Extreme Heat Preparedness in Arizona
During a record breaking summer, on August 11, 2023, Governor Katie Hobbs declared a State of Emergency to support local heat relief efforts. In addition to the declaration, Governor Hobbs signed an executive order to better coordinate future government heat responses statewide and announced state-run cooling centers.
The emergency declaration and executive order build on the State of Arizona’s holistic heat response approach. The Governor’s Executive Order 2023-16 directs state agencies to build a comprehensive plan to approach extreme heat in future years. It directs the Office of Resiliency to coordinate and lead an interagency effort to develop this Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan. It also directs the office to create and lead an Interagency Resiliency Forum comprised of state agency representatives to support this effort.
On October 4, a letter from the Director of the Office of the Governor’s Office of Resiliency requested Arizona State University’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) to initiate, operate, and execute a Request for Information (RFI) process on behalf of the Governor's lnteragency Resiliency Forum.
The RFI process was a part of a series of meetings, consultations, and compilation of years of experience and research findings from the academic and stakeholder communities working across Arizona. The effort resulted in a report of recommendations. A review version was submitted to the Office of Resiliency in January 2024 to inform the Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, due March 1, 2024, as directed by Governor Katie Hobbs' Executive Order 2023-16.
“There are many longtime stakeholders that have been working on this issue for years. KER was excited to make sure the information that we assembled from this diverse array of sources was available to the Governor’s Office of Resiliency as they have been preparing their plan,” said Dr. Patricia Solís, KER Executive Director.
Read the full KER Recommendations Report to the Office of the Governor on Extreme Heat Preparedness in Arizona
To cite this report
Solís, Patricia, Kristin Borns, Margaret Hinrichs, Sarah Bassett, Melissa Guardaro, and Elizabeth Wentz. 2024. Recommendations Report to the Office of the Governor on Extreme Heat Preparedness in Arizona. Knowledge Exchange for Resilience KEEP Solutions Series. Tempe: Arizona State University. https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.191546
For further information
LETTER TO ISSUE A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Additional questions may be directed to Dr. Patricia Solís, Executive Director, Knowledge Exchange for Resilience, [email protected].
Request for information
We consider this an ongoing process and will continue to solicit community responses and ideas on how to improve Arizona's extreme heat preparedness. Use the link below to submit your recommendations for action in the short, medium, or longer-term, as well as spotlighting innovative solutions that could be adopted broadly in Arizona.