Geology

Magnitude 2.0 quake near border with Utah

We had another small, magnitude 2.0 earthquake yesterday morning, along the Utah-Arizona border, about 22 miles east of Fredonia, AZ. [right, location map courtesy of USGS]

Wildfire threat above normal for northern Arizona

The National Interagency Fire Center is predicting above normal wild land fire potential for the northern half of Arizona for the month of July.

For August - October, they predict normal fire potential for all of Arizona.

Public meeting on Horseshoe II post-fire hazards

The Forest Service's Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has completed its assessment of post-fire hazards for the Horseshoe II fire in the Chiricahua Mountains and will hold a public meeting in Sierra Vista on Friday to explain the results, according to information we got in a briefing among state-federal-county-tribal agencies this morning. The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Sierra Vista Public Library. [right, Horseshoe II fire as seen from the space station. Credit, NASA]

While flooding is viewed as the most likely hazard for the recent spate of wild fires in Arizona, we note that the nearby Rattlesnake fire produced significant debris flows afterwards in similar terrain. AZGS geologist Ann Youberg has been working 16-17 hour days with the rest of the Horseshoe II BAER Team to evaluate the potential for debris flows and other hazards.

House appropriations bill would overturn Arizona mining ban

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee released a draft of the FY 2012 Appropriations Act for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies today that would overturn the ban on exploration and mining in northern Arizona [right, BLM map of withdrawn lands], that was imposed by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last month:

ARIZONA MINERAL WITHDRAWAL PROHIBITION SEC. 445.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the approximately 1,010,776 acres of public lands and National Forest System lands described in Public Land Order No. 7773; Emergency Withdrawal of Public and National Forest System Lands, Coconino and Mohave Counties; AZ (76 Fed. Reg. 37826) may be withdrawn from location and entry under the General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) except as expressly authorized by a law enacted after the date of enactment of this Act that refers to this section.

Update, 7-7-11: Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) says he inserted this language into the bill.

New management team at AZ Water Resources

The current issue of the Arizona Hydrological Society newsletter offers a positive assessment of new Deputy and Assistant Directors appointed at the Arizona Dept. of Water Resources. AHS Corporate Board President Alan Dulaney wrote in his column that:

Mike Lacey, a long-time AHS member and principal at Fluid Solutions, Inc., has been selected as the new ADWR Deputy Director. Mike brings a depth of hydrological and managerial expertise to the agency that should be much welcomed. As one of two Assistant Directors, Mike Johnson comes from the surface water side of the agency, and should bring a renewed focus on engineering to ADWR. Tom Buschatzke will start as the other Assistant Director on July 18, in charge of planning. Tom comes from the City of Phoenix where he was Senior Water Advisor, with a wealth of knowledge concerning the Colorado River and the Central Arizona Project. Tom has participated in almost every major water initiative over the last several years, and will bring an interesting new slant to several programs at the agency. A new supervisor for adjudications projects and a new ombudsman/legislative liaison have also been appointed.

New brooms sweep clean. It could well be that many programs at ADWR will be revised and revamped to fit current exigencies. I would look for a re-organization at ADWR sometime over the next few months, and I think the staff will welcome it. I don’t think it will be business as usual—these new guys will not long tolerate stale thinking. And this is a good thing for the agency. Cruel cuts in the budget have brought ADWR to a turning point; things can never again be the same as they were in years past, and to remain vibrant, the agency must change and adapt. The new management team could just be the guys to bring that change off. I wish them much success.

Monsoon dust storm swallows Phoenix

A massive "haboob" dust storm rolled across the Phoenix valley last night, shutting down Sky Harbor Airport for over an hour. The time lapse video below is by Dave Seibert, Arizona Republic. Here in Tucson, 80 mph monsoon winds created their own share of damage and disruption.