Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a modern aqueduct system that stretches 336 miles across the state. CAP delivers water from the mighty Colorado River to where it’s needed in Arizona.

KIDS & FAMILIES—

Welcome to Bear Essential’s water conservation column. Water means life to all of us desert dwellers. In fact, water is Arizona’s most precious natural resource, and using it wisely is everybody’s responsibility!
Water means life to all of us desert dwellers. In fact, water is Arizona’s most precious natural resource, and using it wisely is everybody’s responsibility!

Go with the Flow Down the Colorado River

Last time Water Wise readers learned about the importance of snowpack high up in the Colorado Watershed. As this snow slowly melts this spring, it flows into tributaries that feed the Colorado River.

In some places, water is removed from the river and carried by aqueduct to places that need it. Starting at Lake Havasu, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) carries Colorado River water to Phoenix and continues to just south of Tucson. So water that you drink in Phoenix may actually come from snow in the mountains of Colorado or Wyoming (part of the watershed for the Colorado).

Hey, That’s My Water!

Since water is limited in the Colorado Basin, seven Western states, Indian nations in the area and Mexico have made agreements to determine how much water each can use.

For Mexico, an international treaty with the United States determines the minimum amount of water that must be left in the river as it crosses the border.

Divvying Up the Water

In 1922, the seven states and the United States government came up with the Colorado River Compact. It divided the states into upper basin (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico) and lower basin states (California, Nevada and Arizona).

Each basin had 7.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to share each year. An acre-foot of water is the amount it takes to cover an acre of land with one foot of water, which is about 326,000 gallons!

Political and legal fights over how to share the water went on for two decades! In 1928, California agreed to 4.4 million acre-feet a year, and Nevada agreed to 300,000 acre-feet. In 1944, Arizona became the last state to sign, agreeing to 2.8 million acre-feet each year.

The Arizona Conserve Water Educators’ Guide provides lessons that foster real-world, project-based learning adding relevancy to school curricula. The School Water Audit Program (SWAP) is a new Arizona Project WET program focusing on science, technology, engineering & math: http://cals.arizona.edu/arizonawet/

For more information, visit
www.CentralArizonaProject.com
or call toll free: (888) 891-5795

http://ag.arizona.edu/arizonawet/

Is Shaq Sinking Suns?

There's a new big man in town; the Phoenix Suns are betting he's the spark they need to win the playoffs.

One of the biggest stars in the NBA universe, Shaquille O'Neal, is now wearing purple and orange. And both Shaq and the Suns have a lot to prove. Shaq, who just turned 36 and has endured knee and hip injuries, wants to show he's still a big force in the NBA. His critics say that the Diesel is too old and too slow for a high-octane, blazingly fast team like the Suns.

During the regular season, the Suns are one of the toughest teams in the West. And while fans love the Suns' exciting and high-scoring brand of basketball, led by two-time League MVP point guard Steve Nash, the team has never won the NBA Finals.

The Suns believe that Shaq is the piece that's been missing. At 7 feet 1 inch tall and 325 pounds, Shaq gives the Suns a true center who grabs rebounds, plays tough defense and passes the ball well. Up till now, Amare Stoudamire has been stuck playing center for the Suns, even though he's really one of the best power forwards in the game. With Shaq in at center, Stoudamire is freed up to do what he does best!

"Psychologically it really helps us out. Guys are much more willing to go to the boards and fight around the basket with Shaq in there," explains Head Coach Mike D'Antoni.

Fans love Shaq's superstar qualities. The big guy has won four NBA Finals and was MVP for three of them! But the Suns have lost their winning ways since Shaq started playing on Feb. 20. In the trade for Shaq, the Suns gave up All-Star forward Shawn Marion, who said he wanted to be traded at the beginning of the season. For years, Marion had been a clutch scorer. As of press time, the Suns have won just two of their last six games and have fallen to fifth place in the Western Conference. Fans wonder whether it's growing pains with the big guy or could it be a bad fit?

'Doomsday Vault' Opens for Business!

SVALBARD ARCHIPELAGO, Norway-Imagine a bank that's so far north that polar bears outnumber the people living there! The bank is located on Norway's Svalbard archipelago just 620 miles from the North Pole. As you may have guessed, it's cold there. During winter's around-the-clock darkness, temperatures can fall to -22° Fahrenheit.

The bank was blasted into the side of an arctic mountain and has reinforced concrete walls to help protect its valuable deposits from natural disasters, global warming and even a nuclear explosion. Welcome to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault-also called the "Doomsday Vault" by the press!

You can find seedbanks all over the world. Native Seeds/SEARCH is a seedbank here in Arizona. Its mission is to protect the diversity of local seed used in farming and their wild relatives. "We have nearly 2,000 varieties in our seedbank, mainly corn, beans and squash," explains Carolyn Owens, who works on grants for the seedbank. "Just like the seedbank in Norway, the seeds need to be kept cold, so they're stored in a freezer," she says. Seeds for the bank come from southwestern states and northern Mexico.

Seedbanks help protect our food supply from the "what ifs" in life-like what if there's drought; what if a disease attacks a certain kind of wheat, or what if global warming changes what can grow around here?

Modern farming has led to fewer and fewer varieties of crops. This has brought about many varieties of food crops being lost forever, and Owens says it's alarming. "It's just more cost effective to grow a single variety...but you don't know what disease is going to come along down the road," she says. A disease could wipe out an entire variety of a crop, leading to food shortages. But if there are enough other seed varieties, like wheat for instance, one of those types of wheat may turn out to be resistant to the disease.

Owens points out that a lot of seedbanks are in politically unstable areas like Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and have been looted or destroyed. In the Phillipines, a flood wiped out the country's seedbank.

That's why the Svalbard Global Seedbank was created-to protect the diversity of seeds no matter what happens in the world. Countries can "deposit" different varieties of seeds. If a disaster jeopardizes crops, the country can make a "withdrawal" of seeds.

The vault was built by Norway at a cost of about $3 million. Because seeds are so small, the "Doomsday Vault" can hold up to 2 billion seeds!