Desert Communities Research Articles

Phenology as a basis for management of exotic annual plants in desert invasions

Summary 1. Exotic annual plants are an increasingly important ecological issue and new, creative approaches to management are required. In desert ecosystems of the southwestern USA, the forbs Brassica tournefortii, Erodium cicutarium and Schismus spp. dominate and alter native annual communities. Hand weeding B. tournefortii is currently the most common control method employed, but weeding is inadequate and expensive for managing large‐scale invasions. New methods must be developed to conserve and restore desert ecosystems. 2. Exotic annuals in desert systems have rapid germination and phenology compared to natives, indicating that a window for selective control of exotic annuals may occur immediately after exotic seedling emergence. We tested the role of timing in control methods by comparing a cotyledon‐stage glyphosate application to a bolting‐stage application and to hand weeding B. tournefortii, plus an untreated check. Treatments were tested at two sites dominated by either exotic or native annuals and followed for 2 years; early application was repeated the second year. Cover and richness were evaluated during seedling and peak flowering stages underneath and between shrubs. 3. Early glyphosate application did not affect native cover, but did reduce exotic cover. Late herbicide negatively impacted both exotics and natives. Natives had little positive response, and then only through hand weeding under shrubs, but the same treatment caused an increase in the exotic E. cicutarium. 4. Synthesis and applications. The rapid phenology of exotic annuals may be exploited to control exotics while minimizing impacts on native plants in desert communities. This approach may be useful for other invasions in other ecosystems by species with rapid, early germination, or may act as a supplement to improve the efficacy of existing management regimes.

Aboriginal Music and Passion: Interculturality and Difference in Australian Desert Towns

Aboriginal country, rock and reggae music makers in Central Australian desert communities often portray performances in regional white towns as desirable and rewarding occasions for engagements with a non-indigenous ‘mainstream’. Aboriginal popular music is also often understood as a tool for a marginalised minority to ‘talk back’ to non-Aboriginal powers, or for ‘sharing culture’ to achieve greater cross-cultural understanding. This article investigates what actually takes place at local Aboriginal music events in the town of Alice Springs. It shows how they, in fact, become powerful occasions for enacting certain blackfella forms of sociability that reinforce relations of estrangement between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal people and domains. Addressing the question how to account for the lived experience of racial and cultural formations without resorting to notions of bounded or pre-existing categories, the author proposes an approach to difference as relational at the outset that can accommodate multiple dimensions and inherent contradictions of intercultural lives.

Aboveground biomass in three Sonoran Desert communities: Variability within and among sites using replicated plot harvesting

Total aboveground biomass (TAGB) values are reported for the first time for the Sonoran Desert. Harvesting of replicated plots in three sites differing in geomorphology and vegetation structure allowed the statistical measurement of spatial variability within and among sites. Linear, power log-transformed, and power non-linear regressions were used to relate TAGB with plant metrics. Canopy volume explained the largest proportion of TAGB variance ( r 2 = 0.74–0.94) in the three models. All models were highly significant, but the non-linear was more robust, had a better distribution of residuals, and did not require data back-transforming, allowing the accurate estimation of biomass at the plot level using simple measurements of vegetation. TAGB ranged from 6.99 Mg ha −1 (Plains) to 29.24 Mg ha −1 (Arroyos) in the desertscrub, and was intermediate in the thornscrub (Hillsides: 13.03 Mg ha −1). Within-site variability of TAGB was highest in the Plains and lowest in the Hillsides. The weighted mean AGB was 16 Mg ha −1. Assuming a 1:1 root:shoot ratio, average total biomass could be 32 Mg ha −1. This remarkable value sets the Sonoran Desert as a potential reservoir of up to 4.4% of the total world deserts plant biomass in less than 1% of the deserts’ global area.

How extensive is the effect of modern farming on bird communities in a sand dune desert?

Bird community structure and diversity measures in sand dune habitats far from and close to modern farms in Wadi Araba, south-west Jordan, were compared using 52 line transects for breeding birds and habitat variables. A change in the bird community of sand dunes surrounding farming projects was measured to a distance of 1 km, but could neither be related to changes in habitat structure nor to the activity of op- portunistic predators (Red Fox) as these did not vary significantly between the two samples. The farms included lines of trees and offered a constant source of water, which attracted a variety of opportunistic species, thus increasing bird diversity and total bird abundances. The absence of characteristic ground-dwelling species of open sand dune habitats in the structurally intact sand dunes surrounding farms was likely to be the result of localized, but effectively far-reaching habitat modification (farms acting as barriers) and/or competition with some of the opportunistic species, which were common around farms.

