Mark L. Johnson
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Oct 4
- 1 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 27
- 2 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Aug 20
- 2 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jul 9
- 1 min
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)....
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Mark L. Johnson
- Jun 7
- 1 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 28
- 2 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- May 14
- 2 min
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...
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Mark L. Johnson
- Apr 16
- 4 min
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....
350 views
Mark L. Johnson
- Mar 22
- 2 min
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...
428 views
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...
243 views
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...
367 views
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...
229 views
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...
214 views
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...
354 views
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...
232 views
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...
277 views
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...
358 views
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