Arizona State and Local Government Documents Collection

The Strategic Plan comprises an ambitious set of goals and objectives. It is a “living” document that will guide our focus and activities. As such, some objectives and expected results will be subject to change as information and events unfold. Objectives and measures aligned to drive achievement have also been developed in Units, Sections, and Divisions throughout the Department.

The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona is an independent entity authorized to finance the construction, rehabilitation and/or improvement of drinking water, waste water, waste water reclamation, and other water quality facilities/projects. As a “Bond Bank”, WIFA is authorized to issue water quality bonds on behalf of communities for basic water infrastructure. Generally, WIFA offers borrowers below market interest rates on loans for 100% of eligible project costs.

The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona implements three types of technical assistance:
1. Project Technical Assistance – Planning and Design Assistance Grants assist an individual drinking water or wastewater system to conceive, plan, design, or develop an infrastructure project.
2. Policy Technical Assistance – Policy TA includes studies, surveys and other types of reports that provide benefit to a range of drinking water and wastewater systems statewide.
3. Operational Technical Assistance – The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality manages this program to provide assistance to individual drinking water and wastewater systems to improve facility operations.

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund IUP describes WIFA’s plan to utilize various sources of funds to finance drinking water infrastructure and support related program activities during the State FY funding cycle from July 1 through June 30. This plan is a required element of the grant application documentation to obtain the grant award. Arizona herewith submits its IUP for the funds available to Arizona for the purposes of continuing the development, implementation and administration of the DWSRF program in Arizona.

The Intended Use Plan describes WIFA’s plan to utilize various sources of funds to finance clean water infrastructure and support related activities during the State FY funding cycle from July 1 through June 30. This plan is a required element of the grant application documentation to obtain the grant award for the purposes of continuing the development, implementation and administration of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program in Arizona.

The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona is an independent agency of the state of Arizona established to finance the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of drinking water, wastewater, wastewater reclamation, and other water quality projects. WIFA operates as a “bond bank” and has the authority to issue bonds on behalf of communities for basic water infrastructure.

In August 2001, a resident of New River contacted the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office of Environmental Health to request information on the health risks of arsenic in drinking water. The resident collected two well water samples and submitted them to a private laboratory for arsenic analysis. The analyses detected arsenic at 560 and 600 μg/L. To confirm these very high arsenic results, ADHS staff sampled the well for arsenic and submitted the samples for analysis by the ADHS State Laboratory. Arsenic was detected at 340 μg/L. After that, a large number of people requested health advice on arsenic in their well water. This public health consultation primarily evaluates arsenic levels found in private wells and documents health advice provided to well owners. When other metals were found at levels of concern, health advice was provided to well owners regarding exposure to those metals too.

The purpose of this health consultation is to determine whether contaminants in groundwater from the Motorola 56th Street facility represent a threat to public health. The facility was first occupied in the spring of 1950 as the Western Military Electronics Center. From 1950 to 1958, it was primarily used for bench type electronics, electronic assembly, and semiconductor production. The chemicals used in these processes included solvent degreasers such as trichloroethylene, acetone, and freon, and metals such as cadmium, chromium, and arsenic. From 1959 through 1961, the facility was used primarily for document storage. Beginning in 1962, manufacturing of electronics resumed to include assembly of circuit boards, plating, and degreasing. Chemicals used between 1962 and 1974 included trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and a number of acids and metals including arsenic. In 1975, the facility began manufacturing liquid crystal products. These activities continued until 1982, when it was converted to office use. The investigations that have been conducted to date have shown that there are residual levels of arsenic and fluoride in down-gradient private wells west of the facility. Solvent contaminants that were found in the 1980s are no longer present at detectable levels in down-gradient private wells.

In September 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contacted the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office of Environmental Health, concerning potential contamination of private drinking water wells along Lynx Creek in the Walker, Arizona, mining district. Historical mining activities in the area might have resulted in contamination of groundwater by acid mine runoff as well as metals from extraction processes. EPA and ADHS determined the historical mining activity had caused environmental damage and the potential for adverse human health impacts. ADHS initiated a private well sampling program to determine if the mining activity has had an adverse impact on the quality of water from these wells. Several area residents have expressed concerns about their water quality. The objective of this public health consultation is to evaluate the potential for health effects from exposure to contaminants in private drinking water wells in the Walker, Arizona area.