Resources for

Tucson Water’s

Long Term Plan

2000-2050

Ryan Strauss, Scott Krouskup, Logan Rose,

Camille Gipson, Rachel Maxwell, Ashley Applebee,

Kaylee Lutich, Sari Jacobson, Brenden Biermann,

Kristen Hicks, Nicole Mueller, Andrew Mackenzie,

Jessica Alventosa, and Christina Dawidowicz

Student Reports

Water Resources in the TucsonBasin

UNVR 195a-002Fall 2008

Instructor: James J. Riley
UNVR 195a Water Resources in the TucsonBasin Fall 2008

Semester Writing Assignments---Charge to the Students:

Tucson Water, the largest utility in the Tucson area developed a long-term plan in 2004 for their service area from 2000-2050. A brief description of this plan is on our class website, entitled: “Water for Tucson’s Future”. Then, in 2008 they made an update to the plan. A link to the Executive Summary of this report is on our website, entitled, “Update to Water Plan: 2000-2050” Much of each of these plans is the same, but there are some significant difference. Your task is to describe those things that are the same and those that have been changed, plus to give Tucson Water’s rationale for the changes. I would like you to draw upon the Water Terms and the “Layperson’s Guide to Arizona Water” to develop the context in which the Tucson Water story is developed.

Each group should study not only the short versions of the 2004 and 2008 reports, but also the full versions which are available at the Tucson Water website. The format for your report should be similar to a feature article in the newspaper. So your audience is the general public. The paper should be about 8-10 pages in length, supplemented with tables, charts or photos. You will need to have a headline for the article, but that can come later. You might want to make some sidebars to define some of the terms you use. Each group will focus on a particular source or sources of water for Tucson Water.

The groups are as follows:

  • Colorado River Water
  • Groundwater
  • Effluent/Reclaimed Water
  • Other water sources including: harvested rainwater and highly treated sewage effluent
  • Decisions to be made*

*With regard to the latter, you should study what was the decision plan for the 2004 and how that changed by 2008. You should try to determine the reason for the changes

The UNVR 195a-002 class in Fall 2008 was composed mostly of freshmen with non-science majors. Consequently, referencing the content of these papers should be done so with caution. If you have any questions please contact:

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