Mark L. Johnson
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Mar 12
- 2 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Mar 8
- 1 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Feb 18
- 3 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jan 29
- 9 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jan 22
- 3 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Dec 28, 2022
- 9 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Dec 4, 2022
- 2 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Nov 26, 2022
- 2 min
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,...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Oct 20, 2022
- 3 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Oct 8, 2022
- 6 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 31, 2022
- 3 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jun 15, 2022
- 1 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 11, 2022
- 1 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 1, 2022
- 1 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Feb 26, 2022
- 2 min
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...
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Tortolita Alliance
- Feb 16, 2022
- 2 min
TA Tidbits #34 Petitions & More
Meet The Change4Marana Candidates-Sign Petitions Patrick Cavanaugh, Mark Johnson and Tim Kosse are running for Marana Town Council as the...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Feb 6, 2022
- 2 min
Mark 4 Marana Town Council Campaign
I first came to Marana in 1976 on a cross county RV adventure during my senior year in college. Having grown up in a coastal environment...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Feb 1, 2022
- 2 min
Water Woes XIV-Pause On DAWS
The following serves as an update to the previously reported Marana Water Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS) analysis. Remember DAWS...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jan 13, 2022
- 2 min
Water Woes XIII-Short-Term Drought Improvement
The Flats-Wild Mustang Trail Helpful Facts/Hints Blog Images-Just want to remind readers that you can click on any image (photo, graphic,...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Dec 18, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits #32-2021 Wrap Up
Night Watch Great Horned Owl keeps watch over the Tortolita Preserve! Tortolita Preserve-Trail Counter Update The Marana Parks &...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Dec 11, 2021
- 1 min
Water Woes XII-Kyle Center Colorado River Shortage Interactive Story
The Kyle Center For Water Policy at Arizona State University's (ASU's) Morrison Institute has released an excellent interactive story...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Dec 6, 2021
- 2 min
Water Woes XI More Cuts
New 500,000 AFY Colorado River Water Cut First it was the Interim Shortage Guidelines (2007), then the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Nov 14, 2021
- 3 min
The Case Of The Missing HCP
Another Marana mystery is solved! This time its about wildlife and habitat. What the heck is an HCP? HCP is the acronym for Habitat...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Nov 10, 2021
- 3 min
Water Woes X No Status Quo
Drought Status Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team on 11/10/21. LDIG is a...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Nov 4, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits #30 Grass, Planes & Trails
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."--Robert Frost Just back...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Oct 10, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits # 28 Save The Happy Habitat
Tortolita Mountains Photo by Nancy Major Huge Sonoran Desert Tortoise Found In Tortolita Preserve Marenis Kansfield (TA member) came upon...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Sep 29, 2021
- 1 min
TA Tidbits #27 Stormy Times
End Of Monsoon Season Storm Upper Javelina Trail (9/26/21) Lake Mead Elevation Projections Worsen The United States Bureau of Reclamation...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Sep 19, 2021
- 1 min
Saguaro Destruction
Several TA Members have reported the destruction of older saguaros at the Saguaro Reserve Subdivision (173 homes) now being mass graded...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Sep 8, 2021
- 2 min
Wet But Dry
Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Pima County Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team today (September 8, 2021)....
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 30, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits # 26 I-11, Land & Water
Tortolita Preserve (8/28/21)-Four Pots Of Gold Interstate 11 (I-11) Update Thanks to all the Tortolita Alliance (TA) members that wrote...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 28, 2021
- 3 min
Water Woes IX-Water Study Session Report Part B
Water Is The Sustenance Of Life In Part A we reported that Marana Water has 2,804 acre-feet (AF) of water remaining in its Designated...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 26, 2021
- 2 min
Water Woes VIII-Water Study Session Report Part A
Hope you had the opportunity to attend or watch (video stream) the Water Study Session on Tuesday. Jing Luo, Marana's new Water...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 22, 2021
- 1 min
Water & Flower Power
Alamo Springs Trail-Chest High Grass Hiked the Wild Burro & Alamo Springs Trail this morning. The Wild Burro Wash was flowing strong...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 19, 2021
- 2 min
TA Alert! Water Study Session
Marana Water Study Session Marana will be holding a Water Study Session in the Town Council Chambers on Tuesday, August 24 at 6:00 PM. ...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 11, 2021
- 3 min
Marana Housing Chat
TA attended the Marana Town Council Housing Study Session (8/10/21). Click on the Button to View the Study Session PowerPoint. The...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 29, 2021
- 2 min
Water Woes VII-Water Poker
Thanks to the many Tortolita Alliance (TA) members who wrote letters and attended last night's Marana Planning Commission meeting...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 25, 2021
- 3 min
Water Woes VI-ARIDIFICATION
Aridification is the process whereby a region becomes increasingly drier (arid) over a long period of time. Climate change and the...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 21, 2021
- 1 min
TA Alert! More Rooftops & H2O?
Camino De Oeste 34 Marana Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, July 28 at 6:30 in the Town Council Chambers...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 18, 2021
- 1 min
Green Acres
Last week there were two nice rain events in the Tortolita Preserve (TP) with 0.7 inch on Wednesday and 0.3 inch on Friday for a total of...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 12, 2021
- 2 min
Water Woes V-Tidal Wave
There has been a tidal wave of significant news in the Arizona water world. Here is the skinny. ADWR Tells Pinal County No More...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 11, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits #25-TA Logo-Patches, Website Improvements & Something Called Rain
TA Logo & Patches We are happy to announce that the beautiful Tortolita Alliance (TA) logo has received official Trade Mark (TM) status...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jun 24, 2021
- 4 min
Water Woes IV-Plan For Worst Case
Salton Sea-Imperial County, California-2018 Over the last four months there have been at least three studies released regarding the...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jun 13, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits #23 Dried Fruit
Hiked the Upper Javelina Trail this morning at 5 AM to beat the heat. The saguaro fruit are beginning to ripen. See photo above that...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 26, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits # 22-Trails, Cows & Water
Saguaros Enjoying The Scenery Alamo Springs Trail Tortolita Preserve (TP) Natural Resource Survey TA met with Marana Parks & Recreation...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 18, 2021
- 2 min
TA Tidbits #21-More Happy Trails
Jim Tripp Moving On Jim Tripp (TA Vice President) and family have decided to move back to the mid-west. Accordingly, Jim has resigned as...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 9, 2021
- 1 min
Happy Mothers Day From TP!
An early morning hike in the Tortolita Preserve on Mothers Day 2021 revealed continued dry conditions and tree/cactus/plant stress. Palo...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Apr 30, 2021
- 4 min
TA Tidbits #20-TA In Action
TA Presentations Tortolita Alliance (TA) made presentations to the Del Webb Dove Mountain HOA (2/11), Dove Mountain Civic Association...
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- Apr 25, 2021
- 3 min
Water Woes III-Shortages
This is the third part of the Water Woes Series which describes how the Drought Conservation Plan (DCP) Shortages are implemented. Lake...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Apr 15, 2021
- 2 min
Guild Wash EA
Some Tortolita Alliance (TA) members might have received a postcard invitation (see invite left) to comment on the Guild Wash-Santa Cruz...
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