Aquatic nuisance species (ANS) represent a growing problem in Arizona that is receiving little funding attention. With the objective of addressing this problem in a coordinated manner between state and federal agencies, the task of writing the Arizona State Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan was undertaken, this process and its results will be discussed. Section 1204 of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-646), provides opportunity for federal cost-share upon adoption of a state management plan. Methodology included gathering input towards reworking an early draft of the plan at a number of meetings, including the Lower Colorado Giant Salvinia Task Force, the Salvinia molesta National Convention, and Southwest Vegetation Management Association, and researching the format and process used in writing plans recently adopted in other states. Developments in management needs were incorporated, several of the plan's tasks were initiated and the plan was presented to agency members for comments and review. The resulting management plan is now ready to be signed into action, requiring approval by the state governor as a final step towards providing additional funds to fight ANS.

Fecal pollution from nonpoint and point sources were evaluated in a constructed wetland in Tolleson, Arizona. Escherichia coli blooms in the wetland effluent were attributed to both human and animal sources. Antibiotic resistance profiling and biochemical fingerprinting was performed on 325 Escherichia coli isolates collected from key points in the wetlands and the avian population. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to interpret the data for samples collected on October 3, 2000, December 12, 2000 and January 16, 2001. It was found that the passerine population was the major source of the Escherichia coli in the water samples collected in the wetlands on October 3, 2000 and December 12, 2000, whereas the regrowth in the treated municipal wastewater was the main source in January 16, 2001. In addition, 77 percent of the isolates from the human population were multiple antibiotic resistant to two or more antibiotics, with the highest resistance to ampicillin (50.7%), carbenicillin (39.4%), cephalothin (81.7%), streptomycin (49.0%) and sulfisoxazole (32.4%).

The Big Burro Mountains in southwest New Mexico has been undergoing a decrease in herbaceous vegetation and an increase in woody vegetation. Through numerous unnamed ephemeral drainages this area contributes a significant amount of sediment into Mangas Creek, which is a tributary of the Gila River. In 2004, a prescribed burn was conducted to remove the woody vegetation and encourage the growth of herbaceous cover vegetation to reduce the amount of hillslope erosion. The Hillslope Erosion Model was utilized to predict sediment yield occurring in both a burned area and a nearby unburned area. Erosion bridges were established onsite to measure sediment yield. A data logging rain gauge was also located at the monitoring site to measure rainfall duration and intensity. Preliminary data indicates that the Hillslope Erosion Model was found to be a reliable tool for predicting hillslope erosion following rain events greater than one inch.

A study was conducted in Maricopa, AZ over three field cropping seasons from December 2001 through April 2003 in order to determine the effects of fish effluent irrigations on field crops and to determine the sustainability of nutrient recycling through an integrative aquaculture-agriculture system. Treatments were designed to compare current fertilization and irrigation methods to possible integrative strategies in order to conserve natural resources. The discharged outflow from two sources of irrigation water, (well water and effluent from a fish pond/reservoir), were tested throughout the duration of the study. Maricopa's NO3-rich well water, was consistently found to contain slightly higher total N concentrations than the fish effluent, which contained higher NH4, organic N, and PO4 concentrations. Unfavorable spatial distribution of pond sludges (containing significantly higher amounts of N and P than well water) resulted in the remainder of large stores of nutrients along the pond bottom. Because a nutrient sink was created within these pond reservoirs, fish effluent irrigations were found to have no significant effect on cotton or barley yields. Vegetative plant growth, however, was significantly affected in several instances, probably by the slow, yet advantageous process of organic matter degradation near soil surfaces. Any significant increases in vegetative growth were found only in effluent-irrigated plots and occurred later in crop seasons. Analysis of the pond sludge confirmed that if pond sediments could be more efficiently removed and applied to land, the benefits from such an integrative system could have great ecological and financial benefits (i.e. decreasing chemical fertilizer use, using water to a greater potential, producing an extra crop of fish, and having lower fertilization costs).