ASU water research will tap into Phoenix
ASU water research will tap into Phoenix
Grant will fund climate study
Shaun McKinnon
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 29, 2004 12:00 AM
Arizona State University will use Phoenix as a living laboratory for a $6.9 million research center that will help desert cities look for ways to balance growth with limited water resources.
The National Science Foundation, an independent government agency, will award grants today to fund the ASU Decision Center for a Desert City and four other programs, all aimed at solving problems created by changing or uncertain climate conditions.
The center's goal is to draw a comprehensive picture of the region's water future and help leaders better manage resources on a day-to-day basis, said co-director Charles Redman, who oversees the university's environmental studies program. advertisement
Phoenix offers an ideal setting for the project because of the region's continued growth, its history of stretching water resources to keep up with that growth and its more recent experience with a drought now in its ninth year.
"Phoenix is underappreciated," Redman said. "People ask, 'Why is there a city in the desert,' and I say, 'Whoa, you've got that upside down.' The first cities were in the desert. All the way back to the Hohokam, we've known water is central to our success. We're not on the edge like San Diego or Denver, cities that get a lot more water than we do, and that makes us an unbelievable laboratory."
Grant will fund climate study
Shaun McKinnon
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 29, 2004 12:00 AM
Arizona State University will use Phoenix as a living laboratory for a $6.9 million research center that will help desert cities look for ways to balance growth with limited water resources.
The National Science Foundation, an independent government agency, will award grants today to fund the ASU Decision Center for a Desert City and four other programs, all aimed at solving problems created by changing or uncertain climate conditions.
The center's goal is to draw a comprehensive picture of the region's water future and help leaders better manage resources on a day-to-day basis, said co-director Charles Redman, who oversees the university's environmental studies program. advertisement
Phoenix offers an ideal setting for the project because of the region's continued growth, its history of stretching water resources to keep up with that growth and its more recent experience with a drought now in its ninth year.
"Phoenix is underappreciated," Redman said. "People ask, 'Why is there a city in the desert,' and I say, 'Whoa, you've got that upside down.' The first cities were in the desert. All the way back to the Hohokam, we've known water is central to our success. We're not on the edge like San Diego or Denver, cities that get a lot more water than we do, and that makes us an unbelievable laboratory."