Cryptic microbial communities in Antarctic deserts

The Antarctic Dry Valleys, situated in the Ross Sea region of Eastern Antarctica, are often referred to as one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Although this statement is subject to some argument, largely surrounding the issue of what “extreme” actually means, there is no arguing that the combination of macroenvironmental and microenvironmental conditions to which organisms living in the Antarctic Dry Valleys are exposed represent a severe threat to organismal survival. The combination of extreme cold and desiccation, high soil salinity, low nutrient levels, high summer UV radiation levels, and physical instability caused by strong katabatic winds all contribute to the visual appearance of a sterile environment (1–3).

Plant Community Water Use and Invasibility of Semi-Arid Shrublands by Woody Species in Southern California

Soil moisture is a key limiting resource in arid and semi-arid environments for woody shrub species. We assessed if three arid communities differed in their level of dry season soil moisture content and if the dominant species in these communities differed in their ability to use soil moisture. Water potential of all of the dominant woody plant species occurring in chaparral, coastal sage, and Mojave Desert communities and soil moisture content of these sites were measured seasonally. Species occurring in the Mojave Desert exhibited the most negative water potentials while the coastal sage community displayed the least negative water potentials. Dry season volumetric soil moisture content of the Mojave Desert site was lowest (7%), the chaparral site was intermediate (10%), and the coastal sage scrub site had the moistest dry season soil (20%). These moisture differences developed even though the coastal sage and chaparral communities both received the same annual rainfall and had similar soil characteristics. Of the three communities, the coastal sage community may be particularly susceptible to invasion by woody shrub species because its soil moisture content would allow for germination and persistence of a wider range of potential invaders. Current differences among sites in numbers of non-native woody species are consistent with predicted differences in susceptibility to non-native species based on community water use and dry seasonal soil moisture.

Divine Learning: The Traditional Islamic Scholarship of Timbuktu, Mali

Timbuktu, houses, Muslim of what world, the used Mali: remains to the it's be seeds still a of center there, an of ancient Timbuktu's of down scholarship system sandy fabled alleys of renowned learning, manuscript and inside throughout the libraries, foundation mud-brick and the houses, the remains of an ancient system of learning, the foundation of what used to be a center of scholarship renowned throughout the Muslim ld, the seed of Timbuktu's fabled manuscript librari s, and in truth, the very soul of this ancient town's cultural identity the traditional Islamic scholarship of Timbuktu. Timbuktu was a world center of Islamic learning from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries. The town still contains an estimated 100,000 ancient manuscripts, and over the last ten years, the Malian government and private individuals have been working with foreign donors to properly house, catalog, and restore this scholarly heritage. This fantastic story has entered the international press and spread the mythic image of Timbuktu into the twenty-first century. But in Timbuktu, the manuscripts are not simply inert pieces of paper, there only to be cataloged, scanned, and forgotten again as they are placed upon shelves in climate-controlled rooms; they are part of a living tradition of scholarship that has existed in West Africa since at least the twelfth century. I spent a year in Timbuktu photographing what remains of this ancient but enduring tradition of learning. My work was supported by a Fulbright Student Islamic Civilizations Grant (2006-2007). Although I am a non-Muslim American woman, I was welcomed into this foreign, male-dominated, tightly knit desert community. The photographs I created illuminate the more subtle qualities of human interaction and intelligence. They resulted from in-depth

Fuel wood consumption pattern of tribal communities in cold desert of the Lahaul valley, North-Western Himalaya, India

