News Stories for 2006
Howard Grahn joins M&A
November 20 — Long-time Tucson hydrology consultant Howard Grahn has joined M&A, bringing with him 20 years of experience in mining operations and hydrology. He joins our mining group, where he applies his skills to development and feasibility studies, water resource investigations, and heap-leach monitoring and management projects.
Howard is also helping us expand our field instrumentation capabilities using his expertise in developing automated data-acquisition systems to characterize both saturated and unsaturated environments. His project experience includes installing sensor arrays to help solve a variety of environmental remediation and mine operation challenges such as identifying sulfate contamination in mine waste rock, defining seepage through waste rock and ore-heap cover systems, and characterizing the chemistry and flow characteristics of surface water, groundwater, and unsaturated systems. Finally, Howard has developed in-situ leach-pile instrumentation that allows managers to regulate irrigation rates and air injection in real time.
M&A wins Copper Cactus Award
October 5 — We are honored to announce that M&A won the 2006 Wells Fargo Copper Cactus Award in the category of Business Growth for companies with between 31 and 75 employees. Nine southern Arizona small businesses were awarded prizes on October 5th at the Westin La Paloma Resort. Winners were selected from among 400 nominees in three categories: Business Growth, Community Service, and Best Place to Work. The Copper Cactus is the oldest and largest award program recognizing locally owned and operated small businesses in southern Arizona. This acknowledgement for our robust growth over the last 2 years is a source of pride for M&A staff. By adding new professionals to expand our skills and services, we have become better able to respond to the diverse needs of our clients into the future. For more information, visit coppercactusawards.com.
Montgomery Prize at El Dia del Agua 2006
March 29 — For the past 9 years, M&A has been pleased to award the Montgomery Prize to a student from the University of Arizona’s Hydrology & Water Resources Department. The recipient is selected by a panel of professionals based on oral presentations at the El Dia del Agua Symposium. An annual 1-day event, the symposium serves as a research showcase for the Department and features both poster sessions and oral presentations. The award, one of many given at this event, includes $1,000 in cash — a symbol of M&A’s ongoing commitment to promoting excellence in research and communication in the field of hydrology. The 2006 El Dia del Agua Symposium was held on Thursday, March 2nd, at the Grand Ballroom of the U of A’s Student Union Memorial Center. This year’s Montgomery Prize winner was Akif Sarikaya, a Ph.D. candidate. Leslie Katz of M&A presented the prize for Akif’s outstanding presentation “Glaciations in Aladaglar and Sandiras: New Paleoclimatic Clues in Turkey.” This work explores reasons why the two Turkish mountains, Aladaglar and Sandiras, had different glaciological and climatic histories. Download the abstract [39 KB PDF]
M&A participates in International Symposium on Site Characterization for CO2 Geological Storage
March 29 — Edwin McGavock presented a poster at the International Symposium on Site Characterization for CO2 Geological Storage, held March 20–22, 2006, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The poster examines opportunities for long-term subsurface storage of CO2 from coal-fired power plants in favorable hydrogeologic environments within Arizona. Other M&A authors included Dennis Shirley and Errol Montgomery. Download the abstract [302 KB PDF]
M&A hydrogeologist coaches winning Science Olympiad team
March 29 — M&A hydrogeologist Janis Blainer-Fleming coached two budding female scientists from Alice Vail Middle School (AVMS) as they prepared for the “Awesome Aquifer” event at the Science Olympiad (SO), a national program to promote students’ interest in science. During this event, team members demonstrate their understanding of groundwater concepts by taking tests and building a model aquifer. At the state SO competition held at the University of Arizona on March 4th, the AVMS team not only scored high in the Awesome Aquifer event, but they also won the overall state competition, qualifying them for the nationals in Bloomington, Illinois, on May 20th. Congratulations, girls… and best of luck!
M&A internal ownership transition ensures continuity in staff and core values
February 6 — Errol L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc., is pleased to announce a change that will secure the future of the company. On October 10, 2005, majority ownership was transferred from Dr. Errol Montgomery to the following 13 senior staff members, who were previously minority shareholders in the firm: Mark M. Cross, P.G. (President); Dennis H. Shirley, P.G. (Vice President); Michael J. Rosko, P.G.; Leslie T. Katz, P.G.; Hale W. Barter; Ronald H. DeWitt, P.G.; William R. Victor, P.G.; Dennis G. Hall, P.G.; Daniel S. Weber, P.G.; James. S. Davis, P.G.; Todd Keay, P.G.; Janis K. Blainer-Fleming; and Jeffrey J. Meyer.
In addition to ensuring the company’s longevity, this change will help M&A maintain seamless continuity in the services we provide to our clients. Most of the members of the shareholder group joined the firm within a few years of its inception in 1984. This group’s dedication to carrying on M&A’s longstanding tradition of technical excellence has only been strengthened through the recent ownership transition.
Most importantly, M&A’s founder Dr. Montgomery will remain deeply involved in project work — particularly in the expanding area of water supply and environmental support for South American mining operations. Our clients in the U.S. and abroad will continue to reap the benefits of his knowledge and experience, which spans more than 40 years.
Moving forward, M&A plans to continue solidifying its core strengths — groundwater supply, recharge, and environmental services — and developing innovative solutions to emerging technical challenges.
Despite a wet winter, 2005 precipitation falls short of the 30-year average
January 6 — That’s right: The drought is still on. Last year’s rainy winter may have whetted our hopes for reversing the dry conditions that have plagued Arizona in recent years; however, this wet trend didn’t last through the fall. In fact, post-monsoon conditions were extremely dissapointing, with less than an inch of rain falling in Tucson between August 2005 and January 2006.
Data from our Tucson office weather station shows below-average rainfall for 2005 — that is, 9.64 inches in contrast to the “normal” 12.17 inches. Annual rainfall amounts are compared on the basis of a 30-year average. Against this expected value, Tucson came up short about 2.5 inches, or about 21 percent. During the first half of 2005, rainfall totals were above average. A moderate monsoon season brought us about 4.5 inches of rain before the wet trend began its reversal. The remainder of 2005 suffered a near lack of precipitation that caused annual totals to dip below the 30-year average. And so the drought continues...
Will conditions improve in 2006? So far (as of early January), rainfall has been nil. Like an overdrawn bank account, our current water situation is characterized by rainfall deficits that carry over from year to year. Even if 2006 breaks all records, we’ll need many more years of surplus rain to loosen the grip of our drought. Click here to open a chart comparing 2005 rainfall at our Tucson office weather station with average rainfall (PDF file; 34KB).
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