Bats Attract for Water Conservation Message

Published October 18, 2009

By Mae Lee Sun
TNAZ Regional Correspondent

Participants in an earthworks workshop led by Emily Brott, of the Sonoran Institute, used ancient technologies to build a basin for rainwater capture at the Ward One Tucson City Council office.
Credit: Sonoran Institute

The late summer launch at dusk of 40,000 Mexican free-tail bats from under a Campbell Avenue bridge.

Two new water-harvesting ordinances to go into effect in January.

A group of volunteers working with landowners to repair the ecosystem in a 70,000-square-mile region of the Southwest known as Sky Island.

These three are faces of conservation science applied for Tucson’s future.

The Sky Island Alliance, for example, is working to bring water back to natural areas endangered by off-road recreation, development and inadequate agricultural practices, said Melanie Emerson, the group’s executive director.

“We’re primarily working with private landowners of large tracts in the region on simple, implementable methods,” she said. “That most definitely includes technology that has been used for millennia like one rock dams and gabions (sand-filled cages).”

The alliance melds the science of conservation biology with on-the-ground restoration done by volunteers.

Efforts to restore grasses and native vegetation have created natural habitat that attract insects, birds and mid- to larger-sized mammals and predators, which in turn Emerson said, has helped revive populations of endangered species like the Chiricahua leopard frog.

Sweat Tech hasn’t changed much since the Hohokam, but tools look different, certainly.
Credit: Sonoran Institute

Emerson said her group “connects the dots” between conservation planning and conservation action.

The City of Tucson is using the law to put conservation into action.

In January, 50 percent of the water used for landscaping commercial buildings must come from water harvesting. Currently, 40 percent of Tucson’s drinking water is being used on landscaping. Emily Brott, project manager for the Sun Corridor Legacy Program of the Sonoran Institute, described water harvesting in Tucson as a process based on the ancient engineering of the Hokoham and Anasazis, who used systems of dams, canals and terracing to ensure their crops had enough water.

“The first line of defense, if you will, is the application of earthworks,” she said. “That means going back to building berms and basins that use gravity to direct the rain where you want it to go.”

She pointed out that this methodology is cheaper than using more costly gutters and cisterns to gather water off roofs.

“If you do your calculations right, you can gather enough … to use only water harvested from monsoon season and rain to water landscaping that consists primarily of native plants,” Brott said.

Instead of watching water run through the streets — which have essentially functioned as gutters — the city is implementing curb cuts to ease flooding and accommodate landscaping in medians and sidewalk areas. As water gets redirected, it eases the buildup of oil, trash and grim that ends up in washes and overloads the ecosystem.

Additionally a second new ordinance calls on all new residential construction to have a gray water stub-out. “Your washing machine, for example, has to be plumbed to bring the water outside, if the homeowner chooses to do so,” Brott said.

Last month, the dusk launch of 40,000 free-tail bats attracted hundreds in Tucson to the banks of the Rillito River. Hosted by the Rillito River Project, water conservation and diversity were the themes, and large, white balloons helped to depict changing water levels.
Credit: Mae Lee Sun

Gray water is wastewater that can be used for irrigation of gardens and other landscaping.

Now, about those bats.

The Rillito River Project, an arts organization, has had at least four presentations to increase awareness of the vanishing rivers of the Southwest, and this September used the summer flight of the bats to draw attention to the region’s water issues.

Before the 40,000 bats took off from under the bridge that spans the Rillito for their nightly feeding of mosquitoes and other insects, local actor Sean Dupont spoke to the crowd gathered in the dry riverbed of the river’s history, offering a sort of water timeline.

“1775, when the Spanish Presidio was established in downtown Tucson, the Rillito River flowed four feet deep,” Dupont said. “There was water in the river where Saint Xavier Mission stands. “

The water table has risen and fallen during the past several hundred years, starting with how the Hohokam harvested water to grow beans, corn and squash, cholla buds and mesquite beans, Dupont said.

With the increase in Anglo settlers and agricultural development, he said, Tucson established a municipal water system in the 1900s — initially through tapping a spring and directing it through gravity feeds that eventually required pump technology to supply volume.

By the 1950s, the water table sunk from 20 feet underground to 75 feet underground.

For more information:
Sonoran Institute (520) 290-0828 www.sonoraninstitute.org
Sky Island Alliance (520) 624-7080 www.skyislandalliance.org
Rillito River Project (520) 955-3429 www.rillitoriverproject.org

Green Valley is getting even greener for retirees at La Posada

By Mae Lee Sun, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, July 03, 2009

The sun, the warm weather, golf and the arts are what typically attract retirees to Southern Arizona. For those choosing to live at La Posada in Green Valley, there’s a new consideration: green living.

“The average age of our residents is in the mid-80s. They are a very politically active and environmentally conscious population,” says Tim Carmichael, director of marketing for the nonprofit continuing care retirement community for people ages 62 and up. “Most of the changes we’ve been making at La Posada have come about through our residents suggestions who are concerned about water and energy usage. So we’ve taken that on and have hired Pepper Viner Homes as the developer for the planned Park Centre Homes neighborhood which we hope to break ground on by the end of 2009.”

None of the 35 homes to be built will be owned by residents. Instead they’ll pay an “entrance fee” that on average will be about $450,000 — 70 percent of which gets returned when the resident leaves. The fee, along with additional monthly maintenance costs also provides for of having medical staff nearby.

La Posada’s 35 homes won’t be for sale, residents will instead pay a partially refundable “entrance fee.” Advertisement

As for being green, all of the homes will be energey efficient and built with low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) in the cabinetry, paints and flooring. (VOC are carbon-based chemicals that evaporate at room temperature and can be harmful, especially from sustained exposure.)

Read more…link goes to Inside Tucson Business

First-ever business-to-business green event is Friday

By Mae Lee Sun, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, April 17, 2009

The newly formed Green Media Alliance, a partnership of media related firms, will hold its first-ever business-to-business event, “How to Survive in Tough Times” Friday (April 24).

The half-day of events will feature a morning workshop, Green Marketing 101, followed by networking and exhibits and then a luncheon with the aim to bring businesses together to share solutions capitalizing on growing consumer trends demanding a green marketplace.

Jacquelyn Ottman, a Manhattan-based consultant to Fortune 500 companies, is the keynote speaker. She is responsible for the EPA’s Energy Star program that has become a familiar signpost on consumer appliances.The move to green can be a significant financial investment for a business, especially in these recessionary times, but when asked if she sees it paying off, Ottman says, business should be able to more than recoup their initial financial costs.

Read more…link will take you to Inside Tucson Business

Armory Park’s urban farmer and food activist

Downtown Tucsonan
April 2008
By Mae Lee Sun

Some people have an ear for music. Others, like Kim Fox, have an ear for corn. And kale. And tomatoes. As a small-scale urban farmer/food activist, she says it’s a skill that everyone possesses; you don’t have to be a green thumbed Mozart to create luscious and flavorful organic food right in your own backyard while also providing yourself and your neighbors with what she sees as long-term food security.

Read more…link goes to Downtown Tucsonan