Abstract Fuel wood is the primary source of energy in rural areas of the Himalaya. Lack of resources, extremely low temperature and xeric climatic conditions of the study region (Khoksar – 3200 m, Jahlma – 3000 m, Hinsa – 2700 m and Kuthar – 2600 m) of cold desert of the Lahaul valley has led to serious deforestation due to excessive use of fuel wood in the past. On the basis of family sizes, fuel wood consumption was recorded less in large family as compared to small family. The fuel wood is used for various activities such as cooking, water heating, room heating, lighting and livestock rearing, etc. Fuel wood consumption was highest in high altitude villages as compared to low altitude villages irrespective of family size. Fuel wood consumption of 4.32 ± 0.99 kg/capita/day was highest at Khoksar for small family during winter season followed by the autumn (2.25 ± 0.15 kg/capita/day) and summer (1.38 ± 0.13 kg/capita/day). The labour energy expenditure for fuel wood collection was also highest for Khoksar (91.91 MJ/capita/year), followed by Hinsa (61.29 MJ/capita/year), Kuthar (52.01 MJ/capita/year) and Jahlma (51.89 MJ/capita/year), respectively. It was found that fuel wood consumption in the study region was influenced by the local cold climate and season of the year. The present information on fuel wood consumption pattern at different altitudes would be helpful in designing appropriate technologies to develop energy plantations in the region.

Trachoma, cataracts and uncorrected refractive error are still important contributors to visual morbidity in two remote indigenous communities of the Northern Territory, Australia.

To assess the contribution of trachoma, cataract and refractive error to visual morbidity among Indigenous adults living in two remote communities of the Northern Territory. Cross-sectional survey of all adults aged 40 and over within a desert and coastal community. Visual acuity, clinical signs of trachoma using the simplified WHO grading system and assessment of cataract through a non-dilated pupil. Two hundred and sixty individuals over the age of 40 years participated in the study. The prevalence of visual impairment (<6/12) was 17%. The prevalence of blindness (<3/60) was 2%, 40-fold higher than seen in an urban Australian population when adjusted for age. In total, 78% of adults who grew up in a desert community had trachomatous scarring compared with 26% of those who grew up in a coastal community (P < or = 0.001). In the desert community the prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis was 10% and corneal opacity was 6%. No trachomatous trichiasis or corneal opacity was seen in the coastal community. Trachoma, cataract and uncorrected refractive error remain significant contributors to visual morbidity in at least two remote indigenous communities. A wider survey is required to determine if these findings represent a more widespread pattern and existing eye care services may need to be re-assessed to determine the cause of this unmet need.

Holding men: Kanyirninpa and the health of Aboriginal men

Using conversations, stories and art, the author shows how Kimberley desert communities have a cultural value and relationship described as kanyirninpa or holding. McCoy uses examples from Australian Rules football, petrol sniffing and imprisonment to reveal the possibilities for lasting improvements to men's health based on kanyirninpa's expression of deep and enduring cultural values and relationships. While young Indigenous men's lives remain vulnerable in a rapidly changing world, the author believes that an understanding of kanyirninpa (one of the key values that has sustained Aboriginal desert life for centuries) may provide the hope of change and better health for all. It also offers insights for all who wish to 'grow up' their young people.

