All in the family: Water Protection Fund website upgraded
All in the family: Water Protection Fund website upgraded
Some good things just take time to develop.
For example, the Arizona Water Protection Fund website, which recently upgraded to an easier-to-navigate format that now matches the rest of ADWR’s web pages.
The program, which supports a competitive State grant process that provides funding for riparian habitat enhancement projects throughout Arizona, is separate from the Department’s own website and had been left behind for a time in the overall ADWR website redesign process.
The site retained that dense, confusing look that characterized most government web pages back in the mid-2000s – way too much information piled up on top of still more information, much of it written in jargon-heavy language. Everything read like a statute, mostly because so much of the language was taken directly from State reports and statutes.
The Water Protection Fund website now mirrors most of the existing Water Resources site. It provides a clean and effective use of white space, redesigned links, and much easier navigation -- all while maintaining easy access to online grant-related information and to the vast store of documents and research that support ADWR’s mission.
Water Protection Fund administrator Reuben Teran said he takes pride in the fact that website users can access grant cycle information from the home page in “just one click.”
“And I’ve added in all the annual reports throughout the program, so there’s history there, too,” said Teran.
“There’s not a lot of fancy stuff on there," he added. But at some point, I would like to include an interactive GIS map of funded projects – to highlight general project locations, funding amounts, and a brief description of what was completed.”
In terms of design, however, the Water Protection Fund site is now within the same family as the rest of the ADWR site.
“Just getting us on board with the rest of the agency, all of us being on the same platform, was important and brings us up to date.”
The distribution of grant funds from the Water Protection Fund is authorized pursuant to Arizona State Statute. It is overseen by the Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission, and the program is administered through the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Over the years, a wide range of projects has been funded, including but not limited to, stream channel restoration, invasive species removal, riparian revegetation, wetland creation and restoration, fencing and other grazing management improvements, upland and watershed restoration, erosion control and applied ecological research.