Governor, Maricopa leaders, laud “green” Global Water Center

The Global Water Resources Center, Pinal County’s first officially green utility building was dedicated today by Gov. Janet Napolitano, who congratulated Maricopa and the company for “growing in a good way, a smart way and an innovative way.”

The building, at 22590 N. Powers Parkway in Maricopa, earned its environmental designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for its use of recycled materials, energy efficiency and notably for its water recycling system (see previous story). The center uses recycled water to flush toilets and water the landscaping.

Napolitano flew into Maricopa by helicopter for the building’s dedication, which also included welcomes from Maricopa Mayor Kelly Anderson, Ak-Chin Community Chairperson Delia Carlyle and Global Water CEO Trevor Hill.

“At Global Water, we’ve embraced the certainty of future water scarcity in the communities that we serve and have implemented one of the largest total water management plans in the nation,” Hill told the several hundred dignitaries and visitors at the dedication. “In partnership with the city of Maricopa, the city of Casa Grande and the Ak-Chin Community, we have laid out a plan for 300 square miles of land – enough for 500,000 future homes, as many as 1.25 million people. In that plan, we agreed to make water conservation our No. 1 priority.”

Hill noted that because of partnerships and recycling, the Maricopa area uses about 60 percent of the water per capita as the rest of Arizona. The center, he noted, uses 83 percent less water than a conventionally plumbed building of that size.

The governor noted that fast-growing Arizona has other environmental issues, including air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and transportation. She noted that Arizona is part of a 30-state cooperative to measure greenhouse gas emissions, and dealing collectively with that reduces the cost of measuring and reducing those emissions.

Dealing with climate change and water use go together, Napolitano said, and so does transportation.

“We have to have a culture of conservation, particularly as water is concerned,” she said.

The dedication also included a Native American blessing and dance thanks to Ak-Chin. Mayor Anderson called the building “another first for our city” and referred to Global Water as an “important stakeholder for our planning process.”

Maricopa will begin to hold its City Council meetings at the Global building, he said, and he noted the partnership with schools, which will bring students in to learn about water and conservation at the many displays and video presentations at the center. Anderson thanked Global for its “vision, commitment and dedication to the city of Maricopa.”

Carlyle said that while her community early on had a problem with the system, it was only an initial plan for discharging water that has since changed. She pointed out a display in the lobby highlighting the Ak-Chin Community.