Solidarity Stories: An Oral History of the ILWU by Harvey Schwartz

and seasonal round unfolded in a landscape of rimrock and sage, and thedesert panorama from their Steens Mountain homestead encompassed a view greater than some New England states. Homesteading theAmerican West is often viewed as the rush to theGreat Plains in the years immediately after the Civil War. Less well known is the homestead era of the early twentiethcentury in the High Desert of eastern California and Nevada, eastern Oregon and southeastern Idaho. Even today,this isarguably themost remote and empty landscape in the United States outside ofAlaska. It is therefore not surprising that it still offered land and opportunity to Ben O'Keeffe and his family when they started their small sheep outfit on the southern slope of SteensMountain in 1930. McVicker's memories of her childhood are a valuable addition to the catalog of literature that chronicles the West's homestead era. At firstglance, the accounts of the chores to be done, of tending to livestock, and of the one room school and meager collection of build ings thatmade up the nearby community of Fields might seem to cover no new ground, but there is in factmuch new ground to be discovered here by readers. Child ofSteensMountain is a rare view of an Irish immigrant fatherand his familyper severing through isolation and adversitywith a self-sufficient drive thatwould do credit to settlers inColonial America but takesplace in theyears of theGreat Depression. Stories of the school children of Fields helping build a rock home for the school teacher and theO'Keeffe familyhauling their daily water a quarter of amile inbuckets are juxtaposed with family frustrationswith theTaylor Grazing Act and the challenges ofWorld War II gas rationing in a landscape of vast distances. The unique story resultingfrom the time frame of McVicker's account isenhanced byher vivid and affectionatedescriptions of the High Desert landscape and cast of characters that made up her childhood world; to paraphrase a famous movie line: "we aren't in Kansas anymore!" She describes the family's summer sheep camp inhigh aspen fringed meadows and lakesof the Steens aswell as the ancient playas of theAlvord Desert and Harney Basin. Visitors to theO'Keeffe home andmembers of the communities of Fields and Burns range from immigrant Irish and Basque herders to buckaroos, miners, Civilian Conservation Corps kids, and a few hardy fellow home steaders. Child ofSteens Mountain isan enjoyable and informativeview into the lives of one family and their desert community, living the final days of a way of life little changed from the region'snineteenth century frontierera, in the process of being changed foreverby themid twentiethcentury.Eileen O'Keeffe McVicker's personal perspective on this timeof transition on theOregon High Desert should be well received by thepublic interested in thehistory of the SteensMountain country. Itwould be a valuable tool for teacherswho seek toperson alize the experience of theGreat Depression in the region and an excellent companion for travelers exploring that corner of Oregon's outback. Robert G. Boyd High DesertMuseum SOLIDARITY STORIES:ANORAL HISTORY OF THE ILWU by Harvey Schwartz University ofWashington Press, Seattle, 2009. Photographs, notes, index. 352 pages. $50.00 cloth. $24.95 paper. Few unions have been as primary to the labor history of the West Coast as the International Longshoremen's andWarehousemen's Union (ILWU). One thinksof the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for radicalism and trag 638 OHQ vol. no, no. 4 edy, the InternationalWoodworkers Associa tion fortheorganization of a key sectorof the western economy, and lately, the teachers' and public employee unions forthedevelopment of realpolitical power on behalf of its workers. But no union compares to the ILWU forconsistent color and aggressiveness in the narrative of Pacific coast labor-management relationsof the twentieth century. Its foremost leader,Harry Bridges (1901-1990), stillbestrides the region's laborhistory,and theunion's violent coastwide strikeof 1934 still stands out as a landmark of industrial conflict in the West. For these reasons, thisbook on the ILWU by Harvey Schwartz, curator of the ILWU's own oral history collection, is important. Its titlespeaks toboth its strengthand weakness. Although ithas a clear organization with the narratives grouped by port, itis,like most oral histories, a collection of somewhat random reminiscences, as it in fact purports...

Community mobilisation for improved livelihoods through tree crop management in Niger

Effective natural resource management requires interrelated technical practices and social arrangements that are appropriate to a region’s biophysical characteristics and that address protection and sustainable management of resources. This is illustrated from our experience in the Republic of Niger, West Africa. In 1980 barren plains, infertile soils, drought, dust storms, severe fodder shortages, and agricultural pest outbreaks were normal occurrences in Niger’s rural regions. In general, despite large investments of time and funding, conventional reforestation efforts had little impact. However by 2008 over five million hectares of once barren land had been transformed through wide adoption of an agroforestry method known as ‘Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration’ (FMNR), introduced in 1983. In the Aguie Department, the practice of FMNR was formalized through the Desert Community Initiative (DCI), addressing interrelated technical and social issues in resource management. New governance structures, which include marginalized groups, implement monitoring and enforcement systems enabling communities to manage land and regenerating trees. These, together with technical solutions that build on local knowledge and skills and use previously undervalued indigenous tree species, have generated a sustainable fuel-wood market for the first time. Increased linkage and compatibility between institutions at local and national levels and strengthened social capital have been crucial to these impacts. Food security and community resilience to drought have been markedly enhanced and local incomes have increased. The experience provides important lessons for approaches to addressing environmental degradation and poverty in other semi arid areas and facilitating the spread and adoption of new agroforestry systems.

