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    Home » USGS Groundwater-Flow Model – Its Application is Essential for Survival of the Verde River
    Environment

    USGS Groundwater-Flow Model – Its Application is Essential for Survival of the Verde River

    November 20, 2012Updated:November 19, 2012No Comments5 Mins Read
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    Verde Valley AZ (November 20, 2012) – The Verde River Basin Partnership believes that the Verde River is a priceless asset for the communities of central and northern Arizona.  Its streamflow provides irrigation in the Verde Valley and drinking water for the Phoenix area.  The river and its perennial tributaries are the lifeblood of agriculture and rural/suburban lifestyles in and around the Verde Valley. The river fuels a recreation industry; provides crucial habitat, serves as a lifeline for a wide variety of wildlife and vegetation, and this very habitat plays a role in drawing people to the river for recreation.

    About half of the Verde River’s annual flow is provided by discharge to the river of groundwater from the same aquifers that supply virtually all of the household water for residents of the upper and middle Verde River watersheds, which include the Prescott area, Big Chino and Williamson Valleys, and all the communities of the Verde Valley.  Thus, the groundwater and surface water are, in fact, a single resource.  It is that connection that sustains the wonderful Verde River year-round.  Unfortunately, that same connection of groundwater and the river, in combination with the necessity of water for an ever-expanding population, threatens the river’s year-round flow and the rich natural habitat, wildlife, and human activity that it supports. 

    A simple concept underlies the concern: Groundwater pumping reduces the amount of groundwater that flows to streams, and, in some cases, can draw streamflow into the underlying groundwater system.  The concept has been understood for more than 70 years, and is explained specifically for the Verde Valley in a recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5147/sir2010-5147.pdf).  Pumped long enough, a well eventually draws its full supply of pumped water from connected surface-water features—streams, springs, wetlands, and riparian zones—that are supplied by groundwater.

    Knowing how to mitigate or prevent such loss of Verde River streamflow owing to groundwater pumping requires understanding the cause, potential mitigating or preventive water-management strategies, and the likely magnitude and timing of streamflow depletion.  Until recently, some of these critical factors—especially the magnitude and timing of streamflow depletion—were unknowable.  However, there is now a powerful scientific tool, the Northern Arizona Regional Groundwater-Flow Model (NARGFM), to guide critically-important water-management policy and decisions.

    The NARGFM (see http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5180/) was released for public use by the USGS in April 2011—more than 1½ years ago.  It draws extensively on regional hydrologic studies carried out beginning in 1999 in northern and central Arizona by the USGS in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Water Resources.  Thus, publication of the NARGFM culminates more than a decade of tax-supported hydrologic research and reporting in north-central Arizona, representing a multimillion-dollar expenditure by all the cooperating parties.

    The NARGFM was developed to help assess the adequacy of the regional groundwater supply and the potential effects of past, present, and future groundwater use on water levels, streamflow, and riparian vegetation.  Water-resource management was recognized to be of particular interest for water-management decisions in the Little Chino, Big Chino, and Verde Valleys.  In these areas, discharge of groundwater to the Verde River and potential capture of groundwater flow from adjacent areas including the Coconino Plateau and Little Colorado River basins are of primary interest.

    While development of the NARGFM by the USGS was under way, the Yavapai County Water Advisory Committee completed a set of water-management scenarios that address elegantly planned future groundwater-pumping requirements in the upper and middle Verde River watersheds.  A commitment was made to have the USGS use the NARGFM to examine the modeled effects of the scenarios on such factors as groundwater levels and streamflow in these watersheds.  From the standpoint of water-management policy to protect the flow of the Verde River over the long term, it is imperative that all use the model now to evaluate likely impacts on the river from pumping in both the upper and middle Verde River watersheds. 

    The NARGFM report notes that “The model can be used by resource managers to examine the hydrologic consequences of various groundwater development and climate-change scenarios for regions that are sub-basin or larger in area. Use of the model for site-scale investigations may require additional data to better define the local hydrogeology.”  A series of experiments conducted by the USGS in recent months confirms that the NARGFM is indeed appropriate to guide resource managers in addressing questions for sub-basin or larger areas.  For example: What, approximately, are the likely effects on Verde River streamflow from groundwater development in the Verde Valley sub-basin and the adjacent basins or sub-basins?  Has such groundwater development already affected Verde River streamflow?  Are the effects likely to develop in years, decades, centuries, or millennia?

    We can’t wait.  Groundwater flows continually through the aquifers, but the flow rate is slow.  Thus, the effects of groundwater pumping far from the river can take many years to become obvious.  By the time the effects are fully obvious, the damage will have been done to the Verde just as it has already been done to other Arizona rivers.  The powerful science-based tool represented by the NARGFM must be put to use now!

    For more information about the Verde River Basin Partnership, studies, research, and additional information please visit www.vrbp.org or email info@vrbp.org.

