Research Looks at Effects of Yuma Desalting Operations
Research to monitor water quality in the Cienega de Santa Clara, located in the Colorado Delta in Mexico, has both environmental and political significance. The research is to evaluate how the operation of the Yuma Desalting Plant will likely affect the cienega. What will be the environmental consequences to this wetland that provides habitat to at least 95 different species of resident and migratory birds including the endangered Yuma Clapper Rail?

Its political significance is that the research is being conduced after various groups involved in a controversy about the YDS operations were able to work out their differences to identify a set of management alternatives agreeable to all. It was considered an extraordinary collaborative effort.

The principal concern was that operating the plant would result in the Cienega getting less water, with the water much saltier, causing harm to plants and animals. Many, however, believed that the plant’s operation was needed to help cope with ongoing drought conditions.

Researchers will begin collecting baseline data in August. Plans call for the YDP to conduct at 3-month trial run at 10 percent of its full capacity during the spring 2007, with scientists gathering water quality data during and after the trial run.

Water sampling will be conducted every month for the next year from 17 locations within the cienega. The water will be tested for salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, selenium concentration and other characteristics to determine if the trial run of the YDP has affected water quality and to what extent.

“Monitoring during the next year will provide long-needed baseline information and increase our understanding of how hydrologic variation affects environmental quality in this critical wetland,” said Flessa, the project’s principal investigator and University of Arizona geoscience professor.
The report issued by the working group called for water quality monitoring of the cienega. The Central Arizona Project has contributed $80,000 to the effort.

Neither BuRec nor Bureau but Reclamation
By referring to the agency as “Reclamation,” rather than “BuRec” or the “Bureau,” Bureau of Reclamation officials are hoping that whatever inconveniences are caused by the extra syllables will be more than made up for by the new name more clearly stating the agency’s mission.

What a “BuRec” is could be anybody’s guess. Confusion results if the agency is called the “Bureau,” especially in the West where the Bureau of Land Management is active. Mention “Bureau” and people wonder, “dirt or water?”

The above picture taken July 31 shows the record-breaking flow in the usually dry Rillito River. Many Tucsonans find it a goading sight to see an abundance of free-flowing water heading downriver, out of reach. An idea that often surfaces with rising waters is the construction of an inflatable dam to capture water for local use. This flood was no exception, with the idea again making the rounds that a dam be built, or rather inflated, near the confluence of the Rillito and the Santa Cruz River. Tempe’s Town Lake is cited as an example. In an editorial the Arizona Daily Star rhapsodized about the possibilities: “With some visionary thinking, we might someday look from the bridges near Downtown and see people in non-motorized boats and in restaurants along the banks of an attractive waterway.” Photo: Arturo Baez

As a result, officials of the water and power agency are requesting that their employees, stakeholders and the press refer to the operation simply as “Reclamation.”

The few extra syllables of “Reclamation” are nothing compared to the nomenclature adjustment the agency attempted in 1979 when its name was changed to Water and Power Resources Service.
The recent name change is part of a two-year visual identity program that is attempting to ensure consistency throughout the agency. The program includes new letterhead, a refined logo and a new tagline: “Managing Water in the West.”

The U.S Geological Survey and the Park Service had undertaken similar efforts in recent years.

Earth Fissure Info to be More Available
Recent legislation will enable prospective homebuyers to check on a concern they oft overlook: earth fissures. Fissures are caused by excessive groundwater pumping in an area.

The bill addresses two of the main reasons fissures are overlooked: homebuyers, many of whom are from out of state, don’t think of them, and information about fissures has not been readily available. A person may become aware of fissures only after having purchased real estate.

The bill will raise homebuyers’ awareness about fissures and make information about them more generally available.

The law requires that the Arizona Department of Real Estate post online maps of earth fissures, or subsidence cracks, with the maps updated every five years. This may be done as early as January.

The law organizes a team effort, with the State Land Department, the Arizona Geological Survey and the Arizona Department of Real Estate coordinating the required data collecting. The AGS will receive funding for geologists to do field work and map the cracks. Estimates for compiling a set of maps is about four years; priority areas for mapping will be areas slated for development.

A recurring problem in the state, earth fissures have been attracting increased attention as development moves into previously agricultural areas.

Development and real estate interests supported the bill.