Watershed Info No 969

1. Climas Report: October 20 2018

Precipitation in September was much above average. Year-todate precipitation was mostly average to below average in Arizona

September temperatures were warm throughout Arizona, ranging from much- above average to record warmth. Year-to -date temperatures were much-above average to record warmest

Arizona Drought

Water-year precipitation (Oct. 1 to present) was below normal to record driest for most of Arizona. Recent iterations of the US Drought Monitor have identified drought category improvements in southern Arizona as a result of tropical storm activity in early October.

Reservoirs




2. Las Vegas, San Diego Face Cape Town-Like Risks to Water Supplies. The announcement earlier this year that the South African city of Cape Town could run out of water prompted many to ask, “How could this happen?”

Bloomberg Environment, started asking, “Who’s next?”

Many U.S. cities, particularly in the arid West, have their own unique problems that threaten the future of their water supplies. Some city leaders are working on or have already developed concrete plans to address these threats. But it is unclear how well these plans will stand up to booming populations, meager funding for water infrastructure, and the still unknown consequences of climate change.

These are five of the U.S. cities that could soon be facing the same kinds of water shortages as Cape Town:

Santa Barbara
San Diego
Las Vegas
Miami Phoenix

Why Phoenix WILL be the next Cape Town: If water levels at Lake Mead drop below an elevation of 1,075 feet, Arizona will see a mandatory 11.4 percent cut in it the amount of water it receives from the country’s largest reservoir. Federal hydrological modelspredict that, factoring in climate change, this threshold will almost certainly be met by 2020, if not sooner

Why Phoenix WON’T be the next Cape Town: The growing certainty that Lake Mead will fall below the 1,075-foot threshold is motivating farmers, businesses, mayors, and other stakeholders to come to the negotiating table and strike a water sharing bargain that would have been unthinkable before. Furthermore, if and when there are mandatory water cutbacks, the agriculture industry will likely feel their pain earlier and more acutely than the politically powerful metropolis of Phoenix, which isn’t as reliant on Lake Mead as are other big Southwestern cities.

To read the “Will” and “Won’t” of the other cities, go online to bna.com.


3. As We All Move Toward The Thanksgiving Holiday, Discerning Minds Want To Know, Where Did Turkey’s Originate? Answer at the end of the newsletter.




4. ADEQ Waste Programs Division invites interested parties to comment on the Hazardous Waste Rulemaking filed with the Arizona Secretary of State on Oct. 19, 2018. The notice is expected to be published on Nov. 9, 2018 in the Arizona Register.

The comment period will close Dec. 12, 2018, but comments are being accepted now (early comments are encouraged).

The Proposed Rule link below shows changes made to the proposed rule text since the last public draft.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking | View/Download >

Proposed Rule | View/Download >




5. November 6th 2018 Elections: Vote Intelligently. If you have not mailed your early ballot (October 9th), it is hoped that you will make your way to the facility on November 6, 2018 to cast your ballot. When you arrive to vote at the polls on Election Day you will announce your name and place of residence to the election official and present two forms of identification:

  • Valid Arizona driver license
  • Valid Arizona non-operating identification card
  • Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification
  • Valid United States federal, state, or local government issued identification OR

Sufficient ID Without A Photograph That Bear The Name And Address (Two Required)

  • Utility bill of the elector that is dated within 90 days of the date of the election. A utility bill may be for electric, gas, water, solid waste, sewer, telephone, cellular phone, or cable television
  • Bank or credit union statement that is dated within 90 days Registration of the date of the election
  • Valid Arizona Vehicle
  • Indian census card
  • Property tax statement of the elector’s residence
  • Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification Arizona vehicle insurance card
  • Recorder’s Certificate
  • Valid United States federal, state, or local government issued identification, including a voter registration card issued by the County Recorder
  • Any mailing to the elector marked “Official Election Material”

Understand Your Vote:
Proposition 125
PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA; AMENDING ARTICLE XXIX, SECTION 1, CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA; RELATING TO PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEMS.

The Constitutional Amendment and accompanying legislation would permit the state to adjust certain benefits in the corrections officers’ and elected officials’ retirement systems to alleviate pension underfunding.

A “YES” vote will allow the State to adjust certain benefits for corrections officer retirees and elected official retirees in order to provide greater financial stability in the pension system; plan changes for newly-hired corrections officers include the replacement of the current permanent benefit increase with a cost of living adjustment tied to inflation and transition to a defined contribution system; plan changes for elected official retirees include a guaranteed cost of living adjustment tied to inflation.

A “NO” vote will have the effect of maintaining the current benefit and contribution rules in the Corrections Officer Personnel Retirement System and Elected Officials Personnel Retirement System.

