Water Resources Education Assessment - Cochise County Programs

Name of Program/Location/Point of Contact

Water Wise Program

Cochise County Cooperative Extension
Susan Pater, County Director
450 S. Haskell
Willcox, AZ 85643
(520) 3843594
e-mail: spater@ag.arizona.edu
Web Site: http://ag.arizona.edu/cochise/waterwise/index.html

Description of Program: The Water Wise Community program is a water conservation program designed to assist area residents and businesses in the Sierra Vista Sub-Watershed with good stewardship of our natural resources. Water Wise provides educational outreach in the form of extension bulletins; a phone "hotline" for questions; free on-site visits called Water Audits; workshops; newspaper, radio and television information; and community presentations.

The Water Wise Schools program is a curriculum-based educational water conservation program targeting 5 district and 7 county grade schools (K-8). The goal is to assist teachers in incorporating water education in the classroom while addressing the Arizona standards in Language Arts, Math and Science. This has been accomplished through use of specific curriculum materials and lesson plans developed by The University of Arizona Cochise County Cooperative Extension faculty. An Instructional Specialist is available for presentations in area classrooms. Water Wise Family Science Nights have afforded parents the opportunity to learn with their children. A Water Conservation Poster Contest is held in the spring and there are plans for a Water Festival to coincide with Water Awareness Week and Earth Week.

Water Wise and Energy Smart is a water and energy conservation program on Fort Huachuca. Ongoing programs include residential landscaping consultations, school presentations (K-8), Self-Help Briefings, Water Wise Demonstration Projects, self-guided tours of xeriscaped demonstration areas, public speaking, displays at special events, educational bulletins and a phone hotline for questions.

The Plant Sciences Center is a native plant salvage and revegetation facility for locally displaced native plants due to development pressures.

Audience: The Water Wise programs serve all communities within the Sierra Vista sub-watershed; Whetstone, Tombstone, Huachuca City, Bisbee, St. David, Naco, Sierra Vista, Hereford, Palominas and the military community, including soldiers and civilians working at Fort Huachuca. The various programs include educational opportunities for adults and youth.

Current Status: The Water Wise programs currently employ ones full time educator and four part-time educators. Three agents provide oversight to the programs and develop materials for the programs. The Water Wise programs are on a year-to year funding basis.

Impacts: Water Wise Community: No public figures for water conservation are available, as the water companies are all privately owned. One of the largest companies has reported continual declines per meter in water use since 1996, one year after the implementation of the program. A recent survey of auditees indicated that approximately 90% adopted some kind of water conservation measures due to the on-site visit. Water is a very visible issue with the continued growth in the area and the desire to maintain the quality of our current ecosystems.

Water Wise Schools: In the first year of operation (1999-2000), twelve of the thirteen targeted district and county schools have participated in the water conservation program with requests for classroom presentations or to co-sponsor a Family Science Night. The program's resources are most used during April and May when standardized testing is completed. Comments, letters and cards have been positive from principals, teachers and students. The local newspapers have supported the program with feature stories and photos.

Water Wise and Energy Smart: Since military families do not pay utility bills, measurable impacts are difficult to assess. The number of people requesting low-flow fixtures and low water use landscape audits has increased due to the implementation of the self-help orientation briefings. School children and soldiers are responsive to the message of water conservation through the media and education programs. Reduced pumping rates on the fort can be attributed in some part to the educational program, but specific figures are not available.

Plant Sciences Center: After the construction of the Plant Sciences Center, the Arizona Department of Transportation used the yard to house over 2500 native plants displaced from a major road construction project. The City of Sierra Vista adopted a native plant ordinance that required developers to salvage native plants before construction. The Plant Sciences Center has participated in several community replanting projects, one of which saved the city from installing an irrigation system, resulting in a cost savings of $95,000 and saving approximately 9.47 acre feet a year in water.

Lessons Learned

1. Water Wise Community: The audit/outreach program has found that direct one-on-one contact is what produces some kind of water conservation behavior. Certainly the constant message of water conservation in the news, radio and other public information outlets is important to keep the message in the forefront of people's minds. However, it is our opinion, that it is the change of habits or landscape watering techniques that yields results and therefore the on-site audit is the most effective part of the Water Wise Community program.
2. Water Wise Schools: The success of the program depends, not only on the quality of the resources and presentation, but also on the constant networking with various schools and personnel. Teachers in Cochise County are feeling pressured more than ever to raise test scores. Time is precious and requests for the water education curriculum are often seen as a reward at the end of the year to give teachers a break and let kids learn through hands-on activities. The Science Family Night is one approach that allows teachers, students and parents to interact in a positive way in a short period of quality time.
3. Water Wise and Energy Smart: Military personnel do not request water or energy audits for their homes. Teachers initially needed constant reminders that the Water Wise and Energy Smart curriculum caters to their objectives for addressing Arizona State Education Standards in several subject areas. Attending school staff meetings at the beginning of the year is important to introduce the program and teacher surveys have prompted a good response. Mandated self-help briefings are a good way to capture the military family and get the conservation message across.
4. Plant Sciences Center: Many things have been learned from the handling of salvaged native plants, and in the education of the public and city workers. The Plant Sciences Center has a good working relationship with local developers, resulting in the city ordinance being followed and developers learning the value of previously discarded plants. Succulents with spines are not always the plants of choice in city maintained landscapes, but some have recognized their usefulness in areas without a ready source of water. The response from the general public is positive; the city's ordinance is a good public relations effort but more plants need to be reused in area landscapes.

Curriculum/Supplies List

Various Extension bulletins on water conservation including watering shrubs, trees, and lawns; water harvesting; backyard wildlife habitat; etc.

For use with Water Wise Schools - Groundwater Flow Model, Enviroscape, Cochise County Water History Trunk, Water Basics Learning Lab (3-4-5 grades), and classroom lesson plans tailored to specific age groups based on the Water Wise lessons (e.g. Go to the Head of the Cloud, Water Web of Life, Water Watch, Dr. Drip's Water Trivia and appearances by Wettie the Waterdrop).