Mark L. JohnsonMay 121 minWater 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. JohnsonMay 11 minMay 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. JohnsonFeb 262 minTA Tidbits #35 Petitions, Owls & New Water AgencyTown Council Candidates Need More Signed Petitions Thanks to everyone who have signed the Non-Partisan Nomination Petitions for Patrick...
Tortolita AllianceFeb 162 minTA Tidbits #34 Petitions & MoreMeet The Change4Marana Candidates-Sign Petitions Patrick Cavanaugh, Mark Johnson and Tim Kosse are running for Marana Town Council as the...
Mark L. JohnsonFeb 62 minMark 4 Marana Town Council CampaignI 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...
Mark L. JohnsonFeb 22 minWater 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...
Mark L. JohnsonJan 132 minWater Woes XIII-Short-Term Drought ImprovementThe Flats-Wild Mustang Trail Helpful Facts/Hints Blog Images-Just want to remind readers that you can click on any image (photo, graphic,...
Mark L. JohnsonDec 18, 20212 minTA Tidbits #32-2021 Wrap UpNight Watch Great Horned Owl keeps watch over the Tortolita Preserve! Tortolita Preserve-Trail Counter Update The Marana Parks &...
Mark L. JohnsonDec 11, 20211 minWater Woes XII-Kyle Center Colorado River Shortage Interactive StoryThe Kyle Center For Water Policy at Arizona State University's (ASU's) Morrison Institute has released an excellent interactive story...
Mark L. JohnsonDec 6, 20212 minWater Woes XI More CutsNew 500,000 AFY Colorado River Water Cut First it was the Interim Shortage Guidelines (2007), then the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)...
Mark L. JohnsonNov 14, 20213 minThe Case Of The Missing HCPAnother Marana mystery is solved! This time its about wildlife and habitat. What the heck is an HCP? HCP is the acronym for Habitat...
Mark L. JohnsonNov 10, 20213 minWater 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...
Mark L. JohnsonNov 4, 20212 minTA 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...
Mark L. JohnsonOct 10, 20212 minTA Tidbits # 28 Save The Happy HabitatTortolita Mountains Photo by Nancy Major Huge Sonoran Desert Tortoise Found In Tortolita Preserve Marenis Kansfield (TA member) came upon...
Mark L. JohnsonSep 29, 20211 minTA Tidbits #27 Stormy TimesEnd Of Monsoon Season Storm Upper Javelina Trail (9/26/21) Lake Mead Elevation Projections Worsen The United States Bureau of Reclamation...
Mark L. JohnsonSep 19, 20211 minSaguaro DestructionSeveral TA Members have reported the destruction of older saguaros at the Saguaro Reserve Subdivision (173 homes) now being mass graded...
Mark L. JohnsonSep 9, 20212 minWet But DryTortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Pima County Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team today (September 8, 2021)....
Mark L. JohnsonAug 30, 20212 minTA Tidbits # 26 I-11, Land & WaterTortolita Preserve (8/28/21)-Four Pots Of Gold Interstate 11 (I-11) Update Thanks to all the Tortolita Alliance (TA) members that wrote...
Mark L. JohnsonAug 28, 20213 minWater Woes IX-Water Study Session Report Part BWater 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...
Mark L. JohnsonAug 26, 20212 minWater Woes VIII-Water Study Session Report Part AHope you had the opportunity to attend or watch (video stream) the Water Study Session on Tuesday. Jing Luo, Marana's new Water...
Mark L. JohnsonAug 22, 20211 minWater & Flower PowerAlamo Springs Trail-Chest High Grass Hiked the Wild Burro & Alamo Springs Trail this morning. The Wild Burro Wash was flowing strong...
Mark L. JohnsonAug 19, 20212 minTA Alert! Water Study SessionMarana Water Study Session Marana will be holding a Water Study Session in the Town Council Chambers on Tuesday, August 24 at 6:00 PM. ...
Mark L. JohnsonAug 11, 20213 minMarana Housing ChatTA attended the Marana Town Council Housing Study Session (8/10/21). Click on the Button to View the Study Session PowerPoint. The...
Mark L. JohnsonJul 29, 20212 minWater Woes VII-Water PokerThanks to the many Tortolita Alliance (TA) members who wrote letters and attended last night's Marana Planning Commission meeting...
Mark L. JohnsonJul 25, 20213 minWater Woes VI-ARIDIFICATIONAridification is the process whereby a region becomes increasingly drier (arid) over a long period of time. Climate change and the...
Mark L. JohnsonJul 22, 20211 minTA 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...
Mark L. JohnsonJul 18, 20211 minGreen AcresLast 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...
Mark L. JohnsonJul 12, 20212 minWater Woes V-Tidal WaveThere has been a tidal wave of significant news in the Arizona water world. Here is the skinny. ADWR Tells Pinal County No More...