Deficit irrigation of a landscape halophyte for reuse of saline waste water in a desert city

Saline waste waters from industrial and water treatment processes are an under-utilized resource in desert urban environments. Management practices to safely use these water sources are still in development. We used a deeprooted native halophyte, Atriplex lentiformis (quailbush), to absorb mildly saline effluent (1800 mg l −1 total dissolved solids, mainly sodium sulfate) from a water treatment plant in the desert community of Twentynine Palms, California. We developed a deficit irrigation strategy to avoid discharging water past the root zone to the aquifer. The plants were irrigated at about one-third the rate of reference evapotranspiration (ET o) calculated from meteorological data over five years and soil moisture levels were monitored to a soil depth of 4.7 m at monthly intervals with a neutron hydroprobe. The deficit irrigation schedule maintained the soil below field capacity throughout the study. Water was presented on a more or less constant schedule, so that the application rates were less than ET o in summer and equal to or slightly greater than ET o in winter, but the plants were able to consume water stored in the profile in winter to support summer ET. Sodium salts gradually increased in the soil profile over the study but sulfate levels remained low, due to formation of gypsum in the calcic soil. The high salt tolerance, deep roots, and drought tolerance of desert halophytes such as A. lentiformis lend these plants to use as deficit-irrigated landscape plants for disposal of effluents in urban setting when protection of the aquifer is important.

Two new species of Perichaena (Myxomycetes) from arid areas of Russia and Kazakhstan

Two new myxomycete species from dry steppe and desert communities of the Caspian Lowland (Russia) and central Kazakhstan are described and illustrated. They are placed tentatively within genus Perichaena, which does include species with a reduced capillitium and single-layered peridium. Both species were found repeatedly in moist chamber cultures; P. heterospinispora appeared on leaf litter and twigs, whereas P. polygonospora occurred on leaf litter and weathered dung of rodents. Both species have spore ornamentation that is unique for members of genera Licea and Perichaena. The spore ornamentation of the first species includes scattered large, pyramid-like spines 0.9–1.2 μ m high that sometimes have enlarged ends. Among these spines the spore surface is covered by evenly and densely distributed warts that are visible only by SEM. The second species is characterized by angular spores with a coarse network of rounded ridges. The areas among these ridges bear scattered composite warts 0.3–0.5 μ m high that sometimes coalesce to form clusters but more often are distributed evenly and densely and are visible only by SEM. The stability of the taxonomic characters of both species was confirmed by several collections from different regions obtained in 2 y. The morphology of the fructifications of the two myxomycetes was examined with both scanning electron and light microscopy, and micrographs of all relevant features are presented.

Plant community characteristics and their relationships with climate in the Hexi Corridor region of northwestern China

Species, coverage, density, appearance, important values and above ground biomass of desert plant communities in the Hexi Corridor region in northwestern China were investigated. Data on the meteorological factors at the investigation sites were collected. Their relationships were statistically analyzed. The results show that the composition of plant species and total density in the Hexi Corridor region are positively correlated with elevation and longitude, but negatively with latitude. The relation decreases from the southeast to the northwest in this region. In the desert regions with an accumulated temperature of >10°C greater than 3200°C, the shrubs, including semi-shrubs, occupy dominant positions in the communities. Their importance values reach 100. When the accumulated temperature is about 3000°C, the communities are often in some type of transition, either with herbage being the dominant species, with some semishrubs or shrubs as companion species, or the dominant species being semi-shrubs with some perennial herbage as companion species. In desert communities with an annual precipitation of over 110 mm, the main life forms of plants are semi-shrubs or perennial herbs. When precipitation is less than 110 mm, the main life forms of the vegetation are dwarf shrub or annual herbs. In the extreme arid regions with annual precipitation of around 50 mm in the northwestern part of the Hexi Corridor, barely some annual herbage come to life during the rainy season. Desert ecosystems consist of sparse vegetation with small biomass. They change with climate factors and are especially sensitive to precipitation, which is particularly important for their conservation.

Niche Overlap and Resource Partitioning Between Sympatric Kit Foxes and Coyotes in the Great Basin Desert of Western Utah

Successful coexistence of sympatric canid species often relies on the subdominant species' ability to reduce competition through the differential selection of niche space. Information regarding the process of niche selection and its effect on the structure of canid communities in the Great Basin Desert is unavailable. From Dec. 1999 to Aug. 2001, we quantified the spatial, dietary and temporal resource overlap of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) and coyotes (Canis latrans) on the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Kit foxes and coyotes demonstrated substantial levels of spatial, temporal and dietary overlap. However, where the two species had overlapping home ranges, space use within the home range differed between the two species, with kit foxes using vegetative and landscape ruggedness characteristics not regularly used by coyotes. Although there was little evidence of seasonal change in either canid's use of habitat, in some areas kit foxes made nightly movements to more productive habitats with moderate ruggedness. Regardless of spatial partitioning, incidents of interference competition were high; 56% of known kit fox deaths were attributed to coyotes. In our study, high levels of temporal and dietary overlap, kit fox movement from extreme to moderate topography during foraging and selection for abundant cover demonstrated competitive pressures exerted on the kit fox population by the sympatric coyote population.

