Tucson Water learned critical lessons about water treatment decision-making, customer communication, and public involvement in its first attempt to take its then-500,000 customers from groundwater dependence to surface water supply. The water department is the largest municipal provider in southern Arizona. It applied those lessons in a second attempt that succeeded and soon will be expanded.
NEW or expanded conservation initiatives, including funding for wetlands preservation and programs to improve water quality in priority areas, advanced as part of a farm bill the U.S House of Representatives passed in July.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.