The Arizona Department of Transportation was authorized in 1996 to administer a State Infrastructure Bank under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. The Highway Expansion and Extension Loan Program (HELP) was established. The financial statements present only the funds comprising the Fund and are not intended to present fairly the financial position or results of operations of the Department.

The HELP program is meant to be a funding tool to accelerate needed highway projects throughout the state. Board Funding Obligations are an important part of the HELP capitalization and the current stress on the State's General Fund has impacted our ability to use BFOs as a funding source for new loans. Though $140 million of BFOs are authorized by statute to capitalize the HELP, the State Treasurer was required to call all outstanding BFOs in April 2009. Consequently, the State Transportation Board and the Department have suspended the HELP program given the uncertainty of a long term funding source.

This document and the Geographic Information System file that is now a part of the County library of over 1000 coverages, gives the scientific community access to mapping that better differentiates perennial, ephemeral and intermittent watercourses, and provides more comprehensive coverage of shallow groundwater sources. This data is significant because riparian habitat is one of the most important and least protected of the habitat types in Pima County.

The purpose of this project was to compile information on groundwater withdrawals and surface water diversions near perennial streams, intermittent streams, and shallow groundwater areas previously identified by PAG for the SDCP. The information could be used to prioritize future investigations of potential impacts of these withdrawals and diversions on riparian and aquatic habitats for the SDCP.

Conducted for the Pima County Flood Control District by the Pima Association of Governments in order to determine if stormflows on the Cienega Creek have changed over time when analyzed in terms of frequency, volume, and seasonallity. In a data search that extends back to the 1950s, they were able to determine the daily mean flow, the flows over base, and the annual peak flows of the Cienega Creek.

Provides basic information about the source of surface water in Cienega Creek at the downstream end of the natural preserve, which will contribute to efforts to conceptualize and implement effective land management proposals for the SDCP. Study results indicate that the surface flow or subflow from Agua Verde Creek do not significantly influence the water in the Cienega Creek.

One goal of the SDCP was to obtain a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act to enable incidental take of species protected by the ESA in the course of development in Pima County. This report provides the county with the framework to go forward and further its analysis of the final funding costs for a Section 10 Permit.