COVID CLAIMS TEACHER, OFFICER
INSIDE TODAY: REAL ESTATE
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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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December 26, 2021
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022 INSIDE
This Week
2021 in Chandler: Hope, joy and tragedy BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
NEWS ............................. 17
Kyrene board member questions cops on campuses.
COMMUNITY...........
24
Chandler native plumbs ocean's depths.
GETOUT ...................... 36
Chandler exhibit presents stories on quilts. NEWS ..........................................................2 REAL ESTATE ...........................................21 COMMUNITY .......................................24 BUSINESS ............................................... 27 OPINION ............................................... 32 SPORTS ...................................................34 GET OUT ............................................... 36 CLASSIFIEDS ..........................................38
C
handler saw both tragedy and reasons to celebrate in 2021. Here is a countdown of 12 top events in Chandler in 2021.
12. Field of Honor veterans memorial. Chandler officially opened its new memorial to military service members on Veterans Day. The large space at Veterans Oasis Park uses the U.S. flag as
see REVIEW page 8
Some Chandler faces of 2021 include, from left, Frank Narducci, Chandler Unified's first new superintendent in 25 years; Officer Christopher Farrar, killed in the line of duty; and new City Manager Joshua Wright. (Arizonan file photos)
Chandler opts into $10M Bartlett Dam study
BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
C
handler has joined nearly two dozen communities that are beginning to look at climate change’s impact on future water availability in their backyards. “We are on the cusp of the first-ever Colorado River shortage,” said Ron Klawitter, the principal of water system projects for Salt River Project. “We need to look at alternative supplies.” City Council voted to join a $10 million, four-year study looking at increasing the
water capacity at Bartlett Lake, which is on the Verde River north of Phoenix. Half of the cost of the study would be paid for with federal funds while the balance will be split between 21 entities if everyone agrees to participate. Chandler’s cost for a seat at the table is $100,000 a year. “There’s an old saying, if you’re not at the dinner table, you’re usually dinner,” Councilmember Matt Orlando said. “So let’s make sure we’re not dinner.” The Salt River Project, founded in 1903, operates six dams on the Salt and Verde riv-
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ers, making up the Salt and Verde Reservoir System with a combined storage capacity of about approximately 2.3 million acre-feet of water. An acre food equals about 326,000 gallons of water. One of those dams is the Horseshoe Dam on the Verde River northeast of Phoenix, an earthen structure about 58 miles northeast of Phoenix that is 202 feet high and has a reservoir capacity of 131,500 acre-feet. Klawitter said there are two issues at play in considering this study.
see DAM page 6
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