Haley Paul

ALT In Heber, we saw what happens when water infrastructure fails (and learned that a 300,000 gallon tank can empty in less than 2 minutes). We learned about the challenges that many rural water utilities face in the region and how volunteer boards are trying to manage aging water infrastructure.

ALT In Pinedale Estates, we got a peak at a community’s water system as it was being upgraded. Poor water quality had plagued the community and storage tanks were failing. Thanks to crucial funding from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of AZ and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality ADEQ, the community will soon have a new storage tank and new groundwater wells that improve drinking water quality and provide redundancy. For the first time, the community will have fire hydrants.

ALT On the banks of the Black River. A big thanks to Lori from @RepEliCrane's team for joining us for the tour!

ALT We capped off the tour by heading up into the headwaters of the Salt River, visiting the Thompson-Burro Meadow in the shadow of Mount Baldy. Trout Unlimited is working with the USDA Forest Service to restore this once-degraded meadow after the Wallow Fire in 2011. By inserting more than 200 woody “log jam” structures into the streams of the meadow, the project allows the landscape to act as a sponge, slowing down the water, raising groundwater levels, connecting the river with its floodplain, and reestablishing native riparian plants like willows. This work helps sustain the Black River, which flows into the Salt River and is delivered to Metro Phoenix via the Salt River Project.