1. Bartlett Lake Has No Shoreline!
A visit to Bartlett Lake found it to have no shoreline (beach area).
The water has been rising rapidly and a lot of the lake water is muddy making it difficult for the fish to find the bait .
If you’re not there to fish, take a camera, the yellow poppy and blue lupine are there by the millions.
2. Arizona Association of Environmental Professionals March Meeting.
AZAEP March Monthly Meeting in Phoenix
When: Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Where: Old Spaghetti Factory, 1418 N. Central Ave
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Speakers: David Sampson – Senior Sustainability Scientist, Julie Anne Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability
Topic: WaterSim: A water policy and educational tool, framework, and other projects of the Decision Center for a Desert City at ASU
For more meeting information, such as speaker biography, topic abstract, and payment, and RSVP details, click https://azaep.org/events!
3. Arizona Department Of Environmental Quality Hazardous Waste Rules Update.
ADEQ’s Hazardous Waste rule was approved by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council with an immediate effective date of Feb. 5, 2019.
The rule was published on March 1, 2019 in the Arizona Administrative Register. The Register containing the rule as published can be seen at: https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/register/2019/9/contents.pdf#page=9
What Does the Rule Mean?
The requirement to submit a Facility Annual Report (FAR) to ADEQ was removed from the approved rule. There is no requirement to submit the FAR which would have been due on Mar. 1, 2019. This does not apply to Tier 2 reports which were still due on March 1. In addition, EPA’s Generator Improvements rule is also immediately effective. Generators may take advantage of its new benefits immediately but must also comply with the new requirements. More information about the rules adopted and their effect can be found on ADEQ’s Hazardous Waste Stakeholder Engagement page.
Go to Hazardous Waste Stakeholder Engagement Page (https://azdeq.gov/node/4964)
If you have any questions about this rulemaking, please contact:
Keya Howard | Acting Hazardous Waste Inspections Manager
(602) 771-0381 | Howard.Keya@azdeq.gov
4. Environmental Workers Guide to Pesticides in Your Food, Just Released. 2019 Shopper’s Guide To Pesticides in our food include:
i. Strawberries
ii. Spinach
iii. Kale
iv. Nectarines
v. Apples
vi. Grapes
vii. Peaches
viii. Cherries
ix. Pears
x. Tomatoes
xi. Celery
xii. Potatoes
xiii. Hot Pepper
Learn more by logging in to EWG.org. Once again, strawberries are the most contaminated.
Wash all of your fruits and vegetables well with like warm water before eating.
5. Eight Hour OSHA Refresher.
Do you need your OSHA 8 Hour refresher. Contact Dan (623-930-8197) to register for a late March class. $80 covers the cost of the class, a lite breakfast and a lunch
6. The $20M for Pinal County Farmers, Killed In House, Is Revived In Senate. By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
Rebuffed by a House panel, a Globe lawmaker convinced a Senate committee Tuesday that Pinal County farmers should get $20 million more to help drill new wells to replace Colorado River water they will give up.
The 6-3 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee came after Republican Rep. David Cook argued that the farmers were promised the cash as part of the drought contingency plan enacted by lawmakers in late January.
He wasn’t the only one to make that claim. The promise was made during the drought plan negotiations, Dan Jones, an attorney for several irrigation districts, told lawmakers.
And Tiffany Shedd, an area cotton farmer, said agriculture interests were told to give up their Colorado River water “and we’ll make this right, we’ll help you be able to pump more.”
“We took that on faith,” she said. “This is part of the DCP.” But the comments drew a stern rebuke from Sen. Lisa Otondo, D-Yuma, who was a key member of the committee that negotiated the drought plan.
“I will not sit here and listen to (a) half-told story,” she said. What’s missing from the conversation and the demand for more cash, said Otondo, is that farmers had years before agreed to a lower priority claim on Colorado River water, getting $343 million in subsidies.
And Otondo said the farmers are not being left out in the cold. She said the original offer when the drought plan was being negotiated was for $5 million. That got boosted to $9 million in the final plan, with another $10 million from the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.
Now the irrigation districts that serve the farmers want $20 million more, she said. “There was never a promise to make or pay for the infrastructure in Pinal County,” Otondo said.
Tuesday’s vote comes less than three weeks after the House Appropriations Committee killed identical legislation.
The measure would go next to the full Senate.
But Sen. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, whose district includes part of Pinal County, said the ultimate decision is going to have to be part of the negotiations over the $10.4 billion state budget.
Leach said, however, his colleagues should look at this not as a grant but as a loan in anticipation of the Pinal irrigation districts getting a federal grant the farmers presume will come through — eventually.
Central to the debate is that Lake Mead is likely to drop below 1,075 feet by next year, triggering a first-level shortage.
Overall, the drought plan calls for the state to take an 18 percent reduction in its Colorado River allocation, about 500,000 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is considered enough to supply two or three typical homes for a year.
Part of the water is being made up through deals with Indian tribes. But the plan also presumes that farmers will replace some of what they are losing by being able to draw 70,000 acre-feet of water from underground by 2023. That leaves the cost of new wells and canals.
7. Want To Give To A Non-Profit But Not Sure Which Are Legitimate to DonateTo? Join others on AZGives Day to donate. On April 2nd anyone can go on line to AZGives.org to donate any non-profit organization. Your donation will be tax deductible on the next tax year (2019).
Look for EnviroInsight.org and keep your donation local.
8.
Midgley Bridge Oak Creek Clean Up This Weekend Register Now
https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/NTI2MjI=
Join Oak Creek Watershed Council in providing volunteers across Arizona a unique opportunity to come together and make a visual, immediate change to the Oak Creek Watershed. We’ll work together as stewards to give this popular Spring Break destination some much needed TLC.
Come prepared, inspired, and ready to make a change. We will meet at the Midgley Bridge parking lot at 9am Saturday, March 23rd. Midgley Bridge is just outside Uptown Sedona, along the 89A towards Oak Creek Canyon.
Learn about what issues the Oak Creek Watershed face and what OCWC does to combat these issues. We’ll have a quick discussion, handout supplies, and then we’ll head down to the creek, picking up trash along the way. Our goal is to remove all that was previously left behind from creek-goers, and to encourage surrounding visitors to pack it in and pack it out.
Please bring appropriate attire for a cool morning and warmer afternoon. Hiking shoes are necessary as we will be walking on a hiking trail and across rougher terrain. Remember to pack snacks and water to fuel your work in protecting Oak Creek! We hope to see you there!
Please contact Kalai Kollus, kalai@oakcreekwatershed.org with any questions.
9. Pollution Prevention (P2) Reporting is Going Paperless with myDEQ
Starting in April 2019, ADEQ will no longer accept paper submissions for P2 reporting. To help with this transition, we invite interested parties to get free training for P2 reporting in our online portal, myDEQ.
Request Free Training >
If you haven’t already registered in myDEQ, you can sign up today and be ready to submit your Toxic Data Report (TDR) due July 1, 2019.
Learn More >
Why myDEQ?
As a myDEQ user, soon you will be able to:
Submit and amend P2 Plans and Annual Progress Reports at your convenience, 24/7 Receive notifications so you never miss a due date View P2 Plan revisions from ADEQ Easily update your information.
