WRRC Hosts Another Informative Webinar

The WRRC held its second webinar in the “Get Ready” series on Tuesday, February 18. This webinar featured three presentations from committees of the Governor’s Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council (GWAICC). Panelists included Philip Richards, Chair of the Desalination Committee, Wade Noble, Chair of the Long-term Water Augmentation Committee, and Timothy Thomure, Co-chair of the Post-2025 AMAs Committee.

The webinar started with Philip Richards who gave a comprehensive overview of desalination, including its history and use today in water supply management. Pointing to desalination facilities in California as an example, Richards made the case that the technology can play an important role in resolving Arizona’s water supply shortages, and its associated challenges such as cost, supply, and disposal are not insurmountable. Richards was particularly optimistic about new filtration technologies being developed that can significantly reduce costs associated with desalination, both from increased longevity of membranes and reduced energy needs.

Next, Wade Noble joined the discussion to give an update on his committee’s activities. Tasked with identifying ways to augment Arizona’s water supply, the committee recently issued a report outlining currently available options to improve water utilization, including desalination, enhancing groundwater storage, and augmentation concepts requiring further development such as phreatophyte management. Noble also noted that in his view, the major challenge regarding water in Arizona is resolving outstanding river adjudications.

The final presentation of the webinar was given by Timothy Thomure. Thomure described how the mission of this committee is truly forward-looking, building upon past management successes to identify strategies and solutions for water management in Active Management Areas (AMAs) in 2025 and beyond. He emphasized the committee’s dedication to having honest, objective, and open discussions on future management strategies that respect divergent perspectives and differences within and among AMAs.

These topics and much more will be discussed at the 2020 WRRC Annual Conference, Water at the Crossroads: The Next 40 Years to be held on Friday, March 27, at the Black Canyon Conference Center in Phoenix. Engage in the conversation by registering here.

More information on committee meetings, which are open to the public, can be found here.

Recording of the webinar here.