Helicopter Tour of the Salt River Project

Eric Betterton, HAS Department Head and University Distinguished Professor, and Marty Ralph, HAS Advisory Board Member, recently got a real bird's eye view of the Salt River Project* during a helicopter tour arranged by Charlie Ester, HAS Advisory Board Member and SRP Manager of Surface Water Resources Operation.

The tour was arranged for them because of our department's interest in working with SRP on local meteorology as it impacts reservoir management, especially on the Verde river system. The 4-hour tour began at Phoenix Sky Harbor just after sunrise on Thursday morning, October 19. The group flew north to Bartlett Dam, then east for a short stop in Payson. After refueling, they made their way down to Phoenix via the Salt River system.  You can watch a portion of their tour in this HAS Facebook page video.

*SRP is the umbrella name for two separate entities, the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District--an agency of the the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan area--and the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association, a utility cooperative that serves as the primary water provider for much of central Arizona." (Source: Salt River Project in Wikipedia).