The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) has released the results from last month’s online survey.

It was distributed to 184 people via email in the Globe-Miami area between Oct. 25 and Nov. 21, 2018, said Ashley Hullinger, research analyst with the WRRC’s Water RAPIDS (Water Research and Planning Innovations for Dryland Systems) program.

The Center received 38 complete responses, for a 20 percent response rate.

Ninety-five percent of survey participants said they agree with the watershed vision, which is to create and maintain “vibrant and healthy communities, environment and economy by fostering collaboration, transparent decision-making and cooperative projects that will benefit the watershed for generations to come.”

Top issues identified as most important for achieving the watershed vision are:

Inadequate infrastructure to move effluent for treatment and reuse;

Inadequate and deteriorating infrastructure with insufficient funding for the scale of challenges; and

Many jurisdictions in the region, including the Tribal Nations, say that they do not talk to each other.

Other results were as follows:

76 percent of survey respondents said they know where their water comes from;

50 percent of respondents said they try to limit water use to conserve water to protect the resource;

More than 95 percent of participants said they currently use water-saving practices; and

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they currently recycle gray water or use harvested rainwater.

The most popular water saving practice is watering outdoors during early morning or evening, according to 31 percent of respondents who said that is what they do, Hullinger said.

Other practices include taking shorter showers (7 percent); installing low-flow plumbing fixtures and appliances (15 percent); reducing the landscape area irrigated (26 percent) and installing water efficient irrigation systems (7 percent), she said.

Sixty-four percent of respondents said they are concerned with the quality of their water and 25 percent said they read the water quality reports the water company provides.

Twenty-five percent of participants said that they drink only bottled water, Hullinger said.

Survey respondents also identified the following as priority actions to take in the Cobre Valley Watershed:

• Developing a comprehensive water budget, including environment requirements, based on recent hydrologic data;
• Developing an inventory with clear instructions on what data is needed and how the information will be used;
• Setting framework for private-public partnerships for long-term water supply resilience;
• Increasing the benefits of water recycling by high quality treatment; using reclaimed water; and
• Connecting trails and building safe trails to expand tourism options and attract more people to the region.

Along with the survey results summary, Hullinger also provided information for those concerned about their quality of their water.

Reports are available at the following sites:

For Miami, www.azwater.com/files/water-quality/ccr-miami-2017.pdf

For Globe, www.globeaz.gov/files/pdf/public-works/water-dept/2017-CCR-Final.pdf

For well owners, the resources are as follows:

The 2009 Well Owners’ Guide to Groundwater Resources in Gila County is available at extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1502.pdf.

The 2017 (second edition) Arizona Well Owner’s Guide to Water Supply is available at extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1485-2017_0.pdf.

Funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART program, the Cobre Valley Watershed Partnership (CVWP) will be created over the next two years to implement needed watershed projects in the area.

In 2018, the Bureau of Reclamation funded WRRC to assess water supply and demand in Cobre Valley, and to incorporate the findings, along with stakeholder priorities, into a “Water Resources Objectives Report.”

The survey is one of the Center’s sources of information, helping them get a general idea of the level of community awareness about the region’s water issues, as well as a consensus on the challenges and opportunities defined at the Small-Town Water Forum, held Sept. 6, 2018, in Miami’s Bullion Plaza, Hullinger said.

In October, the WRRC released its summary, acknowledging the dedication and participation of the more than 50 people attendees at the Sept. 6 forum, she said.

“The quality and depth of ideas about regional water resources laid excellent groundwork for next steps,” Hullinger said. “From the informative presentations in the morning to the break-out discussions in the afternoon, participants offered a variety of challenges, opportunities and actions to consider.”

The proposed actions were defined and assigned priorities, based on focus group discussions and voting by participants, she said at the time.

The next forum will be held in April to report on progress and move forward with actions, Hullinger told the Silver Belt.

Coordinating with the Bureau of Reclamation, the CVWP and other community partners, the WRRC is pursuing research and action planning around the list of priorities created at the Sept. 6 forum, she said.

The priorities are being further evaluated through the WRRC’s online survey, with the goal of getting public feedback on the priorities proposed by forum participants, Hullinger said.

At the Sept. 6, 2018 forum, “we had well-informed, big thinkers in the room…so we have a great start with our priority ideas,” she said. “To be fully iterative and transparent, we need as much public participation and buy-in as possible.”

Other ideas generated during the forum’s small group discussions are also being considered for incorporation into the Water Resources Objectives Report, Hullinger said.

The WRCC’s summary states that the Globe-Miami area faces complex water supply and infrastructure challenges that impact community well-being and future prospects, she said.

CVWP membership is open to any interested individual or organization.

For more information, or to become involved in a CVWP working group, contact Ashley Hullinger at 520-621-8252 or via e-mail hullinger@e-mail.arizona.edu or Susanna Eden at 520-621-5670 or via e-mail at seden@e-mail.arizona.edu

For more information, go to wrrc.arizona.edu/Cobre-Valley.

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