Sonoran Institute and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy have launched a new joint program… Resilient Communities and Watersheds was created to address a fundamental lack of integration between land use planning and water… MORE ›
DownloadUpdated March 2024 Growing Water Smart: Integrated Water and Land Use Planning Workshop The Land and Water Challenge: California is navigating significant uncertainty around water availability, requiring local jurisdictions to fundamentally rethink water use… MORE ›
Updated August 2023 Apply for Technical Assistance (closed) The Sonoran Institute and the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy are now accepting proposals from California Growing Water Smart Workshop participants for follow-up… MORE ›
The following resources have been developed to further support Growing Water Smart teams with their integrated water and land use action plans. A resource list of additional reports, tools, and policy examples on… MORE ›
The Land and Water Challenge in the San Luis Valley The Rio Grande Basin faces significant water challenges, including diminishing water supplies, overuse of groundwater, and the threat of water exportation. While much… MORE ›
The following resources have been developed to further support Growing Water Smart teams with their integrated water and land use action plans. A memorandum on the local authority to integrate water and land… MORE ›
There is a common misperception in Arizona that counties, cities, and towns have little to no authority to manage local water resources. However, local jurisdictions already possess a broad set of authorities for… MORE ›
DownloadUpdated April 2023 Apply for Technical Assistance The Sonoran Institute and the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy are now accepting proposals from Arizona Growing Water Smart workshop participants for follow-up technical… MORE ›
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Updated October 2023 DOWNLOAD THE PDF Growing Water Smart: Integrated Water and Land Use Planning Workshop Location: Phoenix, AZ Date: January 22-24, 2024 Eligibility: Arizona counties and municipalities Costs: The workshop is free. Participants… MORE ›
DownloadWater allocation policies are an exciting new opportunity to manage commercial, industrial and institutional water demand. The policy approach was pioneered in Chandler, Arizona, and is now seen in various forms across the… MORE ›
Tapping into Drought Resilience for Colorado River Basin Water Leaders June 29, 2021 | 9:00am – 10:30 (AZ) / 10:00am-12:30pm (CO) Special Workshop for AZ and CO Growing Water Smart Alumni Webinar Recording… MORE ›
This article from the Spring 2021 Water Resources IMPACT Magazine features two of our Arizona Growing Water Smart teams and their accomplishments following the workshop. Download this article Read the full issue
Communities in Colorado committed to integrated water and land use initiatives can apply. Selected applicants will receive 12-months of assistance in selecting and implementing metrics, data analysis, and selecting strategies to reach their… MORE ›
THE Application Period is OPEN! The Sonoran Institute is seeking communities in Colorado that are interested in selecting, calculating, and applying metrics to track the extent and impact of integrating water-saving actions into… MORE ›
Updated February 2024 Apply for Technical Assistance The Sonoran Institute and the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy are now accepting proposals from Colorado Growing Water Smart Workshop participants for follow-up technical… MORE ›
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Does your community include water-saving strategies in your land use plans and policies? Join us to learn about a standard set of metrics that communities can use to track the progress towards and… MORE ›
Learn More Sonoran Institute and the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy are partnering with Local Government Commission to develop a California-tailored Growing Water Smart program. We are seeking expressions of interest… MORE ›
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Updated June 6, 2023 DOWNLOAD THE RFP Growing Water Smart: Integrated Water and Land Use Planning Workshop The Land and Water Challenge: Colorado is navigating significant uncertainty around water availability, requiring local jurisdictions to… MORE ›
Sonoran Institute Growing Water Smart staff reveal and discuss the findings of Sonoran Institute’s Growing Water Smart Developer Dialogue with AZ ULI where members identified the barriers developers face in adopting best practices… MORE ›
Sonoran institute facilitates a discussion with developers and landscape architects to explore how the planning processes could better integrate water resources in Arizona’s communities. We uncover pitfalls, misconceptions, and opportunity areas. (Recorded May… MORE ›
Sonoran Institute offers an introduction to the Growing Water Smart (GWS) program, tools for integrating land use and water, successful case studies and reflection from past participants and what’s in their action plans… MORE ›
The Growing Water Smart Community Self-Assessment is designed to bring your community leaders up to speed on current conditions, policies, and practices in place. This assessment is completed by communities prior to the… MORE ›
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In this six-part webinar, Jeremy Stapleton breaks down the Exploratory Scenario Planning methods and provides several case studies of its application at various scales and processes, so that you can consider implementing this… MORE ›
Recorded on April 29th, 2020, Sonoran Institute reports the preliminary findings of our Growing Water Smart developer discussion, where we asked the development community to share their insights on local government process and… MORE ›
Updated March 2022 The Growing Water Smart Community Self-Assessment is designed to bring your community leaders up to speed on current conditions, policies, and practices in place. This assessment is completed by communities… MORE ›
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Tailored for California, this guide lays a foundation for how leaders can integrate water and land use planning, mitigate water demand and address issues of uncertainty and community resilience. (Updated November 2020)
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Measure the progress you’re making in integrating water and land use planning and the Impacts of those actions so you can make data-informed decisions on how to intentionally adapt. This guidebook recommends common… MORE ›
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In this webinar, recorded in June 2020, the interdisciplinary team members from Jefferson County, CO, describe two-years of progress in their community since participating in our September 2018 Growing Water Smart workshop. They… MORE ›
Updated January 2024 Tailored for Arizona, the Growing Water Smart Water-Land Use Guidebook lays a foundation for how leaders can integrate water and land use planning, mitigate water demand, and address issues of… MORE ›
DownloadStu Feinglas, Senior Water Resources Analyst at the City of Westminster, will share steps taken towards increasing Westminster’s water resilience. Kevin Reidy, Water Conservation Technical Specialist at the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and… MORE ›
Growing Water Smart Series Part 3 of 3: (May 24, 2018) Land use planning and water resource management are the foundation to resilient communities, but the topics can be complex and technical. How… MORE ›
Growing Water Smart Series Part 2 of 3: (May 17, 2018) Land use planning and water resource management are highly connected, yet often developed separately. By linking these two fields, a community can… MORE ›
Stu Feinglas, Senior Water Resources Analyst at the City of Westminster, will share steps taken towards increasing Westminster’s water resilience. Kevin Reidy, Water Conservation Technical Specialist at the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and… MORE ›
The Growing Water Smart Community Self-Assessment is designed to bring your community leaders up to speed on current conditions, policies and practices in place. This assessment is completed by communities prior to the… MORE ›
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(Updated May 2023) Tailored for Colorado and regularly updated, this guide lays a foundation for how leaders can integrate water and land use planning to mitigate water demand and address issues of uncertainty… MORE ›
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How can we plan for a future we can’t predict? Through Exploratory Scenario Planning, Resilient Communities and Watersheds helps communities in the Intermountain West create long-term plans that are effective across a range… MORE ›
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The Resilient Communities Starter Kit is a guide for communities who are ready to build resilience to the impacts of climate change but are looking for a place to begin. Tailored for communities… MORE ›
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This report examines the current state of scenario planning, the promise of scenario planning tools to help us prepare for the future, the challenges to expanding their use, and their potential to open… MORE ›
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The paper highlights how local planners could implement land use–related practices and policies to take action against climate change impacts in their communities. Building on that research, this report offers tools and case… MORE ›
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