1. Dear Interested Party,
In this morning’s bulletin, an incorrect link was listed for the Draft Rule Language document. The correct file is linked below.
Draft Rule Language
We apologize for any inconvenience.
For questions, please contact: wastecompliance@azdeq.gov
2. Take A Moment To Remember. Next Tuesday, we should all take a few Minutes to remember September 11, 2001. 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism.Water Resources Research Center
3. Water Resources Research Center
August 31, 2018 / Volume 6, Issue 21
The Water Resources Research Center – a research and Extension unit of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
CORRECTION: The story, “Groundwater Governance and Assessment in a
Transboundary Setting,” had an incorrect link. We have corrected the link below.
How will Arizona communities ensure that they have sufficient water to meet their future needs? This is the critical question being addressed at the upcoming UA Water Resources Research Center annual conference to be held on Friday, February 1st at the Black Canyon Conference Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This conference will push beyond the existing framework for Arizona’s Active Management Areas to examine locally relevant ideas and solutions. One topic to be addressed is how can we improve water governance, and do we need to change laws or policies to achieve our goals? Much of the day will also focus on community-based solutions and how they can help us meet our water needs. One size does not fit all! Look for our agenda in early October, but in the meantime, please save February 1, 2019 and plan to join us in Phoenix for a great day of conversation and
sharing of ideas and experiences.
4. Solid and Hazardous Waste Programs Workshop.
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Waste Programs Division staff invite interested community members and business and government personnel to participate in our free August and September 2018 workshops. Don’t miss these opportunities to learn about the latest requirements and best practices and to earn Professional Development Hours.
Wednesday, September 12
Solid and Hazardous Waste Programs Workshop
Workshop | 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Coconino County Community Services and Health Services District
2625 N. King Street
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Topics:
- Solid Waste
- Hazardous Waste
- Pollution Prevention (P2)
Go to ADEQ.gov to register
5. OSHA 8 Hour Refresher. An 8 hour OSHA refresher class will be held on October 8, 2018 Columbus Day, in Glendale.
If you are interested in attending the class, contact D. Salzler at (623) 930-8197 or at sconflict@aol.com. Cost is $80 per student. A light breakfast with coffee is provided and lunch is provided at no extra cost.
6. Climas. Precipitation and Temperature: Precipitation in July ranged from below average to much-above average in Arizona , illustrating the extent to which monsoon precipitation varies across the region. July temperatures were warmer than average in nearly all of Arizona, and since July 1, most of the daily temperature anomalies (deviations above or below the average temperature) have been warmer across the region Year-to-date precipitation is above average to record driest while year-to-date temperatures have been much-above average to record warmest.
Monsoon Tracker: The monsoon is going strong with prevailing conditions favorable to storm activity. Arizona and New Mexico have Temperature had nearly daily storms since early July, but as is typical this time of year, the actual precipitation in totals vary considerably across the Southwest at regional and even local scales due to the intense but localized nature of monsoon events.
Red – driest
Drought: Water-year precipitation to date reveals persistent cumulative deficits across nearly all of Arizona. The Aug. 14 USDM responded to recent precipitation and scaled back some of the drought designations in southern Arizona , although the Four Corners region remains in exceptional drought (D4). Drought experts continue to discuss the extent to which short-term upticks in summer precipitation can truly reverse months of deficit. This is our annual conundrum:
much does monsoon precipitation mitigate drought conditions in the Southwest? High-intensity precipitation is subject to loss via runoff and evaporation, yet it can help quickly recharge reservoir storage and irrigate summer forage crops that are dependent on the timing of the precipitation.
Arizona Reservoir Volumes
Blue line – current level
Broken line – last year level
1. Lake Powell 50”% capacity
2. Lake Mead 37% capacity
3. Lake Mohave 94 % capacity
4. Lake Havasu 94%
5. Lyman Lake 21%
6. San Carlos 0%
7. Verde River System 28%
8. Salt River System 52%
7. ADEQ Trennial Review
The draft rule is now available online for your informal review and comment. ADEQ requests that your written comments be submitted to WaterQualityStandards@azdeq.gov by close of business on September 28.
View Draft Proposed Rule
In mid-September, we will hold meetings in Tucson and Phoenix to review and gather input regarding the changes appearing in the draft rule:
- Wednesday, September 12 | Tucson
View Event Info > - Friday, September 14 | Phoenix
View Event Info >
The meetings will cover the same content, and be held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at each location. Remote attendance by WebEx and phone also will be available. Meeting materials will be posted on our website prior to the meetings. If you plan to attend in person, we request that you bring a laptop or any copies of the draft rule you may wish to use. Please RSVP below to help us plan the meetings.
