to everyone who have signed the Non-Partisan Nomination Petitions for Patrick...

Mark L. Johnson
Feb 26, 20222 min read
Â
bottom of page