GTAZ Welcomes Climate Crisis IVLP Group

Last week, GTAZ welcomed a delegation focused on Climate, traveling through the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Participants hailed from Bahrain, Egypt, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. This program focused on how various stakeholders can work together to protect future generations from climate disasters, applying a regional lens to North Africa and the Near East. While the group visited our local partners in Arizona, they also explored how to:

Create a community of experts on climate change and promote opportunities for partnership and collaboration.
Provide a platform to share approaches to drive local/national policy or innovate solutions to the climate crisis.
Showcase the broad array of U.S. public and private sector work on mitigating climate change.

Arizona’s Climate Crisis Policies and Plans

*Climate Crisis Delegates touring the 91st Ave Wastewater Treatment Plant*

During the group’s time in Greater Phoenix, they visited the 91st Ave Wastewater Treatment Plant and Tres Rios Environmental Restoration Project to meet with Deputy Director for Phoenix Wastewater Treatment, Stuart Dalbey. Dalbey shared the brief history of the area, the construction of Tres Rios, and how municipalities and the surrounding riparian habitat benefit from the project today. The group received the opportunity to tour parts of the treatment plant as well as the wetlands to understand the challenges of flood control and habitat restoration in the area.

The learning continued with a visit to the Salt River Project (SRP) where delegates explored SRP’s Heritage Center, led by Lorianne Taitano, and then met with Tom Cooper, Director of Strategic Planning and Economic Development at SRP, to learn more about SRP’s 2035 sustainability goals, its planning around alternative energies, and collaborations with various stakeholders around Arizona’s water, including how the health of our northern forests deeply affect water supplies.

*Tom Cooper, Director of Strategic Planning and Economic Development, presenting SRP’s 2035 sustainability goals*

Tom shared details about SRP’s 2035 sustainability plans focused on the following main five pillars:

*Climate Crisis delegates in front of Central Arizona Project building*

The group concluded their professional agenda in Phoenix with a visit the Central Arizona Project and met with Mr. Orestes Morfin, CAP Senior Planning Analyst, and Mr. Marcus Shapiro, Water Systems Supervisor. Mr. Morfin provided an overview of how CAP manages its canal system and regulates water coming from the Colorado River.

Mr. Shapiro gave the group a tour of the Control Center, which is manned 24/7 by operators where they can remotely operate pump plants, check structures, and turnouts throughout the entire system. Nearly eight billion gallons of water are managed from the CAP Control Center.

Flagstaff & the Grand Canyon

The group traveled to Flagstaff where they visited the Native American Cultural Center at Northern Arizona University’s campus for a meeting with Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP). There they met with Mr. Mehrdad Khatibi, Mr. Ron Lee, and Ms. Ora Marek-Martinez to learn about how ITEP works with Northern Arizona University, various federal, state and local governments, and the private sector to support environmental protection of Native American natural resources.

They then enjoyed a roundtable discussion over lunch with students and faculty of NAU’s Climate Science and Solutions Master’s Program at NAU’s International Pavilion to discuss various concerns, solutions and ideas around climate and sustainability.

The group also had the opportunity to explore Downtown Flagstaff after a visit to the Flagstaff Visitor Center where they were welcomed by Ms. Jessica Young of Discover Flagstaff. She shared a brief history of Flagstaff and suggestions of things to do in the area.

The following day, the group enjoyed a special visit to The Grand Canyon where they met with park staff to learn about the park’s efforts around climate change and sustainability, how climate change has affected the park, and more specifically, discuss the park’s risk management and disaster resilient infrastructure.

Connecting with Arizona’s People

Home Hospitality Host, Jacob Weinberg, and Climate Crisis Delegates enjoying dinner at Jacob’s home

While industry-focused meetings are the core of our IVLP visits, GTAZ also presents the opportunity to build genuine relationships between Arizona’s community and international visitors with Home Hospitality visits. The group was kindly hosted by home hospitality hosts Peggy Parker-Anderies and Jacob Weinberg for dinner where everyone got the chance to connect over food and conversations.

GTAZ Welcomes Climate Crisis IVLP Group