Cobre Valley Water

Cobre Valley Water Research Initiative

Connecting Water in the Globe-Miami Area

The Globe-Miami area faces complex water supply and infrastructure challenges that have impacts on community well-being and future prospects. These challenges require a  comprehensive understanding of water supply and demand, as well as the water resource issues that connect the watershed, its water using sectors, and governing jurisdictions. Collaboration is critical to developing the innovative solutions the area needs. Through funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation in 2016-2018, the WRRC collected and reviewed available information about water resources from a wide variety of sources, including interviews with community members and water managers in the region. Using this framework of grounding research in community engagement, we are working with interested stakeholders to improve the accuracy of water supply and demand estimates for the region. More accurate information about the local "water budget," can help guide planning and identify projects that are most critical to the health of the watershed and the communities within it, both in the short-term and long-term.

WRRC and community partners convened two Water Forums in Cobre Valley on September 6, 2018 and April 9, 2019 to establish priorities, follow up on collaborative action, and assess water supply and demand estimates in Cobre Valley. Proposed actions were defined and assigned priorities based on focused discussions and participant voting. The top seven priorities from the Forum, by category, include:

System Efficiency/Conservation -

1) Develop a comprehensive water budget

2) Expand management practices of land to better utilize stormwater flows and quality

Economy/Development -

3) Set framework for private-public partnerships for longterm water supply resilience;

4) Explore the feasibility of matching water quality to use

Recreation/Environment -

5) Ecological stewardship to preserve, enhance, and manage natural resources for resilience, adaptation, and restoration/transformation

6) Combine and share both knowledge and resources under guiding philosophies for collective impact

Water Awareness -

7) Education of the public and decision-makers to increase awareness and motivate action

Presentations from the Small Town Forum shared baseline information, lessons, and successes of local water resources management.  

Shared History of the Cobre Valley

Previous work with community member in Cobre Valley resulted in a shared history timeline that displays key moments in the history of the region.