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SRP’s Precedent-Setting Watershed Management Initiative
Arizona forest before and after thinning.
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iverting, storing, and delivering water is the main trade of a major water supplier like the Salt River Project (SRP). But to successfully carry out that mission, it must pay attention to a much wider landscape than that encompassed by its infrastructure and service area. All water comes from somewhere, and that means that SRP has a direct interest in the tracts of forest and wilderness land, much of which is federally owned, that its water flows through on the way to its reservoirs. One challenge is forest management. Without it, forests become unhealthy and overgrown and are susceptible to devastating wildfires that send ash and debris into SRP’s system. In this interview, Elvy Barton, a senior water policy analyst at SRP, and Bruce Hallin, SRP’s director of water supply, tell Municipal Water Leader about SRP’s partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the State of Arizona and its Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI).
Endangered Species Act. Last year, I came over to the water resources department, where I’ve been focusing on forest restoration issues and water supply policy.
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your backgrounds and how you came to be in your current positions.
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about the watershed that provides water to SRP.
12 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
Elvy Barton: There are three watersheds that flow into SRP’s seven reservoirs: the Salt River watershed, the Verde River watershed, and the East Clear Creek watershed. They encompass about 8.3 million acres of land in northern, central, and eastern Arizona. Four of our reservoirs are filled by the Salt River; two by the Verde River; and one is filled from the East Clear Creek Watershed, which then flows into the Verde River. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, SRP lobbied Congress to set aside the lands above our water service
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SRP.
Elvy Barton: My career started in the Arizona House of Representatives, were I was a senior policy analyst for 10 years, working on natural resources, water, and environmental policy issues for the Democratic caucus. In 2015, I came over to SRP as a senior policy analyst for environmental issues and worked on a range of policies related to the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the
Bruce Hallin: I’ve been at SRP for close to 30 years. I have a varied background in water supply planning, water resource management, water adjudication, water supply acquisition, business development, water resource development, and water strategy. Most recently, I have also been assisting in the area of forest restoration, forest health, and watershed health. In addition to that, I spent some time on the power side of the business doing power resource planning and corporate planning strategy development. I was also in charge of our land acquisitions group, so I did some real estate development on the power side of the business. Also, I do a lot of lobbying and legislative briefings. We also all work together on policy and policy development.
