April Celebrates Water Awareness
Water Awareness Month (WAM) is celebrated annually in April in Arizona, and this year, there will be many events and opportunities throughout the state for the public to learn about different ways to conserve water. The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), along with water conservation partners from around the state, launched the WAM website in 2011 to bring awareness to our state’s most precious resource — water — and how each one of us can help to conserve it. Unfortunately, this year’s WAM Festival, scheduled for April 5, was canceled due to a conflicting event, but don’t despair as there are other water awareness events you can attend across the state! For example, the City of Flagstaff is hosting various water-focused events this April and the WAM Event Calendar lists many water education events throughout the month.
Another great way to observe WAM is to attend two April WRRC water webinars. On Friday, April 11, 2025, join us to hear leaders of Arizona’s three largest water providers speak on Advanced Water Purification in Arizona. City of Phoenix Assistant Water Services Director Jim Swanson, City of Scottsdale Interim Water Resources Senior Director Kevin Rose, and Tucson Water Director John Kmiec will describe their respective cities’ future water supply plans to incorporate advanced water purification (AWP) to turn treated wastewater into safe purified water, boost water supplies for residents, and address ongoing water challenges in the state. Advanced water purification significantly increases potable water supplies while ensuring that water customers receive the highest quality drinking water. The following Tuesday, April 15, Jim Butler, a Senior Scientist with the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, will give a webinar presentation titled Charting Paths Forward for the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas. Butler will discuss how western Kansas is addressing the depletion of the High Plains aquifer and will describe the water balance approach that is helping chart more positive paths forward for Kansas groundwater users.