Data from Salt River Project’s hydrology and weather systems are now available in near real-time for Arizonans planning a day at the lake, on the river or in the forest.
WatershedConnection.com, launched in October to kick off the 2017-2018 water year, provides information about current and past conditions on the Salt River and Verde River watersheds as well as an explanation of SRP’s role in protecting these rivers in perpetuity for the benefit of water users in greater Phoenix and in watershed communities such as Payson, Prescott and the Verde Valley.
The new website replaces the 10-year-old WatershedMonitor.com site with interactive tools such as graphs and maps that allow users to easily check the pulse of these vital waterways.
Information on stream flows and rainfall events across the Salt and Verde watersheds was first offered in 2007 when Salt River Project launched WatershedMonitor.com. The previous website offered data collected by SRP and the United States Geological Survey as part of SRP’s commitment to assisting in the education of the watershed community regarding water-resource issues.
In addition to providing hydrologic and meteorological conditions, Kornrumph said the new WatershedConnection.com website will highlight projects where SRP is collaborating with other groups to protect these watersheds. Some examples of these collaborations include:
- Agreements to protect Verde Valley water rights: How SRP is working with landowners to recognize early water uses from Verde Valley ditches with voluntary agreements that give all water users greater water certainty.
- Flowtography— innovation in water measurement: How SRP is partnering with watershed communities to implement its new Flowtography technology to capture pictures and data for important watershed studies.
- Big Chino Aquifer monitoring program: SRP, the city of Prescott and the town of Prescott Valley have embarked on a multiyear plan to better understand the hydrology of the Big Chino Aquifer. Also, how this monitoring program is helping to protect the headwaters of the Verde River.
- A renewable water supply for Northern Gila County: How C.C. Cragin Reservoir, a Mogollon Rim lake built in 1965, will become a new water supply for the town of Payson with the help of SRP. Also, how restoring the forests will further protect this jewel in the pines – formerly named Blue Ride Reservoir.
SRP, as the largest raw water supplier in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, is continually seeking ways to collaborate with stakeholders to improve the future of our water supplies.