1. Monsoon Events and Mosquito Control.
As reported in last weeks Watershed Newsletter, the monsoons have arrived and are dropping rain water here and there across Arizona. It only takes a tablespoon of standing water and four days (to 30 days) for mosquitoes to lay an egg raft. A raft is about the size of a small grain of rice. From this raft, 400 mosquitoes can emerge. Repeat every four days (depending on the mosquito species.)
Keep mosquitoes from taking over your back yard by periodically emptying plant saucers, bird baths and animal water bowls. Repel mosquitoes by rubbing the leaves of citronella geraniums as soon as you sit down in the back yard. Burn a citronella candle while enjoying the great outdoors. Apply any repellant containing DEET, or any repellant containing Lemon Eucalyptus essential oil.
If you think mosquitos are breeding in a stagnant pool or pond, pour ½ cup of mineral oil to 1,000 square feet of water surface. This will suffocate the mosquito during its syphoning stage.
2. Water Researchers Tackle Questions About Toxic Algae And Mountain System Recharge.
Two new water-related research projects were recently completed using funding that the Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) receives through the US Geological Survey from annual appropriations for the federal 104(b) Program. The WRRC is Arizona’s federally authorized Water Resources Research Institute, and as such administers the 104(b) Program, which provides support for research and information transfer projects on water-related issues of importance to Arizona and the region. In the past, projects funded through the WRRC have explored fundamental issues affecting the water supply, both in terms of water quality and quantity.
This year, a project led by University of Arizona professor Kevin Fitzsimmons and graduate student Robert Lynch titled “Might Recycled Wastewater Solve the Rising Problem of Toxin-Producing Algae?” explored the production of toxic algal blooms in recycled water and groundwater. The second project, “Impact of Projected Climate Changes on Mountain-block Recharge Processes” was spearheaded by hydrology professor Thomas Meixner and PhD student Ravindra Dwivedi, with input from professors Paul Ferre and Jennifer McIntosh. The study investigated mountain system recharge processes.
The Fitzsimmons and Lynch project explored the conditions that cause toxic blooms of blue-green algae in water. Although common in most water bodies around the world, blue-green algae can sometimes cause severe problems with surface water quality. When algal blooms form, water deoxygenation occurs, leading to fish kills. Furthermore, some species of algae can produce microstycins during algal blooms, deadly neurotoxins that are harmful to both humans and animals. Toxic algal blooms occur all over the world, but the environmental triggers that cause “normal” algal blooms to suddenly become toxic are poorly understood. Recent scientific advances have resulted in methods to identify genes involved in toxin production and methods to quantify trace chemicals in water samples, both of which will help in identifying environmental triggers inducing toxin production in algae.
This study compared levels of algae, heavy metals, toxic algae, and microstycins in water samples collected over one summer. Two large ponds were sampled eight times each within a six-month period. The first set of samples was taken from a pond filled with recycled water at Sweetwater Wetlands. The second set of samples came from an irrigation retention pond fed by groundwater. An exciting finding was that, while levels of toxins and toxic algae increased in the groundwater-filled pond during summer months, levels in the pond containing recycled water remained below detection limits. These results agree with a previous study that strongly indicated the presence of a factor (chemical, physical, or biological) in recycled water that prevents the formation of toxic algal blooms. Although correlations were found between toxins and some of the measured water parameters, more work needs to be done to identify factors controlling toxin formation. Knowledge of the factors inducing toxin formation would help water managers design strategies that prevent the development of dangerous water quality conditions.
The main objective of the second project was to improve understanding of mountain system recharge processes, specifically the processes that lead to mountain-block recharge through a fractured bedrock aquifer. Mountain system recharge is defined as the total recharge to a valley aquifer occurring from mountain systems, including water that feeds streams and valley groundwater from flow through fractured bedrock. Mountain systems provide critical water and ecosystem services for populations in adjacent alluvial basins located in semiarid and arid regions. Arizona and much of the southwestern United States rely on the water from these systems which are, worryingly, at risk due to climate change. Current climate projections indicate reduced snowpack, reduced snowpack duration, and increased frequency of extreme precipitation events. These issues compound the already uncertain recharge estimates resulting from the lack of knowledge about natural recharge processes and the hydrologic functioning of mountain systems.
