Journal Articles

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University of Arizona Distinguished Outreach Professor Sharon Megdal grew up in Irvington, N.J., where scarcity of water wasn’t a problem. After she settled in Tucson in the late 1970s, her perspective began to change. “I lived here a dozen years before becoming immersed in water,” says Megdal, who started out as a student of state and local government and holds a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.

In the early 1990s, she served on the Arizona Corporation Commission in the utilities division, then as executive director of the Santa Cruz Valley Water District, which no longer exists. She then worked as a consultant, including as an adviser on water resources for Pima County. In 2004, she became co-director of the UA Water Resources Research Center and a professor in the department of soil, water and environmental science.

“We live in a desert area where the focus on water is very important,” says Megdal. “I started reaching out to people interested in collaboration on water policy for personal and professional reasons on my second trip to Israel in 2006. My first trip to Israel was on a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona mission in 1987.”

Following her 2006 trip, Megdal started having conversations with J. Edward Wright, director of the UA Center 12/27/12 ‘Immersed in water’: Sharon Megdal dives into policy and environmental issues « AZ Jewish Post azjewishpost.com/2012/immersed‑in‑water‑sharon‑megdal‑dives‑into‑policy‑and‑environmental‑issues/ 3/8 for Judaic Studies; Robert Verady, UA Udall Center deputy director; and others. “We hosted a workshop on the management of water policy in Arizona, Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2009,” she says. Megdal received grants from the National Science Foundation, U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the UA Foundation for that workshop.

For the past three years she’s gone to Israel twice a year to delve into water policy with Israelis and Palestinians. “I’ve gotten heavily into that collaboration,” says Megdal. Last month, Megdal organized a group of professionals from the Southwest to go on a working water management program in Israel. “Through seven days of site visits and interaction with top water experts, we learned about the region’s successes as well as challenges,” she wrote in her quarterly newsletter.

The November program had “the unique focus of professionals [working] on water issues intensively and extensively from a management and policy perspective, not technology or engineering,” notes Megdal. Among their visits, the group found out about the progress being made cleaning up the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv, where a deadly bridge collapse at the 1997 Maccabiah Games plunged athletes into polluted water, and also visited the Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Plant. “There are ways to develop solutions for issues that somehow seem insurmountable,” she says, adding that establishing personal contacts makes a difference. “I’ve built great friendships, professional associations over water policy.”

In addition, the Jewish National Fund-USA office in New York helped set up the professionals’ itinerary and “helped connect us to people I didn’t know,” says Megdal. JNF didn’t donate funds for the trip but designated it part of their Positively Israel Campaign, an initiative emphasizing Israeli progress.

Israel approaches its water issues in a centralized way, while “in the United States we handle water problems in a decentralized way,” notes Megdal, adding that pollution is a major problem in both countries

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Aaron Citron, 30, a Tucson native now working as a policy analyst for the Environmental Defense Fund in Boulder, Colo., was one of the 10 professionals who “went to Israel to learn about how Israel is a leader in agricultural and municipal conservation. Israel reuses 80 percent to 90 percent of their water in agriculture,” he told the AJP.

Citron, who holds a J.D. degree from the UA James E. Rogers College of Law, previously worked for three years at the Arizona Land and Water Trust. Growing up, he attended Camp Charles Pearlstein in Prescott for eight years and at age 16 participated on a NFTY in Israel trip, which was organized by the camp. There was a focus on nature and outdoor activities, says Citron, adding that Judaism emphasizes “healing the world and caring for the environment. I believe that had an unconscious influence on me.”

Working on many issues related to the Colorado River — the water source for seven western states including Arizona — is a big part of Citron’s job. “We’re trying to develop conservation measures,” he says, noting a recent Colorado River Basin study that looks at supply and demand in the entire area. “As we use more water,” asks Citron, “what will we do about that in the next 50 years? Before we invest in huge projects we want to focus on local solutions through conservation measures.”

Meanwhile, Megdal notes that Israel’s Jordan River and the Colorado River are both “overallocated,” with reduced flows to the Dead Sea and Mexico’s delta, respectively. “Both areas are concerned with climate change,” she adds. “There are lots of similarities between the Jordan River and the ‘mighty’ Colorado. Both are very stressed river systems.”

“Shared Borders, Shared Waters: Israeli-Palestinian and Colorado River Basin Water Challenges,” edited by Megdal, Robert G. Varady and Susanna Eden, published this month by CRC Press, elaborates on some of what she has learned with her colleagues. But they must continue their efforts, she says.

“I would like to work on resolving trans-boundary water issues between the Palestinian territories and Israel,” says Megdal. “I’ve developed good relations with Palestinians in the West Bank. In many parts of Israel there are major problems with untreated sewage, despite being touted for reuse of its wastewater in agriculture. It’s to everybody’s advantage to fix this. This little part of the world has the wherewithal to fix it. They just have to work together,” she affirms.

“Water is a health and environmental issue that has to be resolved. Untreated waste and pollution don’t recognize political boundaries.”

During my fi rst-ever sabbatical this spring 2012, I traveled to four continents as part of my project on comparative policy analysis. I participated in the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, shared lessons learned with Australian, Israeli and other water researchers and professionals, and heard views on good groundwater governance practices in Latin America and South America as a member of the team working with the Global Groundwater Governance Project (www.groundwatergovernance.org). These experiences have reminded me that Arizona’s approach to groundwater management is unique in the nation — and in the world.

River restoration activities are becoming increasingly common in many communities today. Such efforts in Arizona are illustrative of a larger ecosystem and river restoration trend underway nationally and internationally. This paper examines river restoration efforts in Arizona in the context of changing federal and state agency missions and local priorities. Restoration projects on four significant rivers are analyzed with a keen look at the design features they share. Multiple purpose goals, collaborative funding and support, community involvement, and monitoring and maintenance emerged as important project design features. We found that the extent to which these features were planned and implemented in any given project varied with several factors such as size, accessibility to urban populations and the mission of the principal sponsoring entity.

Whereas a large number of empirical studies have been devoted to analyzing determinants of environmental compliance (EC) by firms, less attention has been paid to EC by public water systems (PWS). To address this gap in the literature, this article uses data on compliance with maximum contaminant levels (MCL) under the Safe Drinking Water Act for 971 PWS in Arizona and identifies the characteristics of PWS that are associated with violation of MCL standards. Three main findings emerge from the analysis. First, larger PWS are more likely to violate MCL standards than smaller PWS. Second, publicly owned PWS have slightly higher probability of violating MCL standards than privately owned systems. Finally, PWS serving residential areas are more likely to violate MCL standards, as opposed to PWS serving school districts or office buildings. The results suggest that for ensuring safe water for people, effectiveness of monitoring policy, and an efficient utilization of resources, the environmental agencies may focus their monitoring and enforcement efforts on these water systems.

This paper examines the extent to which environmental water needs, especially the needs of riparian habitats, have both been recognized and neglected in Arizona water law. Arizona manages surface water and groundwater under two different legal regimes, which ultimately lets environmental water fall between the cracks. Environmental water, the forgotten sector, demands a redevelopment in legal framework to prevent further degradation of Arizona's riparian vegetation, streambed, and habitats, which have altered hydrological patterns and significantly reduced environmental quality. In order to avoid further environmental degradation as Arizona water demands continue to grow, it is important to maintain existing legal and institutional options and develop new options for environmental preservation, restoration, and enhancement. Future opportunities and solutions include strengthening protections in existing federal regulations like the Federal Reserved Water Rights, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. State solutions include extending the concept of the public trust doctrine as California and Hawaii have done, and rethinking the existing appropriation of water rights to encourage conservation, and changing state law to provide for voluntary conservation transactions.

Setting water policy depends fundamentally on the location of the supply and demand for water and the legal/institutional framework for water management. Within and across nations, laws and structures for water management decision making vary, often significantly. Recognizing these differences can aid in overcoming challenges inherent to the assessment and management of transboundary waters. This paper examines current binational efforts to develop the scientific information to support water management decision making along the United States-Mexico border. The particular focus is on transboundary aquifers along the border shared by the states of Arizona in the United States and Sonora in Mexico. Legislation enacted in the United States (Public Law 109–448) established a governmental-academic partnership to assess transboundary aquifers. The paper discusses the establishment of a working partnership between Mexico and the United States, which led to an official binational cooperative framework for transboundary assessment. It explains how the extensive effort to recognize and accommodate asymmetries in the underlying legal and regulatory frameworks for water management was essential to meeting the objectives of both countries. The focus of the binational investigations is briefly discussed. The paper concludes by noting the opportunities for additional cross-border scientific and water management collaboration should funding and institutional commitments continue.

High-volume semiconductor manufacturing (HVSM) with high demands for freshwater is often located in regions with limited water resources. This nexus of water demand and water scarcity has raised concerns among municipal governments, prompting several to consider water supply restrictions as they plan for economic growth and development. Using water use data and economic valuations of land use from Chandler, Ariz., this study compares the fiscal effect of HVSM with three alternative water uses: office, retail, and general manufacturing. Normalizing the economic benefit to net water use (after reclamation) has a marked effect on the fiscal consequences of water uses. The effects generated by mostly nonconsumptive water uses—HVSM and general manufacturing—increase significantly relative to less water-intensive but more consumptive water uses. Results showed that water-intensive land uses need not be avoided in communities where water is scarce, provided the community has the facilities to reclaim the wastewater.

Sustainable water management is a critical concern in the semi-arid portions of the American Southwest. This paper explains the decentralized approach to water supply management in this region, including the traditional roles of the public and private sectors. With Arizona as a focus, it explores how the water supply challenges of the twenty-first century require new approaches and partnerships for funding infrastructure, obtaining new water supplies, water banking, and water treatment.

Abstract: Installation of decentralized grey water treatment systems in small rural communities contributes to a more sustainable water supply. In order to gauge community attitudes about collection and use of grey water, a door-to-door survey in the farming community of Deir Alla, Jordan was conducted by Royal Scientific Society intervieAbstract: Installation of decentralized grey water treatment systems in small rural communities contributes to a more sustainable water supply. In order to gauge community attitudes about collection and use of grey water, a door-to-door survey in the farming community of Deir Alla, Jordan was conducted by Royal Scientific Society interviewers. Outcomes of a detailed survey, designed specifically for this project, offer insights on people’s views on general water and wastewater issues, as well as their motivation, practices and concerns related to using grey water treatment for a portion of their household wastewater and reuse of the treated grey water for irrigation. A total of 47 respondents from different socio-economic background, aged over 18 years, from this community in the Jordan valley took part in the survey. The level of formal education of the respondents was low, and most of households’ incomes were below the poverty line in Jordan. Most of the respondents reported that the quality of water supplied by public network is acceptable, but the quantity is insufficient to meet their demand, with supplies being delivered to the household once a week. Respondents relied on the public water network as a first-most important resource (85.1%), and 57.4% of the respondent relied on private water tankers as a second-most important resource in addition to the public network. However, 6% of the respondents relied only on private water tankers with no access to the public network. Storage tanks are common practice in all the houses in order to store enough water for at least one week. The survey responses provide evidence that rural communities are willing to accept reuse of treated grey water for irrigation. Furthermore, some of people in the studied area are willing to learn more about grey water treatment and reuse in order to operate grey water systems for irrigation purposes. Water scarcity in this rural area of Jordan is the main determinant of willingness to reuse the grey water, rather than socio-economic variables. Keywords: grey water; reuse; wastewater; Jordan; water supply; rural community; water sustainability; cesspools; irrigationwers. Outcomes of a detailed survey, designed specifically for this project, offer insights on people’s views on general water and wastewater issues, as well as their motivation, practices and concerns related to using grey water treatment for a portion of their household wastewater and reuse of the treated grey water for irrigation. A total of 47 respondents from different socio-economic background, aged over 18 years, from this community in the Jordan valley took part in the survey. The level of formal education of the respondents was low, and most of households’ incomes were below the poverty line in Jordan. Most of the respondents reported that the quality of water supplied by public network is acceptable, but the quantity is insufficient to meet their demand, with supplies being delivered to the household once a week. Respondents relied on the public water network as a first-most important resource (85.1%), and 57.4% of the respondent relied on private water tankers as a second-most important resource in addition to the public network. However, 6% of the respondents relied only on private water tankers with no access to the public network. Storage tanks are common practice in all the houses in order to store enough water for at least one week. The survey responses provide evidence that rural communities are willing to accept reuse of treated grey water for irrigation. Furthermore, some of people in the studied area are willing to learn more about grey water treatment and reuse in order to operate grey water systems for irrigation purposes. Water scarcity in this rural area of Jordan is the main determinant of willingness to reuse the grey water, rather than socio-economic variables.

Keywords: grey water; reuse; wastewater; Jordan; water supply; rural community; water sustainability; cesspools; irrigation

This article describes the WRRC’s Conserve to Enhance (C2E) Tucson pilot project from concept to implementation and preliminary results. C2E aims to connect conservation actions with water for the environment by developing mechanisms for funding water-related environmental enhancements. The Tucson pilot demonstrates the challenges and opportunities of making this concept a reality.