This report examines several state and community programs from across the nation that are taking steps to improve the deployment of broadband telecommunications infrastructure to historically unserved or underserved areas. There are three general models for these programs. One scenario has seen states like Washington and Colorado act as aggregators of public sector demand for advanced telecommunications infrastructure and anchor tenants that purchase enough statewide service to create the demand required to get the private sector to invest the necessary resources to deliver capability to all parts of the state. A second scenario in states like Michigan, California, Vermont, and Maine relies on strong executive leadership from the governor and seeks to expand broadband deployment through creation of a state Broadband Authority with the legal power to collect funding through state Universal Service Funds. The Authority then makes grants or loans to commercial infrastructure providers or communities. The Authority also has the power to reform the processes governing access to publicly-controlled right-of-way. The third approach that has produced significant success in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Utah relies on a public-private partnership structured in the form of a state-chartered nonprofit corporation. These partnerships are then able to coordinate infrastructure expansion efforts and draw on both public and private resources.

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.