Summary of Draft Content
ADEQ proposes substantial changes to the following subject matter:
- Definitions [A.A.C. R18-11-101]
- Mixing Zones [A.A.C. R18-11-114]
- Variances [A.A.C. R18-11-122]
- Numeric Water Quality Criteria [18 A.A.C. 11, Art. 1, Appendix A]
- E. Coli Numeric Water Quality Criteria [A.A.C. R18-11-109(A)]
- Site Specific Standard Criteria [A.A.C. R18-11-115]
- Enforcement [A.A.C. R18-11-120]
- Listed Site Specific Standards [18 A.A.C. 11, Art. 1, Appendix C]
ADEQ proposes minor technical corrections or clarifications to the following subject matter:
- Antidegradation [A.A.C. R18-11-107]
- Nutrient Criteria Language [A.A.C. R18-11-109(F)]
- Listed Surface Waters and Designated Uses [18 A.A.C. 11, Art. 1, Appendix B]
ADEQ is not proposing to make changes to the following subject matter in this Triennial Review:
- Selenium Numeric Water Quality Criteria [18 A.A.C. 11, Art. 1, Appendix A]
- Outstanding Arizona Waters [A.A.C. R18-11-112]
- Surface Water Definition [A.A.C. R18-11-101]
- Effluent Dependent Water Definition or Applicability [A.A.C. R18-11-101 & A.A.C. R18-11-113]
If you have any questions, please contact Rik Gay at rg11@azdeq.gov.
8. Climate Change Is A Ticks Best Friend. “Lyme” sounds the alarm on a climate-driven epidemic. Since 2012, Dr. Pfeiffer has been investigating the explosive growth of tick populations in the United States and around the world, and with it, the rising incidence of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. What she has discovered, both about the disease itself and the woefully flawed methods with which it is tested, diagnosed, and treated, is enough to give anyone lacing up their shoes for a leisurely stroll in the outback some serious pause. “Blacklegged ticks have taken up residence in half of continental America’s counties, spreading west, north, and south from the Connecticut town from which Lyme disease was named in the late 1970s, like some unchecked algal bloom,” she writes. “These eight-legged arachnids have turned childhood from a time to explore nature to a time to fear it.”
Lyme disease is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium and transmitted most commonly through the bite of an infected tick. The disease can be treated through antibiotics and is curable, but only if caught in its early stages. If left undiagnosed, Lyme disease can lead to debilitating symptoms ranging from memory loss and joint pain to muscle fatigue and depression. Over time, it can become resistant to any treatment.
As climate-induced warming has altered the planet ecosystem, tick populations, long known to be carriers for the Lyme bacterium, are expanding the world over, nurtured by earlier and longer springs. While Pfeiffer is clear that we don’t yet know whether climate change is solely responsible for this expansion, evidence abounds that human-induced global warming is helping it along—something the U.S. government codified in its own climate models years ago.
The CDC first began tracking Lyme in 1996; Pfeiffer examines 18 years of maps since then that reveal the spread of Lyme across the northeast and midwest United States. In 2014, the EPA cited Lyme as one of four indicators to track and measure the impacts of climate change in a report the agency issued. “The tick-borne illness is the only disease to be treated with that
distinction,” Pfeiffer writes.
A warming world isn’t the only possible reason that ticks—and with them, Lyme—are spreading. Pfeiffer presents a sobering analysis of how parks and nature preserves have turned sprawling woodlands into tick sanctuaries, which have in turn become incubators for Lyme disease. These “woodburbs,” as one Yale University researcher calls them, are pleasant green landscapes for residents, but they are also essential to the survival and sustenance of ticks.
The tick is a remarkably efficient arachnid with a unique talent for delivering an equally efficient disease through its bite. Ticks can detect the breath of a potential victim from 50 feet away and are built like tanks, nearly impervious to a pinch, swat, or attempted crushing blow. In the case
of the Ixodes ricinus tick, Pfeiffer explains in gruesome detail how it deploys two spear-like appendages to pierce the epidermis of its victim, then extends and retracts them over and over, cutting, sawing, and stabbing away at its meal. The victim doesn’t even feel the bite because the tick’s saliva contains an anesthetic like a novocain to numb the skin. The saliva also contains molecules that prevent the victim’s blood from clotting so that it can continue feasting without interruption. Once the tick is in place it uses its saliva to build a hardened seal around the bite. The arachnid’s remarkable saliva is also a perfect container for a host of potentially devastating diseases, specifically, Lyme.
The Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete that causes
Lyme disease is itself “a bug of many talents, When it passes from the tick’s mouth to a human, B. burgdorferi stops producing the protein that helps it stick to the tick’s digestive tract. This allows the bacterium to pass into its host without triggering an immune response. When it enters the bloodstream, “akin to a kayaker on the Colorado River after a raging storm, B. burgdorferiswings on tethers within blood vessels, planting anchors along the way to steady and slow its movement.” It then uses a propulsive flagellum shielded by a membrane to help it “swim Olympian-like through fluids that would be the death of many bacteria and to penetrate tough joint capsules, the peridardium around the heart, and meninges that encase the brain, something few bacteria can do.”
Every year, upwards of 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme. But while other diseases like Zika have garnered mass media attention, Lyme hasn’t. Pfeiffer puts the blame squarely on the medical community, which she says is poorly equipped to handle a Lyme epidemic. While little effort is being made to raise public awareness about the disease. What does this mean for our kids and us? For the hike we might take next weekend, or the next time we walk our dog near a field? After you read Lyme, the standard advice of “do your due diligence, check for ticks, stay aware” won’t seem adequate. Climate change requires that we be ready to challenge the rigid orthodoxies of a mainstream health-care system woefully unprepared for the climate-driven epidemics of the future. That system will only change when we demand change.
In Arizona, be aware of these ticks:
Brown Dog Tick
Rocky Mountain Wood Tick
Western Black-Legged Tick
