Arizona’s Roadmap for Considering Water for Arizona's Natural Areas

In an effort to more deeply understand the relationship between existing water management and Arizona’s riparian and aquatic ecosystems, the WRRC developed the Connecting the Environment to Arizona Water Planning project with funding from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The project began in August 2011 and over the course of three years became an iterative stakeholder engagement process to examine how, if, and where water for natural areas should be considering in statewide water management and planning decisions. As there is little in Arizona’s legal framework to compel the consideration of water for natural areas, the WRRC sought throughout the project to foster dialogue among water users about voluntary, stakeholder-driven options for addressing the environment within the context of limited water supplies and existing water rights and claims.

The Roadmap project engaged more than 1,000 stakeholders in a survey, focus groups, workshops, and presentations. In all, participants volunteered approximately 1,900 hours of their time, with many participating in multiple activities. The perspectives gathered during project activities were used to create the final Roadmap document. Participants were not offered any incentive other than being a part of the dialogue. Throughout this process, the WRRC was able to engage with academic, business, environmental, farming, government, mining, municipal, power, ranching, and tribal interests. Representatives from most of these water interest groups actively participated on the Roadmap Steering Committee and were present for each project activity.

The Roadmap for Considering Water for Arizona’s Natural Areas contains information on the current scientific understanding of water for natural areas and existing legal considerations for providing water to natural areas, examples of where natural areas are already included in water management decisions, and an overview of available paths forward for including natural areas alongside human uses. A four-page summary of the Roadmap is available, or download the Roadmap for Considering Water for Arizona’s Natural Areas here!

Individual Roadmap sections:

• The Bird's Eye View - Executive Summary (1.2 mb)
• Roadmap for Considering Water for Arizona's Natural Areas (9.4 mb )
• Appendix A - Understanding the Decision to Incorporate Natural Areas into Water Management Plans - Case Studies (3.2 mb)
• Appendix B - Drivers for Including Water for the Environment and Vulnerabilities to Water for the Environment - Complete Survey Results (800 kb)
• Appendix C - Tables of Recommended Strategies and Action Items from Roadmap Documents (500 kb)
• Appendix D - Glossary (100 kb)

For more information on the Roadmap project contact Kelly Mott Lacroix.