Meixner, Dwivedi and their team chose a high-elevation mountainous site located within the Santa Catalina Mountains for long-term observations of multiple tracers, using multiple methods. These observations were used to evaluate multiple competing conceptual models of streamflow generation and processes affecting stream water quality. A conceptual model involving precipitation, soil water, shallow and deep groundwater proved useful for the study site. Preliminary results suggest that during periods of snowmelt the quantity of stream water at the site is maintained by shallow surface storage, such as near surface water and soil waters. On the other hand, the quality of stream water is controlled by both shallow subsurface flow and deep flow through the fractured bedrock aquifers.
The project will lead to improved understanding of recharge processes and how catchments store water and discharge it with time. The results will provide state and local water managers with better estimates of groundwater replenishment rates in lowlands through mountain systems. Study findings are also relevant to other high elevation mountainous areas where fractured-bedrock aquifers play a significant role in streamflow and groundwater recharge.
3. Join the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) and the Arizona Green Chamber for an important Candidate Meet and Greet.
The event is FREE!
Date: August 7, 2018
Time: 5:30 to 7:00pm
Where: at the Mod, 2828 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix AZ Parking: Available in underground building garage
Mingle with and hear from Candidates who will impact Arizona Solar Industries, while you enjoy refreshments from Pita Jungle, a full cash bar and a relaxing atmosphere located in Central Phoenix. This a great opportunity to MEET your Arizona Candidates from three important races that will affect your Solar and Related businesses and industries!
AriSEIA continues to be involved in 2018 important Gubernatorial, Congress District 8, and ACC candidate races whose policies can affect solar, storage, and related industries. This event gives our members and their voting guests the ability to talk one on one with candidates before the Primary Election. Please RSVP at 928.925.3671 or lucy@ariseia.org.
4. Navajo Nation Negotiating Sale Of West’s Largest Coal Plant. The Navajo Nation on July 12 said it has identified a potential buyer for the 2,250-MW Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona, the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S. The Navajo Nation Council, in a joint news release with the Navajo Nation’s Office of the President and Vice President, said the Hopi Tribe supports an agreement to sell the plant in order to keep it open, along with the nearby Kayenta Mine from which the plant sources coal.
The NGS and the adjacent mine generate about one-third of the Navajo Nation’s operating budget and about 80% of the Hopi Tribe’s, with most of the workers at both the power plant and the mine members of the tribes. The plant’s current ownership plans to close the plant near Page, Arizona, by the end of 2019 if the facility is not sold.
The joint release said negotiations are underway with New York-based Avenue Capital Group, a global investment firm that invests in distressed companies and the distressed debt market, as the potential new owner. The release said Deerfield, Illinois-based Middle River Power (MRP) is the potential new operator. Middle River Power owns about 2,000 MW of power generation assets, including coal, natural gas, geothermal, and solar, in Virginia, West Virginia, California, and Maryland.
Joe Greco, senior vice president of Middle River Power, in June told a meeting of the Central Arizona Water Conservation board that his company could operate the NGS economically and efficiently. He told the board his company was putting together an offer for the plant.
The NGS supplies about 75% of the power for the board’s Central Arizona Project (CAP), which needs electricity to pump water through its aqueduct system. The board has been lining up alternative sources of power for CAP should the NGS close.
The NGS is currently owned by the Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service Co., NV Energy, Tucson Electric Power, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye in Thursday’s release said, “We look forward to the negotiations that need to take place and the continued collaboration with NGS owners in ensuring the transfer of assets. This selection is a preliminary stage of the process. No contracts have been signed. MRP has been given the opportunity to move forward in becoming the new owner of NGS. We will do everything we can to make sure this is a successful partnership.”
“The Hopi Tribe remains hopeful that these negotiations will be successful for the economic benefit of the Hopi and Navajo People,” Hopi Tribal Chairman Timothy L. Nuvangyaoma said in a statement.
Hopi Tribal Vice Chairman Clark W. Tenakhongva said, “The economic security of the Hopi Tribe is not merely about money, it’s about stewardship—protecting the future and welfare of all who live in our communities.” The plant’s operation provides royalties to both the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, along with jobs at the plant and Kayenta Mine.
Middle River’s interest in NGS was first reported by Bloomberg in April, based on emails it obtained that showed a representative with the Lazard investment company reached out to a CAP representative regarding the plant. Lazard has been retained by Peabody, owner of the Kayenta Mine, to find potential buyers for the plant and coal mine.
