[ADEQ Media] ADEQ Director Owens Awards $168, 442 Grant to Audubon Arizona to Support Rio Salado Center and Help Improve Water Quality in Phoenix

[media@lists.azdeq.gov]

ADEQ Director Owens Awards $168,442 Grant to Audubon Arizona to Support
Rio Salado Center and Help Improve Water Quality in Phoenix

PHOENIX (June 25, 2008) - Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Director Steve Owens announced today that ADEQ is awarding a $168,442
grant to Audubon Arizona to support the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado
Audubon Center and help improve water quality in Phoenix through public
education.  

"Audubon Arizona is doing a spectacular job preserving the Rio Salado
area and educating people about the importance of the river, the
wetlands and the habitat there," Director Owens said.  "Because the
Center is located on the 600-acre Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area,
it provides a perfect setting for city residents to learn about surface
water, and we are very pleased to support this important effort."

The project will encourage residents in South Phoenix and Central
Phoenix to take steps to reduce water pollution through means such as
limiting use of fertilizer, storing chemicals appropriately to reduce
runoff, properly disposing of pet waste, and replacing impenetrable
surfaces with more porous materials where possible.  

During the two-year grant period, about 7,000 people are expected to
participate in the program, which will be conducted at the Nina Mason
Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center, 2439 S. Central Ave. The center is
located on the banks of the Salt River just a mile south of downtown
Phoenix. 

"Everyone should visit the center and learn about the importance of
protecting this special local resource," Owens said.

In addition to paying for printed educational material, the ADEQ grant
will enable Audubon Arizona to conduct educational programs and
self-guided walks through the center's two acres of wetland along the
Rio Salado area, erect informative signage along the pathways; provide;
a "water quality backpack" with materials for simple water quality
experiments; and initiate presentations on water quality by naturalists
and trained volunteers.

The grant is funded with federal dollars provided to ADEQ under the
Clean Water Act.

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News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
communications@azdeq.gov.

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