Mark L. JohnsonJul 11, 20212 minTA Tidbits #25-TA Logo-Patches, Website Improvements & Something Called RainTA Logo & Patches We are happy to announce that the beautiful Tortolita Alliance (TA) logo has received official Trade Mark (TM) status...
Mark L. JohnsonJun 25, 20214 minWater Woes IV-Plan For Worst CaseSalton Sea-Imperial County, California-2018 Over the last four months there have been at least three studies released regarding the...
Mark L. JohnsonJun 13, 20212 minTA Tidbits #23 Dried FruitHiked the Upper Javelina Trail this morning at 5 AM to beat the heat. The saguaro fruit are beginning to ripen. See photo above that...
Mark L. JohnsonMay 26, 20212 minTA Tidbits # 22-Trails, Cows & WaterSaguaros Enjoying The Scenery Alamo Springs Trail Tortolita Preserve (TP) Natural Resource Survey TA met with Marana Parks & Recreation...
Mark L. JohnsonMay 18, 20212 minTA Tidbits #21-More Happy TrailsJim Tripp Moving On Jim Tripp (TA Vice President) and family have decided to move back to the mid-west. Accordingly, Jim has resigned as...
Mark L. JohnsonMay 9, 20211 minHappy 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...
Mark L. JohnsonApr 30, 20214 minTA Tidbits #20-TA In ActionTA Presentations Tortolita Alliance (TA) made presentations to the Del Webb Dove Mountain HOA (2/11), Dove Mountain Civic Association...
-Apr 25, 20213 minWater Woes III-ShortagesThis is the third part of the Water Woes Series which describes how the Drought Conservation Plan (DCP) Shortages are implemented. Lake...
Mark L. JohnsonApr 15, 20212 minGuild Wash EASome Tortolita Alliance (TA) members might have received a postcard invitation (see invite left) to comment on the Guild Wash-Santa Cruz...
-Mar 30, 20211 minDry Tiers! Five Months To Next Water Shortage?The US Bureau of Reclamation predicts a Lake Mead level of 1071.59 ft in January 2022, which would trigger a Tier 1 water shortage for...
Mark L. JohnsonMar 28, 20211 minAlamo Spring-lessWent to the U of A Baseball game yesterday and stopped by Lindys On Fourth on the way home for a gigantic specialty hamburger and fries. ...
Mark Johnson & Jim TrippMar 24, 20212 minWater Woes II-Sustainable not AssuredDid you read the recent water articles in the Arizona Daily Star by Tony Davis? Lets take a look: Article 1: Climate change could reduce...
Mark L. JohnsonMar 19, 20212 minTA Tidbits #19-Current EventsTortolita Preserve (TP) Field Visit With Marana Officials TA Board members met with Terry Rozema (Marana Town Manager), Jackie Craig...
Mark L. JohnsonMar 10, 20211 minDust BowlTortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team today (March 10, 2021). LDIG is a...
Mark L. JohnsonMar 7, 20211 minUnLitteredThanks to Tucson Clean & Beautiful and Tortolita Alliance (TA) Board Member David Howe for organizing today's Santa Cruz River Trash...
Mark L. JohnsonFeb 28, 20211 minTA Tidbits #18-Owl-Water-Fire-Grass & TrashPima County Pygmy Owl Monitoring Pima County Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 3 (2/12/21) provides a nice description and update of the County's...
Mark L. JohnsonFeb 23, 20211 minTA Alert! Marana CIPThe Marana Town Council meets tonight (2/23/21) in a Study Session to discuss the proposed 2022-26 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). TA...
Mark L. JohnsonFeb 19, 20213 minWater Woes ILake Mead-41% Full White Paper 6-Alternative Management Paradigms for the Future of the Colorado and Green Rivers casts doubt on the...
Mark L. JohnsonFeb 5, 20213 minTA Tidbits #17-Hot Local News & EventsSun-Moon-Earth Upper Javelina Trail TA Meets With Marana Town Manager TA Board members Mark Johnson, Dave Barker and Jim Tripp met via...
Mark L. JohnsonJan 31, 20211 minSanta Cruz River CleanupTucson Clean & Beautiful and other agencies/groups are sponsoring a Santa Cruz River Cleanup on March 7. The Tortolita Alliance is...
Mark L. JohnsonJan 16, 20212 minTA Tidbits #16-Rare Plant, Marana Stuff & Volunteer OpportunitiesAmanda and Trevor Switzer make a stop at Strong Arm Saguaro Cactus in the Tortolita Preserve. Amanda and Trevor were visiting from Texas...
Mark L. JohnsonNov 21, 20203 minDry and More DryThis is our 4th Quarter 2020 Drought Update The western US drought shows no signs of improving. A recent Cronkite News Drought Article...