Watershed Info No 815

1. The Environmental Information Association-Arizona Chapter. In alliance with

WILL BE PRESENTING A FREE ASBESTOS REGULATORY SEMINAR

Breakfast and Lunch included.
Come meet, share a meal and learn the basics from Maricopa County, ADEQ and OSHA inspectors and instructors from The Asbestos Institute.

Phoenix, AZ November 13, 2015 9:00 – 4:00
Location: ADOT Training Facility
1130 N. 22nd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85009

Space is limited so please register at www.eia-az.org Space is limited so please register at www.eia-az.org

Hope to see you at the seminar.

Who should attend?
City and County building inspectors
Zoning officers, contractors,
Realtors
Facility managers, etc.

2. Still Looking For A Partner? New study reveals those deal breakers. How do you rate? Bad manners? Selfishness? Someone who refers to herself using the “royal we”?

Most folks will admit to having a list of specific negative qualities that make them reconsider a relationship with a potential mate. But now new research shows that people give more weight to these deal breakers than they do to the deal makers, or positive qualities, they hope to find in a person.

Think of it as the relationship version of the economic loss-aversion theory, which holds that people prioritize avoiding risk over acquiring gains. In mating, people pay more attention to what’s wrong with a would-be partner than what is right. Many people said they draw the line at a partner who smokes, drinks excessively, lies, talks too loud or doesn’t know how to communicate. Lots of people refuse to date someone who won’t spend time with their family. Some aren’t interested in a person who has a dog or cat. Others won’t date someone without one. Also a deal breaker, poor grammar, stone washed jeans, and a stack of self-help books on the nightstand. Source: Wall Street Journal, Nov 3.

3. Things To Make With Plastic Water Bottles. Feed Backyard Birds Pencils poke through the bottle to create a perch for your friendly backyard birds, while holes above their seats lets them peck their beaks through to eat dinner.

Dispense Plastic Bags
Cut the bottom of your bottle off to provide a large hole to allow you to stuff plastic bags through. Then, cut the cap off for a smaller opening though which you can pull out the bags when you need a new one.

Separate Your Eggs
Instead of getting your hands messy trying to separate an egg yolk and white with the eggshell, use a water bottle. Squeeze the bottle, hold it over the yolk, then release your grip to suck up the yellow middle.

Make a Water Sprinkler
On a hot, muggy day, don’t let your kids sit around inside — send them outside for some water fun. Just poke a few holes into a water bottle, line it up with the mouth of your hose, and tape it in place. The pressure will push the water out in various directions.

Feed Hummingbirds
If you want the smallest little birds in your backyard to get close enough so you can actually see them, you have to feed ‘em. This bottle with a copper tube in the cap costs less than $8 to make at home.

Source: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/craft-ideas/g2888/new-uses-for-waterbottles/?

4. How Healthy Is The Verde River? Yavapai-Apache Nation’s summer youth Workforce Investment Act employees study river bugs in Verde River.

Dr. Frederic Amalsi leads and investigation of insect life on the Verde River as the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s WIA interns look on. Photo courtesy of Don Decker

Ever wondered what a Sowbug is? How about a Caddisfl y larvae? Throw in Riffle beetle for good measure. That is what the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s summer youth Workforce Investment Act (WIA) employees studied with Dr. Frederic Amalsi, a scientist from Tempe and Terry Geiselman, a water specialist who works closely with the Nation’s EPA department on the Verde River next to Middle Verde.

It seems like an easy answer but studying water quality is much more than that according to Lewis. The YAN wants clean water for the environment and the EPA department is trusted with this responsibility by conducting an in-depth analysis of the water quality on its lands

Amalsi really gets into his work as he slushes into the river with his collection gear while trying to coax the summer youth workers who remain on the banks watching Amalsi.

Each youth is given a ‘Macroinvertebrate Identification Sheet’ that has a picture of these creatures that would scare anyone.

Read the sheet and it clearly states that an “insect is an invertebrate with no spine that has three pairs of legs and three body divisions.”

Geiselman is a water quality specialist and says there is a direct correlation with the quality of the water and the neighborhood it keeps.

Amalsi directs Garner to begin scraping the surface of the rock and starts collects insects that live underneath rocks buried in the river.

There are collection jars with lids and each are labeled for packing and easy identification. Amalsi will take these jars back to his laboratory in Tempe where he will get a closer look at the insects.

For most of the youth, the best part of this day is the opportunity to wade in the water. But more important, professionals like Amalsi and Geiselman can mentor the young people. Maybe create a spark of interest for the students.

WIA is designed for people who want to explore various careers or maybe train for a specific job. It’s a program for displaced workers and retraining of people who want to do something else with their line of work.

“How can an organism live under water that can’t breathe?” One youth is photographing the presentation while another videotapes the investigation. Source: Camp Verde Bugle




5. Dwindling Alternative Water Could Force Amended Prescott Water Policy. A “tight” supply of alternative water for new development could lead to changes in the way the City of Prescott manages its water portfolio.

The Prescott City Council heard a report on Tuesday, Oct. 27, about the dwindling supply of alternative water available for new development.

Prescott Water Resource Manager Leslie Graser presented a 26-page report that outlines the city’s water sources, as well as its water obligations.

She explained that requests for water in 2015 have far exceeded the amount of alternative water the city has budgeted for the year.

While the City Council budgeted 100 acre-feet (an acre foot equals 325,851 gallons) for the year in January 2015, Graser said the city has received more than a dozen requests for water this year, totaling about 231 acre-feet. Another eight projects, totaling 151 acre-feet of water, have gone through the city’s pre-application process, but have yet to apply for a water service agreement.

“The message of that is that the alternative water supply is tight,” City Manager Craig McConnell said of Graser’s presentation – a situation that leads to a number of policy and management questions.

Graser’s presentation included several “policy aspects” to the issue, such as whether the city’s priorities should lie with single-family, apartment, or residential lot-split development.

Along with the possibility of prioritizing the allocations based on type of development, Graser’s presentation also included other possible actions, such as: temporarily suspending new applications for alternative water; requiring all new development to connect to city sewer; and shifting the previous reservation of groundwater for residentially zoned “un-watered” tracts within the city to the future Big Chino water source.

The council agreed that the issue should appear on a future agenda for continued discussion, and the city has tentatively scheduled consideration of a resolution amending water-management policy for the council’s Nov. 10 meeting.

Water for Prescott’s current customers comes from groundwater from well fields in Chino Valley. That source from within the Prescott/tri-city area (the Prescott Active Management Area) has been capped by the state for years because of the 1998 declaration that the area was “mining” or taking more water from the ground than was being recharged.

The groundwater category has significant supplies available for development, say city officials, but the bulk of that water is committed or reserved for “pre-1998 plats.” The city’s general plan notes that “grandfathered groundwater” is available for a total of 6,854 housing units within final and preliminary plats, while water was also reserved for 1,920 residentially zoned “un-watered” tracts within the city.

Graser explained that none of the city’s three sources of alternative water has lived up to the expectations included in the “decision and order” (D&O) that the Arizona Department of Water Resources issued to Prescott in 2009. At that time, the city projected that its alternative sources would generate thousands of acre-feet in water credits, which, in turn, could be allocated to future development. Source: The Daily Courier.

6 State Fair Still Rolling On., But For A Limited Time