    -Edward W. Wolfe, Ph.D., retired USGS geologist, former chair of the Verde Watershed Association and the Verde River Basin Partnership, chair of the Verde River Basin Partnership Technical Advisory Committee.

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    Sedona.biz Staff

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    Paid Political Ad Paid For by Samaire for Mayor
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    Paid Political Announcement by Samaire For Mayor

     THE MOMENT IS UPON US

    Dear Sedona,

    The moment is upon us. The time for a united effort to shift the focus back to our community is now.

    The ability to thrive in our community, our environment, our workforce, and the tourist industry, is entirely possible because we have all the resources needed for success.

    Still, we need a council that isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions, that makes decisions based on data and facts, and through discussion, rather than moving and voting in group unison as they so regularly do.

    This is my home. I have been a part of the Sedona community for 28 years. I witnessed the road debacle, the lack of planning, the city circumventing the local businesses ability to thrive, while making choices to expand the local government and be in direct competition with private industry.

    I am a unique candidate because unlike the incumbents, I don’t believe the government should expand in size, nor in operations, nor would I attempt to micromanage every aspect of our community.

    City government should stay in its lane and allow the competitive market of local private industry to prosper. And it should defend our community from corporate takeover and infiltration of our town.

    I do not agree that we should sign onto International Building Codes and regulations by signing Sedona up to the ICC. It is imperative that we remain a sweet, rural community.

    Where are the arts? Where is this organic thriving element that we allege to be animated by. Where is our culture? Where is our community?

    The discord between the decision making process and the desires of the community have never been more clear. It has been nearly a decade in the making.

    It is time for a new era of energy to take charge. An energy that is reflective in the ability to succeed rather than be trapped in out of date consciousness.

    It has been a great honor meeting with each of you. I hear your concerns over the insane and out of control spending and I echo them. A budget of $105,000,000 in a town of 9700 residents is completely unacceptable. A parking structure (that looks like a shoe box) originally slated to cost 11 million, now projected to cost 18 million, is incomprehensible. Especially, considering there is no intention of charging for parking.

    For those who are concerned that I lack the political experience within our established system- that is precisely what Sedona needs… Not another politician, but instead a person who understands people, who listens to the voices within the community, and who will act in service on their behalf with accountability, for the highest good of Sedona. What I am not, will prove to be an asset as I navigate the entrenched bureaucracy with a fresh perspective. Business as usual, is over.

    Creative solutions require new energy.

    Every decision that is made by our local government, must contemplate Sedona first.

    • Does this decision benefit the residents?
    • Does this decision benefit the local businesses?
    • Does this decision actually help the environment?
    • Will this decision sustain benefit in the future, or will it bring more problems?

    What we have now is a city government that expands to 165 employees for 9700 residents. Palm Desert has 53,000 residents and 119 city employees. Majority of our city department heads are not even in town. I find this problematic.

    Efforts towards championing in and courting new solutions for our medical needs are imperative. We are losing our doctors. We must encourage competition with other facilities rather than be held hostage by NAH, who clearly have their own set of dysfunctions.

    We must remember that so many move to Sedona for its beauty, hiking, and small town charm. Bigger, faster, and more concrete does not, in broad strokes, fit the ethos of Sedona.

    The old world must remain strong here in balance, as that is what visitors want to experience. Too many have noted that Sedona has lost its edge and charm.

    As Mayor I will preserve the rural charm of our community, and push back against the urbanization that is planned for Sedona.

    As mayor I will make it a priority to create opportunities to support our youth.  After school healthy, enriching programs should be created for our kids, and available to the Sedona workforce regardless of residency and regardless of school they belong to.

    As Mayor, I will create an agenda to deliberately embody the consciousness of our collective needs here, allowing private industry to meet the needs of our community rather than bigger government.

    I hope to have your vote on Aug 2nd. I am excited and have the energy to take on this leadership role with new eyes, community perspective, and the thoughtful consciousness that reflects all ages of the human spectrum.

    Thank you deeply for your consideration.

    Sincerely,

    Samaire Armstrong

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    Armstrong vs. Jablow: The Main Event
    Ready to Rumble

    By Tommy Acosta
    In the Blue Corner stands Scott Jablow and in the Red Corner of the ring stands Samaire Armstrong, ready to rumble to the bitter end in their fight to become the next Sedona mayor. Jablow weighs in with 1,137 primary election votes (36.13%) under his belt, having wielded his advantage as sitting Sedona City Council vice-mayor to his favor. He brings his years of serving in that capacity into the fray and waged a solid fight in his campaign to make it to the run-off. Armstrong, however withstood a blistering smear campaign from the other opposing candidates and their supporters to make it to the final bout with 967 votes under her belt (30.73%), an amazing feat for a political newcomer. Unfortunately, for the other two candidates, Kurt Gehlbach and sitting mayor Sandy Moriarty, neither put up enough of a fight to make it to the championship bout. Read more→
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