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.

The Arizona Water Banking Authority was created in 1996 to store the unused portion of Arizona’s annual allocation of the Colorado River. By storing this unused water the AWBA secures a dependable water supply necessary to ensure the state’s long-term prosperity. The plan is intended to govern the operations of the AWBA over the course of the entire calendar year.

The Arizona Water Banking Authority was created in 1996 to store the unused portion of Arizona’s annual allocation of Colorado River water. Until the AWBA was created, Arizona had not fully utilized its 2.8 million acre-foot allocation of Colorado River water and the state’s leaders recognized that leaving a portion of Arizona’s allocation in the river was a lost opportunity. The AWBA was created to provide assurances that water users within the state had secure, long-term water supplies.

The Division of Adult Education in the Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona Adult Literacy and Technology Resource Center contracted with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy to develop an evaluation system for Arizona's adult education program. During phase I, the institute analyzed existing program data on Arizona's adult education providers. Interviews were conducted in January and February 1997 of 379 current and past program participants; they were done in English or Spanish, as appropriate. Interviewees were asked 10 questions about reasons for entering the program, amount of time spent in the program, and feelings about what the program did or did not help them accomplish. Past participants were asked an additional question about their reasons for leaving the program. Findings indicated that over 90 percent of interviewees felt their adult education experiences had met their needs and been positive overall. The proportions of participants who mentioned having entered with a specific goal, e.g., preparing to take the General Educational Development tests or to get a job, were closely aligned with the proportions who said their participation in the program had helped them reach that particular goal. More than one-quarter of program participants in 1996 showed improvement on three indicators that suggested they were becoming more self-sufficient: moving off public assistance, gaining employment, and maintaining or improving their job situation. (Appendixes contain 10 references, 3 data tables, and interview forms.)

In preparation for new federal legislation that promotes unprecedented levels of comprehensive planning and service integration at state and local levels, an analysis of state issues relevant to comprehensive service delivery is necessary. This paper examines such state issues, with a focus on Arizona's at-risk population, and presents a framework for comprehensive service delivery. It provides the rationale for such service delivery, summarizes the literature on research-based practices, illustrates district approaches to comprehensive service delivery, and sets forth guidelines for developing a comprehensive plan. System components of an effective plan are discussed in detail--student education, parent/family involvement, social/economic services, health services, and professional development. Five general principles underlie success: philosophy, people, processes, promising practices, and partners. Recommendations for developing comprehensive service delivery programs include the following: (1) build on existing information; (2) consolidate knowledge; and (3) think long-term. Contains 11 figures and over 250 references. Appendices contain information on Arizona practitioners' views and an illustration of a side-by-side program analysis.

Arizona's Serve-America program, administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), began in fiscal year 1992-93 under the auspices of the National and Community Service Act of 1990. Serve-America links community service projects with schools and youths in grades K-12. This second annual report documents the second year of project implementation and updates the policy context in which programs are operating. It focuses on 15 sites--including both schools and community-based organizations--funded to implement community service programs during 1993-94. A pre- and post-test study investigated the relationship between "at-riskness" and "connectedness to the community." Findings indicate that the projects made considerable progress toward accomplishing proposed goals and resulted in positive outcomes for local communities and student volunteers, particularly those at risk. Some projects were more effective than others in positively influencing at-risk participants. The following recommendations are offered: (1) the ADE should continue to support community service programs; (2) the ADE should sponsor more technical assistance and evaluation training; (3) the state should expand training and assistance; and (4) further research about Arizona's effective community service projects is warranted.