Water awareness flowed from Sedona all the way to the governor’s office, a recent announcement by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano shows.
Napolitano proclaimed April “Water Awareness Month” for the entire state, directing the Arizona Department of Water Resources to “develop a water conservation tool kit” and to certify communities that educate their members about water conservation.
The proclamation, signed April 8, calls on state and local governments and federal
agencies to increase water conservation public awareness programs.
By Greg Ruland
Larson Newspapers
Water awareness flowed from Sedona all the way to the governor’s office, a recent announcement by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano shows.
Napolitano proclaimed April “Water Awareness Month” for the entire state, directing the Arizona Department of Water Resources to “develop a water conservation tool kit” and to certify communities that educate their members about water conservation.
The proclamation, signed April 8, calls on state and local governments and federal
agencies to increase water conservation public awareness programs.
It all started in Sedona earlier this year when Sustainable Arizona President John Neville and Keep Sedona Beautiful President Barbara Litrell decided to work with state government officials to implement the observance.
“Barbara Litrell came up with the idea,” Neville said. “She said, ‘let’s get the governor to make April Water Awareness Month for the whole state.’”
The idea set in motion a flurry of research and writing to come up with a matrix Arizona communities could use to program their own water awareness activities.
Using Sedona’s Water Awareness Month as a model, Neville and Litrell created a list of possible activities Arizona communities could engage in to raise awareness. The matrix was taken up by ADWR officials and presented to the governor for approval.
Citing her strong commitment to preservation at a time when Arizona’s rivers face increasing pressure and threats, Napolitano signed the proclamation.
“Arizona has few remaining perennially flowing rivers and is committed to protecting those that do remain, such as the San Pedro River, Verde River and Fossil Creek,” Napolitano stated in a press release. “The quality of life in Arizona is particularly enhanced by the vitality of our precious and rare flowing rivers.”
Herb Guenther, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said the agency is keenly aware how precious Arizona’s rivers are, and has a number of projects underway to help preserve them.
“Arizona is fortunate to have these rivers,” Guenther stated. “We must shoulder the responsibility to manage them in ways that not only protect the rivers, but that allow our citizens to enjoy them in conjunction with wildlife who use them. Sometimes that is a difficult balancing act.”
Sedona’s history of water awareness events proved influential in the governor’s decision, Neville said.
In 2003, the League of Women Voters Sedona-Verde Valley started “Water Awareness Month: A call to action.”
In 2004, Sustainable Arizona joined the effort on a series of water management forums.
As a result, a water management plan was crafted and submitted to the Sedona City Council. The City Council then appointed a Water Advisory Committee, which developed some water conservation guidelines.
In 2005, the Sedona Women joined the effort by taking Water Awareness Month on as one of their community projects. They hosted a session with other interested groups and the Sedona Water Wise Alliance was born.
The alliance consists of the Sedona Women, KSB, Sustainable Arizona, the League of Women Voters, the Institute of EcoTourism, Gardens for Humanity, the Center for Biological Diversity, with support from the Sedona Water Advisory Committee, and the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
“Every year, Water Awareness Month has grown in activities, forums, entertainment and celebrations,” Neville said.
Sustainable Arizona, for example, hosts an annual Politics of Water forum.
Likewise, the Sedona Women visited every hotel and resort to introduce water conservation to the management.
The alliance also brought the RinseSmart Program to all the restaurants in Sedona.
“By installing new, low-flow, high-performance sprayers in the kitchens, restaurants across town are now saving thousands of gallons of water a day,” Neville said.
The Institute of EcoTourism formed a partnership with the Hopi to bring their knowledge of water in the desert to the people of Sedona.
Gardens for Humanity started a desert garden with historic plants and seeds down at Crescent Moon Ranch.
And every year, Keep Sedona Beautiful hosts a Native Plant Workshop featuring experts sharing secrets on how to collect and conserve water while making Sedona even more beautiful.
Because of the efforts of the Sedona Water Wise Alliance, Sedona was recognized by Napolitano in 2007 as a model community for water conservation.
This year, the alliance took the process even further by taking its model program to the governor.
“We developed an outline for how to make Water Awareness Month work in any community,” said alliance Chairwoman Jawn McKinley.
Greg Ruland can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 127, or e-mail to editor@larsonnewspapers.com
