Award for Research
CAP Award for Water Research
Submissions for the CAP Award for Water Research are accepted anytime during a given year through the form below. The deadline for submissions is June 1. Research submitted for this award should focus specifically on water issues that affect central and southern Arizona and the Colorado River. Papers can focus on legal, economic, political, environmental, or water management issues, as well as any other issue that might be of interest to CAP or Arizona water users. Priority will be given to Colorado River issues.
First Place: $1,000
Second Place: $500
Suggested topics include but are not limited to:
- Drought management
- Environmental law
- Groundwater resources
- Indian water rights
- Public perception of water issues
- Recharge/replenishment
- Riparian habitat
- Subsidence
- Surface water
- Threatened/endangered species
- Water law
- Water policy/politics
- Water rights
- Water supply/use
Goals
- Encourage and support excellence in water research in Arizona’s colleges and universities.
- Reinforce CAP’s commitment to water education to hundreds of faculty members and students.
- Increase public interest in water issues associated with the use of Colorado River in Central and Southern Arizona.
- Reach and encourage college-level students interested in pursuing careers in water resource management.
Partnerships
- The CAP Award for Water Research is intended to increase awareness about water issues associated with CAP and the Colorado River.
- Award recipients may present their research during a public CAP board meeting.
- Winning papers will be published on the CAP website.
Research Criteria
- The CAP Award will be available to graduate and undergraduate students at any community college or trade school within CAP’s 3-county service area (Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima) and the three major universities in the State of Arizona (Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and Arizona University).
- Papers should address water issues facing the Lower Basin States and should be of interest to CAP and other water users. Priority will be given to papers addressing Colorado River issues.
Papers should represent original, unpublished work produced solely by the students(s) and not exceed 25 pages (inclusive of references and supporting attachments).
Submission Guidelines
If you would like to submit the entry form, the complete paper and a one page abstract electronically, please complete the form below. Submissions for the CAP Award for Water Research are accepted anytime during a given year. The deadline for submissions is June 1.
Review Process
Submissions are reviewed by a committee comprised of a member of CAP’s popularly elected Board of Directors, CAP staff members and CAP water customers. All applicants are notified of the results of their applications through electronic correspondence.
2023 Award - 1st Place
Burcu Tezcan for “Training a Non-Homogenous Hidden Markov Model with PMDI and Temperature to Create Climate Informed Hydrologic Scenarios”. Tezcan is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Hydrosystems Engineering Program at Arizona State University. She received her B.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from Turkey.
2023 Award - 2nd Place
Krista L. Lawless for “Institutional Analysis of Water Governance in the Colorado River Basin, 1922-2022”. Lawless is a Ph.D. Candidate of Environmental Social Science in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on water supplies and governance, socio-hydrology, institutions, and water systems across spatial and temporal scales.
Past Winning Papers
- Kristen Whitney for “Assessing Impacts of Forest Disturbances on Future Colorado River Flows under Climate Change – A Stakeholder-Engagement Modeling Process. Whitney is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and a Babbitt Center Fellow in the Lincoln Institute. She is assessing the impacts of climate and land-cover changes on future water resources in the southwestern U.S. for a project that aids water management decisions.
- Adam Wiechman and Sara Alonso Vicario for “Using Soft Infrastructure to Manage Uncertainty: Collaboration in the Phoenix Surface Water Governance Network.” Wiechman is a Ph.D. student in the School of Sustainability and the School of Complex Adaptive Systems at Arizona State University. Vicario is pursuing a PhD in Civil, Sustainable and Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University.
- 1st Place – Xin Guan for “Quantifying the impacts of climate change on the water-food nexus in central Arizona through crop, water management, and climate models.” Xin is a PhD candidate at Arizona State University; her research focuses on the impact of climate change on the water-food nexus in the region.
- 2nd Place – Davian Peterson for “Evaluating the impacts of atmospheric rivers on the Rillito Creek Watershed.” Davian earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources in 2021 and is currently an engineering associate in the Source Water Division at Tucson Water.
- View the 2020 CAP Award for Water Research Video
- 1st Place – Mary Samar for her Master’s thesis titled, “On the precipice of transition: Water, crops and adaptation in Pinal County, Arizona.” Mary has a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Northern Arizona University and currently works for the City of Flagstaff Water Services Division.
- 2nd Place – Riley Swanson for his Master’s thesis titled, “Quantifying the base flow of the Colorado River: its importance in sustaining perennial flow in northern Arizona and southern Utah.” Riley has a Master’s degree in Geology from Northern Arizona University and currently works on Hawai’i Island as a Land Assessment Coordinator.
- 1st Place – Thomas Whipple for his Master’s thesis titled, “Planning for depletion: optimal irrigation in the Pinal AMA under changing water sources.” Tom is a hydrologist with the Arizona Department of Water Resources working in the Recharge section. He has a B.S. and M.S. in hydrology from the University of Arizona.
- 2nd Place (Co-2nd Place) – Tiffani Cáñez for her paper, “Mapping fresh and brackish groundwater to inform better management of decreasing groundwater levels in the Wilcox Basin, south-east Arizona.” Tiffani received her bachelor’s in hydrology last May from the University of Arizona and is now completing her masters, also in hydrology. Her research focuses on the combination of water quality and water management.
- 2nd Place (Co-2nd Place) – Shelby Hoglund for her paper, “Issues and implications for central Arizona agriculture associated with the Colorado River shortage.” Shelby is a PhD student at the University of Arizona in the Department of Environmental Sciences. She is a Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Fellow researching soil carbon in arid agricultural systems.
- 1st Place (Co-1st Place) – Sustainability Principles and the Future of Phoenix, Arizona: Framing the Salt River’s Urban Waterway Redevelopment by V. Horvath and D. D. White, School of Sustainability and School of Community Resources and Development. Arizona State University, Decision Center for a Desert City
- 1st Place (Co-1st Place) – Water Policy in Arizona and the Semi-arid West by William Tintor, University of Arizona, School of Geography and Development and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.
