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Mohave County task force weighs drought metrics, monitoring access and flood projects
Summary
Task force heard a University of Arizona researcher outline drought metrics and recommended monthly reports tied to local monitoring; members discussed data access, planned monitoring wells, the Feldspar Detention Basin and public outreach; the group approved previous meeting minutes.
The Mohave County Sustainability and Drought Contingency Plan Task Force on Wednesday heard a data-focused presentation on drought metrics and monitoring needs and approved minutes from its prior meeting.
Andrew Bierschke, a public member and researcher with the University of Arizona, told the task force “we're in a drought. I don't know if that's a surprise to anybody,” and described why commonly used products such as the U.S. Drought Monitor and standard indices may misrepresent conditions in Arizona. He recommended a simplified set of locally calibrated metrics, regular monthly climate reports and clearer thresholds tied to management actions.
Bierschke said the U.S. Drought Monitor is a “ubiquitous tool” but can be misleading in Arizona because of bimodal precipitation and short, intense rains that skew indices. He recommended use of indices such as the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) depending on local objectives, and suggested splitting Mohave County into smaller reporting areas so metrics reflect Upper and Lower Mohave County conditions. He also proposed automated monthly reports produced from station and remote-sensing data to track drought and forage production.
Task force members focused on data access and monitoring. Randy Gremlich, Flood Control District engineer, said the county operates more than 200 precipitation-monitoring stations and catch basins and that the data should be publicly accessible. He also described catchment networks and soil moisture probes and agreed to help ensure researchers can get access to those records. Bierschke said some soil-probe data are behind a firewall and that access would improve report products.
Members discussed severe short-duration events and measurement limits. Gremlich and others pointed to a recent Meadview event — more than 4 inches of rain in roughly three hours — described in the meeting as a roughly 1-in-1,000-year event; Bierschke cautioned that intense storms often generate runoff that does not infiltrate shallow soil probes, complicating soil-moisture records.
Flood control projects and groundwater monitoring were also discussed. Randy Gremlich said the county board has approved the Feldspar Detention Basin; construction is expected to begin after the Bureau of Land Management issues a final clearance on the project’s environmental assessment, with work expected to start in November and construction taking an estimated six to eight months. Scott Holtree, Mohave County Development Services director, and Gremlich said three groundwater monitoring wells are planned — sited near the airport, Valley Vista and an intermediate location — with construction slated to begin in November and monitoring equipment to be provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Public outreach and mitigation drew comments during the meeting’s public comment period. Wayne Holland, who identified himself with the Big Sandy Conservation District, urged more public education, demonstration projects and distribution of the county’s Low Impact Development guide so residents can take mitigation actions. He said, “gathering data is fine, but what are we doing with that data and get the people involved in mitigating the drought and the flooding because there's a whole lot more people than we have government here.”
Other policy and operational concerns included drainage from the Interstate 40 construction. A member noted the state carried out hydrology for the I-40 project and cited state law limiting changes to drainage patterns; task force members said they would continue to monitor local impacts near low-lying areas adjacent to the freeway, the hospital and the golf course.
Administrative action: David Dale, a public member, moved to accept the task force’s August 20 and September minutes; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.
Looking ahead, the task force tentatively scheduled its next meeting for Wednesday, Nov. 19, and asked consultants who conducted recent stakeholder interviews to present findings at a future meeting. Members directed staff and the Flood Control District to help researchers obtain monitoring-station and soil-moisture data for monthly drought reporting and to coordinate on outreach materials.
The meeting concluded with no further formal votes recorded.
