ABC's of Water (311 KB) provides basic definitions and shows the components of the hydrologic cycle.

Arizona's Water Supplies, Water Demands, and Water Budget (49 KB) provides general information regarding Arizona’s water.

Arizona Water Atlas provides a comprehensive overview of regional water supply and demand.

Check Your Water Supply Map of counties provides links to information about regional water providers, assured and adequate water supplies, and information about watershed groups.

A Layperson's Guide to Arizona Water (2 MB) is prepared and distributed by the Water Education Foundation and the University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center. It is part of a series of Layperson’s Guides that explore pertinent water issues in an objective, easy-to-understand manner.

Arizona Water Facts is presented by the U.S. EPA and includes climate and geographic considerations, population concerns, water supply and climate change.

Smartscape

Coordinated by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Smartscape is a training program for nursery and landscape professionals designed to encourage consistent horticultural practices compatible with the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona.

• Phoenix Smartscape Workshops
• Tucson Smartscape Workshops

WaterSmart

WaterSmart is the residential component of the SmartScape Program. WaterSmart classes teach homeowners the basics of landscape water conservation through informative 3-hour workshops based on the principles of Xeriscape. Workshops are held in the Tucson area.

Master Watershed Stewards

The Master Watershed Steward program educates and trains citizens across the state of Arizona to serve as volunteers in the protection, restoration, monitoring, and conservation of their water and watersheds.

The program is a partnership of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Check the schedule and sign up for a FREE course series.

Originally presented during Water Awareness Month, April 2009

Irrigation for a Growing World by Alex Nathanson, Rain Bird (sponsored by Rain Bird)

View Presentation: Irrigation for a Growing World (1 MB)
View Rain Bird White Paper: The Intelligent Use of Water: Irrigation for a Growing World (606 KB)

 

Toward the Desert Rain Garden by Scott Calhoun, Zona Gardens (sponsored by Rain Bird)
Is it possible to make a garden in the Southwest that will survive without regular irrigation? Across much of the country, these gardens are known as rain gardens.

Presentation no longer available. For more information, contact Zona Gardens at: 520-867-8038.

Anatomy of Intelligent Irrigation Installation by Jason Isenburg, Urban Organics Landscaping, Tucson
The basics of lateral line installation/configuration; depth of lines; trenching recommendations, proper emitter formatting; how to organize the system from the ground up (literally and figuratively); basic system maintenance; arid-lands techniques; what not to do; and system pros and cons.

View Presentation: Anatomy of Intelligent Irrigation Installation (779 KB)

WaterSense, Arizona Department of Water Resources
Presentation provides an overview of the EPA Water Sense Program, the benefits of water efficient product testing and new products bearing the WaterSense label.

View Presentation: Overview and Benefits of the EPA's WaterSense Program (277 KB)

Town of Payson Water Conservation, Viki Holmes and Mike Ploughe, Town of Payson

Learn about the Town of Payson’s conservation program and how they have dropped residential usage in the past decade from a high of 104 gallons per person per day in 1996 to approximately 84 gallons per person per day in 2006 (from Town’s website).

View Presentation: Conserving Water in the Rim Country (5 MB)

 

Cooperative Extension Offices in Arizona

The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide, educational network. Each U.S. state and territory has a state office at its land-grant university and a network of local or regional offices. In Arizona, there are cooperative extension offices in each county and some Indian Reservations. The state office is at the University of Arizona in Tucson. These offices are staffed by one or more experts who provide useful, practical, and research-based information about regional landscaping and gardening issues.

Arizona Native Plant Society

The Arizona Native Plant Society works to strengthen native plant protection laws, enrich the knowledge of Arizona’s native plants, and contributes volunteer hours to public education about the value of using native plants in the landscape, water conservation, and habitat protection. A Conservation Committee works to carry out the habitat and native plant protection goals of the society. A variety of brochures about landscaping are available. The five chapters in Arizona are based in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott, Tucson and Yuma.

Arizona Water Centers, Institutes and Programs

Arizona's universities are home to numerous specialized centers that are undertaking research on water from various perspectives, from the "hard" sciences (geology, biology, chemistry) to the social sciences (public policy, economics, and conflict resolution), and applied sciences (engineering and hydrology). The centers work closely with water managers, policy makers and the public to ensure that their cutting-edge research results, products, and technologies benefit Arizona 's water future.

Visit the Water Centers website for links to the programs at each center: