WRRC Weekly Wave: WRRC and Partner Commitment is Going Strong in Gila County

For the past five years, the WRRC has been engaging with communities in Gila County to build capacity for water resource planning and promoting watershed health. Through a strong collaborative partnership with Gila County Cooperative Extension and the new Cobre Valley Watershed Partnership, the WRRC is holding a forum on water in Cobre Valley on November 12-13. Building on past successes, this forum will be the third in as many years focused on bringing together local and regional stakeholders to discuss water resource management and planning. In 2018, over 50 community members came together for presentations and facilitated break-out discussions. Participants directly engaged in a process to identify and rank actions and research priorities for addressing regional water resources issues and enhancing regional decision-making. At the second forum in 2019, the conversation expanded to a larger set of community members, highlighting the interconnectedness of the watershed. Participants explored water supply and demand in Cobre Valley, assessed the management priorities identified in the first forum, and identified a need for building collaborative partnerships in the watershed. This year’s forum, which was featured in the Payson Roundup last week, will feature local and regional experts in discussions about how healthy forests and uplands contribute to the overall health of the Cobre Valley Watershed.

 

In the weeks leading up to the forum, tune in to the Gila County Cooperative Extension “Garden and Country Extension Webinar Series” – a set of Zoom webinars on topics relevant to the environmental conditions and residential concerns of Gila County.