Selection Process
The Arizona Heritage Waters project brought together researchers from around the state with expertise in a variety of disciplines, including hydrology, geology, anthropology, law and public policy, entomology, and conservation. The principal investigators (PI), representing all three state universities, convened in April 2007 after the Arizona Water Institute awarded the grant. This meeting had several goals: to establish a draft timeline of events, recommend cultural and scientific water experts to attend the Water Experts Workshop, and develop a scoring method for the proposed sites.
The scoring method drafted at the meeting is based upon a protocol used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prioritize spring management in Nevada. The protocol ranks sites on a scale of 1 (no value) to five (high value) in five different categories: cultural, historical, political, scientific, social significance, and the quality and extent of information. The 24 top-scoring sites are designated Arizona Heritage Waters.
The sites were nominated and scored at a Water Experts Workshop held on May 14th and 15th at the Museum of Northern Arizona. The PIs identified approximately 95 agency officials, tribal leaders, and researchers to attend; approximately 25 individuals were present at the meeting. The participants nominated 102 sites and the 24 top-scoring sites were chosen as Arizona Heritage Waters. Click here for the proceedings from this meeting.
The nominators of the selected sites were requested to compile the site’s information, including its location, hydrology, ecosystem, and scientific and socio-cultural importance. When major information gaps were identified, the project leads and/or their assistants conducted field visits to gather the necessary data.
Once the data has been collected, the data sheets will be compiled into a hard-copy report for dissemination to workshop participants, agencies, the public, tribal leaders, resource managers, and other interested stakeholders. This report will be included here when it becomes available.
