1. Arizona Mandatory Water Cutbacks Starting in 2020. The flow if the Lake Med Reservoir is now only 39% percent full. The Colorado River has declined 17% in the last 20 years.
Since 2015 Arizona has had a program restricting water but in 2020 AZ and Nevada will be taking less water from the Colorado, required by law. “Officials” state that residents will barely notice the difference.
Source: https://weather.com/science/environment/video/dangerously-low-lake-mead-levelstrigger-mandatory-water-cutbacks?pl=pl-the-latest
That said, when planning your “winter”garden, plan your water consumption in a way to “train” your plants to survive with a little less water.
See relating article below in Item 4
2. Lots Of People Like To Reap Their Rewards From Studying Zymology. For some people, the rewards come after a relatively short time of study while others may have to wait for years to reap any rewards. For those people who tire of their studies of this science an occasional visit to a neighborhood bar to relieve their tired mind.
The answer is at the end of the newsletter.
3. Prepare To Sow Seeds In September, October, November and December For An Early Spring Crop. Plant seeds or plants in the following months. It’s hot now
September
| Bush beans | Beets | Carrots | Garlic |
| Brussel Sprouts | Broccoli | Cabbage | Culiflower |
| Lettuce | Onion seed | Radish | Spinach |
October
| Potatoes | Asparagus | Parsley | Celery |
| Cabbage (plant) |
November
| Onion sets |
December
| Canteloupe | Cucumber | Watermelon | Summer squash |
January
| Egg plant | Peas | Tomato Plants |
4. Solid and Hazardous Waste and Pollution Prevention Workshop in Flagstaff
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Waste Programs Division invites interested community members and business and government personnel to participate in our free workshop. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the latest requirements and best practices and to earn Professional Development Hours.
Wednesday, Sep. 25
Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste and Pollution Prevention
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Coconino County Community Services and Health Services District, Ponderosa Conference Room – 2625 N King St, Flagstaff Learn more and register at azdeq.gov
5. DCP’s Tier Zero Begins a New Era In 2020
by Chuck Cullom, Colorado River Programs Manager 8/14/2019
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued its August 24-Month Study Report, a two-year outlook projecting water supply and operating conditions in the Lower Colorado River Basin..
The August Report defines, among other things, the operating conditions for Lake Mead for 2020, and includes the recently enacted Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). At the end of 2019, the projected Lake Mead elevation – the measuring stick for whether there is a shortage declaration on the river for 2020 – is just shy of 1090’. And, for the first time, the Lower Colorado River Basin will formally implement reductions outlined in the DCP at the new Tier Zero beginning January 2020.
What does this mean?
In short, it shows that in its first year, DCP is already working.
While the Basin experienced a stellar snowpack year and subsequent phenomenal runoff, because Lake Mead is projected to end 2019 below elevation 1090’, the Lower Basin States (Arizona, California and Nevada) will be in a DCP Tier Zero shortage condition next year. Under Tier Zero, Arizona’s Colorado River supplies will be reduced by 192,000 acre-feet; Nevada’s will be reduced by 8,000 acre-feet; and California takes no reductions. In addition, Mexico will reduce its water use by 41,000 acre-feet, due to Minute 323, an agreement under the 1944 Treaty for water users in both countries. Because of Arizona’s Colorado River priority system and agreements amongst water users, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) will take 100% of Arizona’s reductions under Tier Zero. CAP’s supplies will be reduced by 192,000 acre-feet, representing 12% of its normal annual Colorado River water supply. For CAP customers, this means eliminating the water that would have been available for underground storage, banking
and replenishment. Water going toward CAP agricultural uses will be reduced by about 15%.
The Tier Zero reduction to CAP, while significant, is largely equivalent to the amount of Colorado River water CAP has been leaving voluntarily in Lake Mead since 2015 as part of our Lake Mead Conservation Program. In essence, CAP and its water users have been planning and preparing for Tier Zero reductions for the past five years. The difference is that those previous contributions were voluntary – now, under DCP, these contributions are mandatory.
Through the DCP, Arizona continues to prepare for a drier future. This year, CAP, along with the Gila River Indian Community and the Colorado River Indian Tribes, is contributing and storing 236,000 acre-feet in Lake Mead. Next year, even with the Tier Zero reductions, these same water users, along with the Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District, will continue to conserve and store additional water in Lake Mead. These efforts are part of Arizona’s plan to implement DCP developed collaboratively by the Arizona water community and legislative leaders. The plan balances the impacts of DCP amongst water users and provides additional protection to the Colorado River system, giving us a road map to follow for the next several years.
