Water Resources Education Assessment - Pima County Programs

Name of Program/ Location/ Point of Contact

Pima County Cooperative Extension
Cynthia Flynn, County Director
4210 North Campbell Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85719-1109
Phone: (520) 626?5161
Fax: (602) 626-5849
Email: cflynn@ag.arizona.edu

Description of Programs

A. Water Education Program

Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) is an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based water education program for Arizona educators. The goal of the Arizona WET is to promote the awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of Arizona's water resources through the development and dissemination of Arizona specific, classroom-ready teaching aids. Though the State Project WET coordinator is in Pima County, this program is a statewide program and has been implemented in all Arizona counties with the exception of Graham and Greenlee.

Audience: Mainly classroom teachers and other educators interested in educating adults and youth. Project WET activities and teaching tools can be used to educate Kindergarten age children through adults.

Current Status: Project WET in Arizona is well-established and thriving program. Though the State Coordinator is in Pima county there are Project WET facilitators statewide. In 2000, there was a great effort made to introduce this water education program to all of the various counties of the state. This effort will be continued in the next year especially to offer workshops in Graham and Greenlee counties. Also there will be an effort made to expand the facilitator network so that more workshops can be conducted statewide.

Impacts: Arizona WET will further the development of an environmentally literate and conscientious citizenry and provide quality educational experiences for Arizona's youth. An understanding of Arizona's water resources leads to caring about, and eventually stewardship for water resources.

Lessons Learned: Have participants signup ahead of time and pay a small fee to ensure attendance.

Curriculum/Materials:

• National Project WET K-12 Curriculum & Activity Guide
• Conserve Water Educators Guide (Grades 6th - 12th)
• Arizona WET K-8 Guide with Student Activities
• Arizona WET K-6 Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Curriculum
• Arizona WET Grade 9-12 Curriculum On Nonpoint Source Water Pollution
• Groundwater Flow Models - educator training and availability (up to six at a time) on a loan basis
• EnviroScape Water Pollution Awareness Model - educator training and availability on a loan basis
• Liquid Treasure Water History Trunks - Available on a loan basis

Contact: Kerry Schwartz at (520) 792-9591 ext. 22 or email: kschwart@ag.arizona.edu

B. Low 4 Program

The Low 4 Program promotes attractive landscaping with water conservation. Watersmart workshops help the homeowner, whether they are going to hire an installation crew, do the install themselves, or have an existing system that needs maintenance or upgrades.

Audience: Residents of the city or county.

Current Status: This program will continue to be offered in the coming years.

Impacts: This program has the goal of promoting water conservation and reducing water consumption in urban landscapes.

Lessons Learned: Go to your audience don't expect them to come to your one workshop location.

Curriculum/Materials/supply list: Contact: Patsy Waterfall (520) 622-7701 or patwater@ag.arizona.edu.

C. Smartscapes Program

The main objective of the Smartscapes Program is to teach individuals how to create and maintain beautiful low-water use low maintenance landscapes that are compatible with the climate of the Sonoran Desert.

Audience: Individuals in the landscape and nursery related professions. The workshops are geared toward entry level and beginning landscape maintenance personnel, however many "experienced professionals" also attend. This program is also valuable for property managers, homeowner association board members, and landscape chairpersons. The program is offered in Tucson and Phoenix.

Current Status: Each series consists of nine workshops taught by professionals from a variety of landscape specialties. The workshops are held twice a week for five weeks. This program will continue in the years to come.

Impacts: Increased knowledge of landscapes and plants compatible with the Sonoran Desert. This program has the secondary goal of promoting water conservation and reducing water consumption in urban landscapes.

Curriculum/Materials/supply list: Contact: Patsy Waterfall (520) 622-7701 or patwater@ag.arizona.edu.

D. Urban Horticulture

Landscape Water Conservation/Xeriscaping - Ten programs were presented to urban clientele, four programs presented to commercial clientele at Low 4 Water Conservation programs. Five newspaper columns focusing on water conservation were authored and published in the Arizona Daily Star. Low volume irrigation and water harvesting practices were demonstrated in the gardens at the Pima County Extension Center.

Audience: 417 urban adults and 103 commercial clientele

Current Status: These programs are well established and will be conducted in the years to come as well.

Impacts: Out of 66 surveys returned, 50 (75%) indicated that as a result of their participation in Extension programs they will adopt one or more water conservation practices. These practices included: watering on an as-needed basis, watering desert adapted plants only during establishment, watering to the effective rooting depth using a soil probe to adjust irrigation applications, and increasing irrigation efficiency by matching drip emitters and adding emitters as plants grow.

Lessons Learned: To increase survey returns, get attendees to commit to filling out a follow-up survey.

Contact: John Begeman (520) 626-5161 or email jbegeman@ag.arizona.edu.

F. Arizona Certified Nursery Professional

A fifteen credit course educating professionals in the field of commercial horticulture covering everything from turf grass to low water use plants to citrus trees. These professionals in turn educate the public on their home landscaping needs.

Audience: Professionals at nurseries and garden stores across the state.

Current Status: Successful first course. Second course offered in the Spring.

Impacts: This program focuses on educating those that deal with the public on all aspects of horticulture including advocating native and/or low water use plants.

Lessons Learned: Subsequent to the first course it was recognized that more time was required to cover the field of botany extending the class from 4 to 5 weeks in length.

Curriculum/supplies list: Contact Cynthia Flynn

Contact: Jack Kelly (520) 626-5161 or email jackelly@ag.arizona.edu.