HomeVideo Archive2022-02-12 Prescott‘s Surface Water Quality, Finding facts in murky waters

What’s up at Watson, Willow and Goldwater Lakes? How have changes in the regulatory landscape impacted the city’s stewardship of those lakes? Matt Killeen, the City of Prescott’s Environmental Coordinator, presented new and evolving information on the water quality of Prescott’s lakes and creeks, dispeled misinformation and discussed the city’s rainwater harvesting project at the Rodeo Grounds. A question and answer period followed the presentation.

2022-02-11 Water Quality in Prescott Lakes and Creeks from CWAGAZ on Vimeo.

Killeen reviewed the findings of a 2020 study of Watson Lake and discussed the city’s forthcoming remediation measures, including lake aeration, the introduction of herbivorous fish, and the application of nutrient binding clay. He also explained the critical relationship between Prescott’s creeks and its three man-made lakes and how citizens can help keep them clean by following proper disposal methods for animal waste, household chemicals, unused medications and yard debris that can find their way into a downstream waterbody.

In addition, Killeen reported on Prescott’s cooperative rainwater harvesting and aquifer recharge project at the Rodeo Grounds. The system has the capability to recharge up to 0.87 acre-feet annually and has the additional benefits of reducing the volume of stormwater generated from building rooftops and the amount of animal waste found in rainfall sheet flow.

Prior to joining the City of Prescott in 2016, Matt Killeen spent 15 years managing riparian nature preserves in southeastern Arizona and before that worked in fisheries in the Pacific Northwest and in Nepal.

 

 

DAILY DROPLET

  • "Ranchers need clean water for their stock, farmers need it for their crops, every employer needs it to stay in business, and every living thing needs it for life... The law needs to be clear to protect water quality and the rights of landowners."
    Mark Udall

  • "Water is the driver of Nature."
    Leonardo da Vinci

  • "When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."
    Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1746

  • "...and since flow of information is to spirit what water is to life, we'd best think about how to keep the pipes free and unclogged."
    Raphie Frank

  • "In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference."
    Rachel Carson

  • "We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one."
    Jacques Yves Cousteau

  • "Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water."
    Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine

  • "Water is everywhere and in all living things; we cannot be separated from water. No water, no life. Period..."
    Robert Fulghum

  • "It's the water. Everything is driven by the water."
    Mike Thompson

  • "Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over."
    Mark Twain