Santa Cruz County was awarded funding from the Arizona Department of Transportation Planning Assistance for Rural Areas program to prepare the Rio Rico Walking and Biking Study. The purpose of the Study is to enable Santa Cruz County to establish a program for the construction of bike lanes and sidewalks that are desired to provide safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycle access and connectivity to select Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 facilities as well as use for the general public for transportation and recreational purposes.

A majority of the work performed by ADEQ's Nonpoint Source Program is funded by Clean Water Act grants, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which requires States to report annually on progress in meeting the schedule of milestones contained in their nonpoint source management plans, and report reductions in nonpoint source pollutant loadings and improvement in water quality resulting from program implementation.

The Pinal Creek Trail corridor study is being conducted in conjunction with the Cobre Valley Comprehensive Transportation Study, to provide alternative modes of transportation to key educational and recreational areas in the Globe area. The purpose of the study is to review previous trail studies and recreation trail plans that will address the most critical current and future non-motorized modes of transportation within the study area. The concept of turning Pinal Creek, which runs through the City, into a functioning urban greenbelt, has long been the dream of several citizens of the community.

Pima County, in partnership with the National Park Service, has been an active participant in the development of a 70 mile segment of the trail. With the preparation of this Master Plan, Pima County has embarked on an active program to acquire the necessary rights-of-way and easements and to construct the Pima County segment of the national historic trail.

This study involved the review of 417 ADEQ LUST site files and compilation of relevant data from 323 of these sites into an electronic database. It also involved the collection and analysis of over 700 supplemental groundwater samples, the assessment of aquifer flow properties from 32 wells at 11 sites, and more detailed characterization at six LUST sites representative of a range of conditions at AZ LUST facilities. In addition, over 300 groundwater level measurements were performed and 175 monitoring wells were re-surveyed in order to assess errors in standard practice and their impact on groundwater flow direction determination. An empirical analysis of groundwater impacts at AZ LUST sites was conducted using these data sets, with emphasis on identifying relationships between site conditions (e.g., geology, depth-to-groundwater, etc.) and groundwater impacts. Finally, a combined theoretical-spatial (GIS) analysis was performed to identify LUST scenarios posing the greatest threats to use of groundwater resources.

In March 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested information on efforts to monitor and protect children from exposure to lead in drinking water at schools. The Arizona Department of Health Services reviewed the state lead poisoning registry, and analyzed drinking water samples from 45 randomly selected schools. The Office of Environmental Health provided this consultation to help document our findings and supplement our response to the EPA. This work was also undertaken to help provide useful information should hazardous waste sites be discovered in the future near these schools. We also wanted to apply the ATSDR health assessment process in support of state and federal efforts to protect the health of children.