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2 Arizona Water Resource March-April 1997 Omstructed wetlands amtim<ed from page 1 cost to maintain the wetlan:! is expected to be "little or nothing.' Construction is ,cheduled to begin this summer. Also, the city of Sierra Vista, along with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, is planning a constructed wetland. This project could demonstrate h ow constructed wetlands can provide environmental benffits. Options for using its treated wastewater include aquifer recharge, to lessen the effect groundwater pumping has on the San Pedro River and also releasing the treated water directly into the river. ' U ~ban areas also are expressing a growing interest in the potentJaI of constructed wetlands. Kingman's constructed wetland facility began operation in 1994. Thatcher intends to initiate a facility, and Nogales is considering a pilot pro- Ject. Tucson's Sweetwater facility is expected to be complet- ed by the end of summer or early autumn, and Phoenix's Tr~s ~os facility is a pilot project to study the possibility of bwldmg a full-scale wetland facility. Along with increased use of constructed wetlands to treat wastewater, more research u; taking place to understand its workings. . ~or .examp1e, the Constructed Ecosystems Re- search FacilIty 15 a wetlands project devoted to research. Sponsored by the Pima County Wastewater Management Departn;ent, with rese~ch conducted by the University of Anzona s Office of ArId Lands Studies, CERF provides researchers a setting in which to evaluate the effectiveness of a constructed wetlands facility in an arid land climate. Also research is an impc.rtant component in a recent project funded by the Arizona Department of Water Re- sources. The University of Arizona, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and th" Rovey Dairy in Glendale are working together on a const ructed wetland project to treat the ~ry's wastewater. The project serves a dual purpose, to proVIde an operating dairy with a working wastewater treat- ment system and to allow researchers an opportunity to study the workings of a wet] and system. Constructed wetlands ar" sufficiently recent to Arizona that regulatory agencies generally regard them as non-tradi- Constructecl Wetlands in Arizona Cumulative Te,tal Through March 1997 so . "g40 . = . ::30 "0 . ~20 , z 10 o 1U93 . Operating 1994 1995 1996 o Pend"'9 1997 tional. "These systems are typically used as part of the treat- ment train," Randall said. Efforts are underway to adopt appropriate constructed wetland regulations. ADEQ officials organized a Total Quality Improvement team to identify issues inhibiting wetland construction in Arizona and to recommend solu- tions to regulatory and technical concerns. ADEQ is in the process of reviewing current agency practices to better incor- porate TYI recommendations, Randall said. Constructed wetlands have varied treatment capabilities and can remove contaminants from various kinds of water. ~onst~cted wetlands are used to treat municipal effluents, lOdustnal and commercial wastewaters, agricultural runoff, stormwater runoff, animal wastes, acid mine drainage and landfillleachates. A topic of growing interest, constructed wetlands will be the featured topic in the next Arroyo, to be published in April. A rroyo is a publication of the Water Resources Re- search Center at the University of Arizona. . ~ Shared crmcems contimu:d from page 1 Train accidents have occurred that spilled sulfuric acid into the river. ' One of the project's strategy is to sponsor workshops to help deal with problems, said Briggs. For example, people were concerned about what to do in the event of a train wreck along the river. Whom do you call? What kind of help can you get? A workshop might be arranged to ac- quaint the communities with resources available in Mexico to handle chemical spills. Other strategies also are planned. "I see us doing some hands-on, grass-roots efforts; from possibly a revegetation project along the river, to putting in fences to control cattle, to digging upland wells to keep cattle from riparian areas,. said Briggs. The emphasis of the project, which also involves agencies and organization from both sides of the border, is to tie the ecological health of the river to the economic vitality of the town. Whatever solutions are developed are to have eco- nomic benefits to the people or the town. Along with community work, the project also is in- volved in long-term scientific monitoring of the Santa Cruz River and its riparian zone. This work is being done by the Departmento de Investigaciones Cientificas y T ecnologicas of the Universidad de Sonora. The information gathered will help measure the success of the project. The work in Mexico is a logical extension of conserva- tion work being done in southern Arizona's San Rafael Valley. This is the location of the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River. The river then dips into Mexico before turning north into Arizona. This is the second year of a three-year project. "'We hope to get more funding to continue the project and to include other towns," said Briggs. "Our long-term goal is to develop a river corridor protection team made up of people from towns all along the Santa Cruz River in Sonora.'