Arizona Department of Water Resources legal decision, post-shelter cognitive impairment, volcanic ash study

In this episode of “Arizona Horizon,” we sat down with Sarah Porter, Director of Kyl Center for Water Policy, to discuss a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge’s ruling that the Arizona Department of Water Resources acted illegally when imposing what developers have called a “tax” to build in areas with scarce sources of water.

We also hear from Heather Ross, Assistant Professor at ASU Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, to learn about dementia researchers studying older clients’ cognitive impairment after they leave a shelter. For more than a year, CASS, the state’s largest mass shelter, has been screening older clients for possible dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

Finally, University of Arizona Associate Professor of Geosciences Dr. Kaustubh Thirumalai and Dr. Barbara Carrapa, Professor of Geosciences, explain how vast amounts of volcanic ash released into the atmosphere end up in the ocean, particularly in the Southern Ocean, where they provide a smorgasbord for marine algae to feast on. Volcanic ash is known to contain important nutrients, including phosphorus, iron, and silicon. A significant increase in volcanic activity in the Andes peaking between eight and four million years ago, therefore, likely delivered a significant pulse of nutrients to the Southern Ocean.