Proposition 126
AMENDING ARTICLE IX OF THE ARIZONA CONSTITUTION BY AMENDING SECTION 6 AND ADDING SECTION 25, AND AMENDING ARTICLE XIII, SECTION 2, OF THE ARIZONA CONSTITUTION; PROHIBITING THE TAXATION OF ANY SERVICE THAT WAS NOT TAXED AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2017.

The Constitutional Amendment would prohibit the state and each county, city, town, district, or other political subdivision in Arizona from imposing a new or increased tax on services that was not already in effect on December 31, 2017.

A “YES” vote will prohibit the State and local governments from enacting any new or increased tax on services that was not already in effect on December 31, 2017.

A “NO” vote will preserve the State and local governments’ existing authority to impose a tax on services in the future.

Proposition 127
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT WOULD REPLACE ARIZONA’S CURRENT PLAN FOR INCREASING RENEWABLE ENERGY USE BY IMPOSING A NEW MANDATE REQUIRING NONGOVERNMENTAL ELECTRIC UTILITIES TO INCREASE THE PORTION OF THEIR RETAIL ENERGY SALES GENERATED FROM CERTAIN TYPES OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES TO 50% BY 2030.

The Constitutional Amendment would replace Arizona’s current plan for increasing renewable energy use by imposing a new mandate requiring nongovernmental electric utilities to increase the portion of their retail energy sales generated from certain types of renewable energy resources to 50% by 2030.

A “YES” vote will replace Arizona’s current plan for transitioning nongovernmental electric utilities to renewable energy with a constitutional mandate that, irrespective of cost to consumers, 50% of the retail energy sales of these utilities come from certain types of renewable energy by 2030 (neither pre-1997 hydropower nor any nuclear generation counts for this percentage); the current plan increases use of the same types of renewable energy from 8% this year to 15% in 2025. A “YES” vote also will mandate that these utilities increase their use of distributed renewable energy (energy locally generated and distributed from customers’ premises) to 10% by 2030; will require the new mandates be met by obtaining renewable energy credits, which may be created through renewable energy production or purchased from others who own existing renewable energy credits; and will require the Arizona Corporation Commission to enact implementing regulations.

A “NO” vote will preserve the existing rules that govern the required annual percentage of retail sales of renewable energy by nongovernmental electric utilities.

Proposition 305
AMENDING SECTIONS 15-2401, 15-2402, 15-2403 AND 42-2003, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; AMENDING LAWS 2013, CHAPTER 250, SECTION 3; RELATING TO EMPOWERMENT SCHOLARSHIP ACCOUNTS.

The Law would expand eligibility for education empowerment scholarship accounts to increase the number of eligible students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade, with greater funding provided for low-income students.

A “YES” vote would allow Senate Bill 1431 (2017) to go into effect, which would gradually increase for four years the percentage of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade eligible to receive an empowerment scholarship account to spend on tuition, textbooks, educational therapies, tutoring, or other qualified forms of instructional assistance at a private or home-based school in an amount equal to 90% of the allotted funding that otherwise would have been Page 6 allocated to the student’s public school district or charter school (for low-income students, the amount would be equal to 100% of the allotted funding); make changes to the existing empowerment scholarship program by requiring a policy handbook to be published for program applicants and participants, clarifying parental rights to appeal Department of Education eligibility decisions, and placing scholarship spending information on the Department’s website; and control the growth of the scholarship program by limiting new scholarship accounts each year through 2022 and eventually capping the number of new scholarship accounts at 2021-2022 fiscal year levels.

A “NO” vote will preserve the existing law regarding empowerment scholarship accounts.

Proposition 306
AMENDING SECTIONS 16-948 AND 16-956, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; RELATING TO THE CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT

The Law would prohibit candidates who finance their political campaigns with public funding from the citizens clean elections commission from transferring any campaign funds to a political party or private tax-exempt organization that attempts to influence elections and subjects the commission’s rulemaking procedures to regulatory oversight.

A “YES” vote will prohibit statewide and legislative candidates who receive public funding to finance their political campaigns from transferring campaign funds to a political party or a private tax-exempt organization that attempts to influence elections, and will subject the Citizens Clean Elections Commission’s rulemaking procedures to the regulatory oversight that applies to other state agencies by repealing the Commission’s exemption from the Administrative Procedures Act.

A “NO” vote will allow the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to determine whether publicly-funded candidates are permitted to transfer their campaign funds to political parties or private tax-exempt organizations that influence candidate elections, and will leave current law unchanged regarding administrative oversight of the Commission







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