Catching a glimpse of a rare butterfly flitting along the banks of the San Pedro River.

Riparian and aquatic areas, such as Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona Arizona are now being studied through the Arizona Statewide Environmental Water Needs Assessment at the Water Resources Research Center.

Floating along the Salt River on a lazy summer afternoon.

Dipping your toes in Bright Angel Creek after a tough Grand Canyon hike.

Fly-fishing on the East and West Forks of the Black River.

Walking Fido along the Rillito River Park Trail that meanders along the usually dry riverbed.

Such a list, which could be practically endless, makes it abundantly clear that human interaction with Arizona’s rivers and riparian areas is integral to the texture of life in our state. These ecosystems, playgrounds for us humans, are critical habitats to thousands of species of wildlife and plants.

Yet, as our state ponders life’s most basic and essential issue — water policy  — the rivers and riparian areas are usually not part of the conversation or considerations. The Arizona Statewide Environmental Water Needs Assessment aims to reverse that course.

The assessment, the brainchild of Dr. Sharon B. Megdal, project leader and director of the University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center, will gather and analyze information about Arizona’s rivers, riparian areas and aquatic ecosystemsand translate the science of river flows for the public, planners and decision makers.

Arizona is one of a few western states without a statewide water plan. Water-related discussions usually revolve around human, agricultural and commercial uses and exclude Arizona’s waterways. The assessment and resulting guidebook will make environmental water uses a part of those conversations, said Joanna Nadeau, the project’s research analyst.

“Ultimately, the assessment will improve public awareness about environmental water needs and facilitate the next steps in state water planning that recognizes the environment as a water-using sector,” Megdal said in a UA News story.

The Department of Water Resources Arizona Water Atlas  chronicles water use and water sources; it characterizes who uses water and where it is. It does not describe environmental water uses across the state, said Nadeau. The results of the environmental water needs assessment will complement the existing data on human water demands.

There has been extensive research in the state on what the rivers and the state riparian ecosystems need to function, but they are localized studies. The assessment will gather those information-packed environmental-flow studies into a single guidebook that creates a statewide picture, Nadeau said. 

The compendium of information will help identify the components of our rivers and riparian ecosystems and their water needs. It will give local water managers concrete information on what needs to be protected to survive and what effect reduced flow will have on communities.

The guidebook will also identify information gaps — the rivers that have not been studied or have been understudied.

Some of the information could be used to define benchmarks or performance standards to maintain ecosystem policies.

The assessment is funded by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, the UA's first-ever award from the trust. The project has an advisory committee of water and conservation professionals, and it has coordinated with groups involved with riparian research and conservation.

The results will clearly convey the science to key decision makers. There is the potential next year for educational workshops to use the guidebook as a tool to talk about quantifying and addressing the needs of rivers and riparian systems, Nadeau said.

The assembly and analysis of environmental-flow studies is under way and will continue through the summer. The draft report will be reviewed this fall, with the guidebook and report available in early 2011.

Nadeau welcomes information and connecting with groups involved with environmental-flow studies. Contact Joanna Nadeau, Research Analyst, (520) 621-9591.