Council approves two water‑education and audit agreements with University of Arizona and NAU

Flagstaff City Council on Oct. 21 approved two intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) to support water education and conservation work: one with the University of Arizona chapter of Project WET to continue fourth‑grade education and school outreach, and a second with Northern Arizona University (NAU) to formalize routine water fixture audits and minor in‑building retrofits.

Tamara Lawless, Water Conservation Program Manager, explained that the Project WET IGA is a five‑year renewal of an existing agreement to continue fourth‑grade water festivals and school outreach; staff said the renewal streamlines billing procedures.

For NAU, Lawless said Water Conservation staff have been auditing and retrofitting fixtures on campus for more than a year and the IGA formalizes that work and provides free minor fixture replacements for campus buildings; larger capital items remain the university’s responsibility.

Council action and votes

Council adopted Resolution 2025‑59 approving the Project WET IGA by unanimous vote. For the NAU IGA (Resolution 2025‑60), the council adopted the agreement but the city clerk recorded a 6–1 vote with Council Member Matthews voting against the NAU agreement; Matthews said she supports audits broadly but opposed using city conservation funds for the NAU arrangement.

Program details and next steps

Staff estimated the annual cost for routine NAU fixture replacements has been about $8,000 in recent activity and said they expect to finish auditing all NAU buildings in 2026; staff also agreed to follow up on whether NAU’s student outreach and education programs are active and to include follow‑up on longer‑term repairs in future check‑ins.

Ending

Both agreements were presented as routine conservation partnerships: Project WET continues school outreach, and the NAU IGA formalizes an ongoing, city‑provided audit and minor retrofit service for the university’s buildings.