Stochastic approach to determine spatial patterns of lizard community on a desert island

Abstract One of the principal sources of error in identifying spatial arrangements is autocorrelation, since nearby points in space tend to have more similar values than would be expected by random change. When a Markovian approach is used, spatial arrangements can be measured as a transition probability between occupied and empty spaces in samples that are spatially dependent. We applied a model that incorporates first-order Markov chains to analyse spatial arrangement of numerical dominance, richness, and abundance on a lizard community at different spatial and temporal scales. We hypothesized that if a spatial dependence on abundance and richness exists in a diurnal desert community, then the Markov chains can predict the spatial arrangement. We found that each pair of values was dependent only on its immediate predecessor segment. In this sense, we found intergeneric differences at temporal and spatial scales of recurrence estimates. Also, in desert scrub, species show higher spatial aggregation and had lower species richness than at the island level; the inverse pattern occurred on rocky hillsides. At the species level, Uta stansburiana is the most abundant species in desert scrub, while Sauromalus slevini is the most abundant species on rocky hillsides. This report attempts to understand, using Markovian spatial models, the effect of nearby samples on local abundance and richness on different scales and over several seasons.

Reconstruction of Former Halophilous Desert Vegetation at Present Cropland Sites Using Soil Characteristics

The complicated desert vegetation pattern and its links to soil conditions in the Manas River basin where the natural landscape and human land-use history are representative for NW China and even central Asia are quantitatively investigated in this study. Vegetation and soil of 47 remnant desert and 22 cropland stands along the Manas River were sampled. Soil features, including Total Organic Carbon (TOC), total and individual (\({\text{HCO}}_3^ - \), \({\text{CO}}_3^{2 - } \), Cl−, \({\text{SO}}_4^{2 - } \), K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+) salt content, and physical components of both remnant desert and cropland stands were analyzed in a laboratory. In total, eight types of desert and lowland marsh communities are distinguished. Topographical conditions are found to strongly affect soil features. The topsoil is also distinguishable from the subsoil, particularly in clay content. Statistical analyses demonstrate that both silt percentage and total salt content in the soil are significant for the distribution of plant communities. Discriminant functions for the main desert and lowland marsh types were established based on their subsoil features, with accuracy up to 83%. The vegetation patterns prior to massive cultivation of 22 cropland plots were reliably interpreted from the cropland subsoil features using these discriminant functions. Twenty of them coincide very well with topological conditions, place names and records in literature, further confirming that the subsoil features have not substantially changed in the shifting from desert to cropland.

The Green Algal Underground: Evolutionary Secrets of Desert Cells

Microscopic, unicellular, free-living green algae are found in desert microbiotic crusts worldwide. Although morphologically simple, green algae in desert crusts have recently been found to be extraordinarily diverse, with membership spanning five green algal classes and encompassing many taxa new to science. This overview explores this remarkable diversity and its potential to lead to new perspectives on the diversity and evolution of green plants. Molecular systematic and physiological data gathered from desert taxa demonstrate that these algae are long-term members of desert communities, not transient visitors from aquatic habitats. Variations in desiccation tolerance and photophysiology among these algae include diverse evolutionary innovations that developed under selective pressures in the desert. Combined with the single embryophyte lineage to which more familiar terrestrial green plants belong, multiple desert green algal lineages provide independent evolutionary units that may enhance understanding of the evolution and ecology of eukaryotic photosynthetic life on land.

El Paso's Citizens Embrace the Value of Water and Reap Big Rewards

The growing desert community of El Paso faced challenges in terms of identifying water supplies to meet demands and support the economy despite the fact that the community might not be able to afford the cost of infrastructure construction and repairs. This article describes how El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) looked critically at its operations and made improvements, developed a rate structure that supported major goals such as conserving water, ensured that a safe and reliable water supply was available well into the future, and made the resource commitments necessary to involve the public and actively communicate with the community. EPWU learned that development of a sustainable water supply program requires planning and communicating about the value of water so the community will support the infrastructure investments it takes for this public‐private partnership to continue to succeed.