Source: CAP News
6. Congratulations To The Oak Creek Watershed Council.
This past weekend we doubled our previous cleanup removal record all thanks to our volunteers and our partners. A huge thank you to the U.S. Forest Service, REI Co-Op, and Dark Sky Brewing Company for making the event possible. In just 2 hours, we removed over 1,260 lbs of trash! We successfully removed trash left behind from summer campers off the FR 535 and 237 roads, hopefully encouraging future visitors to keep it clean.
7. Gobal Heat Waves Point to Intensifying Global Climate Crisis. Heat waves are deadly, dirty, and expensive – and they’re not going away.
The heat index—the combination of heat and humidity, or what the temperature feels like—was 101 degrees and climbing. By Tuesday, it topped out at 109 and a heat advisory covered much of middle Tennessee. Temperatures at that height can cause sunstroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and possible heatstroke. According to NOAA data analyzed by the Alabama Political Reporter, in the United States alone, extreme heat causes more deaths than hurricanes and floods combined, twice as many as tornadoes, and four times as many as extreme cold.
That same day, the heat index in Clarksdale, Mississippi, hit 121 degrees; 119 in West Memphis; and 113 in Houston, Texas. According to the National Weather Service, 13 states in the Midwest and South had active heat advisories, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. When forecasters issued a more serious “excessive heat warning,” it impacted nearly 17 million people.
In mid-July, an extreme heat wave affected 85 percent of the US population. And in Alaska, an Arctic heat wave—oxymoron, anyone?—busted temperature records and disrobed the state’s long coastline of any and all sea ice. July also set temperature records in half a dozen European nations, and public health advisories were issued across the continent. Extreme heat caused at least two deaths in Spain, and in one week in the Netherlands, there were as many as 400 more deaths than during a typical summer week. In Japan, extreme heat in early August was linked to 57 deaths and 18,000 hospitalizations.
These widespread heat waves shouldn’t come as a surprise. Climate scientists and weather patterns have been warning us for decades. The past five years have been the hottest on record. After the hottest June ever recorded, July one-upped the previous month by becoming the hottest month ever recorded globally.
This summer is a primer on how deadly the cycle of increasing heat waves could become if nothing is done to respond to the climate crisis. According to a recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (USC), if we continue business as usual, the southeastern United States will endure four months every year where the heat index exceeds 105 degrees.
“We’re going to see temperatures off the heat index charts for multiple days of the year by mid-century,” says Joe Daniel, senior energy analyst at USC. By the end of the century, Alabama, for example, a state with historically zero off-the-chart heat days, would see 11 each year. According to Daniel, “Many of those days can be avoided if we reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that we emit into the air.”
Unfortunately, the increase in heat waves can also increase the feedback loop of climate change. Hotter days mean air conditioners work harder and longer to keep consumers cool. According to a June report by Nature, if global temperatures aren’t lowered by 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the increased need for hot-season cooling could cause energy demand to rise over 50 percent in the southern United States.
Stress on the energy grid can force utilities to move from their most-efficient and lowestcost energy resources—like natural gas or solar—to their least-efficient and mostexpensive energy resources. In the Southeast, that can mean relying on old, and expensive, coal-fired power plants. This means an uptick in costs to the environment, the utility, and the consumer.
Even worse, the environmental problem can become an even more pressing economic issue. Although the South has some of the lowest electricity rates in the United States, the region faces the highest electricity burden—measured in electric bills against household income—which is impacted by a number of factors including regional climate, household energy efficiency, and utility rates and debt programs. If a household spends 6 percent of its total income on energy, it’s a burden. But in some low-income communities, records show households have spent over 50 percent of their annual income on energy.
According to the South Alabama Electric Cooperative, running air conditioning during summer’s peak heat can account for over half the household’s total energy bill.
“Many people, particularly those that live below the federal poverty line,” says Daniel, “already struggle to pay energy bills, and many can’t afford to pay them, particularly in the summer when bills are highest. Electricity can get turned off. When that happens, you’re exposed to the full effect of a heat wave, which can have deadly consequences for vulnerable populations.”
A lack of federal regulations and lax laws in many states mean that while it’s a real fear for utilities to turn off the electricity, the more consistent fear is utility bills. The federal government assists with utility bills through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. Texas’s program, CEAP, serves low-income individuals by doling out their annual budget to state-funded agencies.
As the heat wave simmers out in the Midwest and Southeast, temperatures in the Southwest are predicted to hit 115 degrees. No matter where you are in the United States, from Alaska to Mississippi, between Texas and Maine, extreme heat waves are affecting everyone. And they’re not going away.
X. Need To Refresh Your OSHA 8-Hour Certification? A class is schedualed for August 31st. Call Dan (623) 930-8197 or e-mail (sconflict@aol.com) right away to register. $80 covers registration, breakfast and lunch.
Answer to Question found in No 2 above;
Studying the science of fermentation.
