All Forum Posts by: Erin Estes

Let's meet up at Saddle Mountain Brewery in Goodyear October 7th at 6:00pm 

All BP members in the Goodyear area are invited to attend! Just post a reply "I'm in!" below!

See you all then!!

I have these evenings open October 7, October 14, October 15, October 28, October 29. Where do you all want to meet? Saddle Mountain Brewery, Arriba's, any other suggestions?

Quote from @Susan Maneck:

There is a very, very old solution for Arizona and by that I mean Iran mastered it more than three thousand years ago. It is called the Qanat system, an underground irrigation system that brings water from the snow capped mountains to the arid plains. Unlike wells which lower the water table within 50 years, it takes 10,000 years for the water table to be effected using a qanat system. The main drawback is that this irrigation system has always been very labor intensive, but surely modern technology could help take care of that. The University of Arizona has an Arid Lands program which could help in this endeavor. https://azhydrosoc.org/june-me...

We already use the snowmelt from the surrounding region. The problem is that the entire surrounding region is not receiving enough precipitation in the form of snow and what they are getting is being usurped by a particularly parched soil on its way to us via natural waterways (Salt river, Agua Fria River, both run into the Gila River at Phoenix). We’re decades into a drought that isn’t getting relief from precipitation. 

Quote from @Allan C.:

@Erin Estes you have good ideals but if you applied your logic to other commodities then the residents of AZ will not be getting too far without the transportation fuels shipped from other states.

True! May not be a popular opinion, but perhaps people shouldn’t live in the desert. I’m only here following my husband’s career. I miss the woods and rivers back east!

I have heard of the woes of Rio Verde. Does not seem like a very pleasant situation to be in at all.  I wonder if they'd all be allowed to drill shared wells up that way?

As for the Columbia, that could be a possibility, but I'm not one for taking resources from one area to prop up the lack of the same resources of another.  That's not fair to the area you're taking it from no matter if they're using those resources or not.  I'm not too keen on emptying the Colorado to the point that it's dry by the time it gets to Mexico, either.  That's not fair to them.  They keep complaining about the sea levels rising, I say we go in with California and get some desalination pumps going.  That technology has come a long way and with funding, could potentially develop into an even more viable answer. It won't change the conditions of the region at large, however, no matter if we do satisfy our need for water.  The whole Southwest is a tinderbox and that's due in large part to the drastically dry conditions from this multi-decade's long drought.  The increasing severity and how common fires are becoming is helping us choke our air quality. I've noticed a substantial increase in smog in the valley in the last couple years since the huge uptick in population.  You don't really notice it when you're driving around down in the Valley but if you get up in elevation a bit and look down at it... we really don't get many blue sky days anymore.

This is a huge concern that’s increased in the last couple years for my husband and I.  We’ve lived here since 2013. The water management for Phoenix and its surrounding communities rely on underground aqueducts which are replenished in the same way that the reservoir behind the Hoover dam is replenished.  If there’s not enough precipitation (rain, snow, or otherwise) in the surrounding areas to replenish the reservoir, I don’t see how the underground aqueducts are being replenished as the whole southwest is in a multi-decade drought. When a subdivision applies for permitting, they have to prove a 100 year water supply.  I do not understand how they are able to keep tabs on the water underground or earmark it for the communities that cite it as their 100 year water supply.  I don’t understand how multiple communities don’t claim the same underground water as their very own 100 year supply. I know that households in the valley are extremely water efficient in that usage for households has hardly gone up over the last twenty years despite the growth due to more efficient appliances (dishwashers and washing machines) and wastewater technology including recycling car wash water at car washes and using grey water for irrigation and a leaning in recent years toward desert landscaping instead of turf (grass is a huge water guzzler).  I also know that a tube the size of a VW Bug takes wastewater from downtown Phoenix all the way out to the nuclear power plant in Palo Verde in order to keep their operations cool. I know that farming in the valley uses the most of the water we have.  I come from generations of farmers and grew up on that farm back east, so it pains me to have to say it, but the farms in the desert are just not sustainable.  Really, none of us should be living here- and we wouldn’t be if it weren’t for the invention of air conditioning and the canal project.  I am super curious about what others think of the water situation.  I am also thinking about writing a letter to the state’s water managers so I can gain insight on how they are able to monitor the amount of water underground and how they determine or earmark that water for certain communities. Thank you for the conversation starter, @Account Closed!

Hi Renee!

I’m in Goodyear! Welcome, welcome!

My husband and I are looking into the viability of a new-build multifamily project in Culpeper County.  We have never developed before and have many questions.  We are hoping to find a consultant in Virginia to help us assess viability and point us in the right direction for next steps.  Hoping some of the keywords will ping someone’s notifications!

I’m from Etlan just west of Reva. I have not heard good things about HughesNet. My parents use Dish for internet but I would not recommend them either. StarLink is on my radar for my parents’ place, but it’s been a struggle ever since dial-up first came out. Let this thread know what you decide! Inquiring minds want to know!

This post set mine off! What training is this? Just curious.