3/25/2009 11:06:00 PM Talk of the Town: SRP wants to take everyone's water
By HARVEY SKOOG Special to the Courier
One interesting aspect of the Big Chino Water Ranch Project is how it is bringing into focus the statewide issue of rural vs. urban water needs.
The 4.3 million people who live in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area have definite water needs that federal, state and local governments have been working to meet for more than 100 years.
But the surrounding areas in the state also have needs, particularly as more people make these areas their home.
Our own Big Chino Water Ranch Project will move groundwater from the Big Chino Sub-basin into the Prescott Active Management Area (PrAMA).
It is well known that the Big Chino Sub-basin has the only water supply large enough to support the long-term needs of this region, including the need to meet the goal of safe-yield by 2025.
Recognizing this, the Arizona Legislature awarded Prescott certain groundwater rights in the Sub-basin back in 1991. But Salt River Project (SRP), certain central Arizona municipalities, and other interests strenuously have opposed the project because they insist it might affect surface flows in the Verde River that eventually reach them.
Setting aside for a moment our disagreements about whether pumping groundwater 20 miles away from the headwaters of the Verde River will affect its surface water flows, let's just compare the numbers.
The Big Chino Water Ranch Project proposes to deliver to Prescott and Prescott Valley about 8,000 acre-feet per year of water. SRP's catchment reservoirs in the state lose more than 15 times that much to evaporation each year!
In contrast, the water projects that serve Central Arizona deliver more than 2,500,000 acre-feet of water per year, and de-water the Verde and Salt Rivers in the process. And the residents of the greater Phoenix area need every drop, since they use about
515 gallons of water per person per day in contrast to the average per-person water use of about 180 gallons per day in this area.
SRP has a broad reputation for ranging throughout the state defending its surface water interests, including those in the Verde, Salt and Little Colorado Rivers. And this is just part of the wide-ranging water interests that serve Central Arizona, including the Colorado River with headwaters way up in Wyoming. Now the SRP appears willing to use its considerable resources to fight tooth and nail to claim the relatively minor amount of water from the Big Chino Water Ranch Project that this rural area needs so much (and the Legislature already granted).
This brings to the fore a larger question that should interest the people in all of the rural areas outside of the Central Arizona hub. Can rural Arizona still develop water resources to meet its needs, or will the interests in the central urban area claim all of the water and, with it, all of the economic opportunities?
Only time will tell.
Harvey Skoog is the mayor of Prescott Valley.
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009
Article comment by:
Chuck Bordenave
TOO MUCH FOR ME, you're right , I guess I did come up here to die, but I don't look at it like you do, even though you probably have done the same thing. I came here to enjoy the rest of my life in a small slower paced area than I lived before. I RETIRED!!! What is wrong with that? What's wrong with quality controlled growth? Answer it doesn't make people like you rich enough fast enough. You have a big problem with SRP about how they use their water, Just one little problem, IT'S THEIR WATER!!! then you turn around and say, you don't want anyone telling the local gov., P and PV what to do , not to mention the economic opportunities that will be taken by P and PV from people who live in the Paulden area. Don't the people that actually live above the water get a say?, not according to you. I Hope you live forever, and dont die like the rest of us. This is a retirement driven economy, thats the way it is. Get industry to locate here, things might be different, but that will never happen, unless you consider Fudruckers heavy industry!!!
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009
Article comment by:
Rancher up north
All future mayoral candidates in Prescott and PV should be required to prove that they've got significant, successful range management experience before anyone even considers putting their name on a ballot.
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009
Article comment by:
I wonder about their intelligence level
Is this the same Skoog who said, to paraphrase him, that we could ship plenty of water into the area the same as groceries are brought it, so there is no reason to limit development? Yep, I thought so. Oh well, PV residents must agree with him, for they keep voting him into office.
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Do you think the folks saying the same thing every chance they get wake up every morning with a dark dreary outlook for everyone elses future too. Isn't there a glimmer of hope to have a happy healthy future for our children in spite of drinking from the waters of Big Chino? Is everyone who gazes upon the river doomed to the life of pessimism and consumed by anger. Is finger pointing, demonizing, accusations, name calling, fatalistic predictions, gnashing of teeth, and snarled faces a common fate. What a mixed message. Is the loss of hope and absence of peace the only path to enjoying the beauty and splendor of the river?. Is this the quality of life you speak of that we are supposed to preserve?
I'm sorry, but repeating the same negative and fatalistic comments again and again is tiresome and working against you. Consider using a positive tone to express your message lest it be dismissed as the maniacal ravings of a fanatical extremist. Peace.
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009
Article comment by:
Too Much For Me
All the many people like Chuck that came out here to die, take a break. We have a young town with lots of kids. They deserve water. You people are the problem not the solution. SRP would not give you a cup of THEIR Water if you were dying by the road. They only want to keep Town Lake and the Canals full in Maricopa County. Did you know when the heat hits, Town Lake will be losing 15,000 gallons a day to evaporation?
To those Anti Growth, love your comments that growth cannot go on for ever. I know you have never been to them , but I hope you have heard of London. Paris, Tokyo, and Rome, plus many more, they are still doing well and growing. No Growth = Death.
As always the intellectually challenged are too much for me.
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2009
Article comment by:
Not an SRP sympathizer
I am quite amused at how many defenders there are of the multi-billion dollar corporation SRP. Just what happens to the "lower" Verde River after it passes SRP's intake valves? Answer: The Verde River completely disappears. If SRP is the "defender of the environment" then why don't they restore the Verde River to its natural state and let it run its historic course?
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
L. Morocco
So Mayor Skoog, you are trying to convince us that it would be better for PV and Prescott to risk taking all the water away from Paulden and downstream residents, and put the Verde at risk rather than to allow SRP to continue to lay claim to their surface water rights because SRP has just as much water as you want to pump that simply evaporates? You can't be serious. Your reasoning is flawed and weak or should I say your hired gun PR firm isn't very convincing. This letter does nothing to inspire any confidence in the local government's ability to manage pumping over 3 billion gallons of water a year with no contingency plan. I drive thru PV and I see massive decorative landscaping down the middle of many of the streets and all down each side of the highway and I see acres of water sucking grass all around the town hall. I see PV selling its effluent water credits so even more water can be used, rather than recharging it to help reach safe yield. I don't see PV making any effort at all to conserve water. SRP's surface water rights are of no threat to Paulden residents or the Verde. Prescott and PV are a huge threat to the future of Paulden residents and the Verde. Not for one second has your town or Prescott had one iota of concern for Paulden residents. You also try to convince us that pumping from the Big Chino is the long term solution, when in fact Herb Guenther, Director of ADWR has made it quite clear, this is NOT to be considered a long term solution and the assured water designation will be revoked if groundwater mining takes place. Reaching safe yield always takes backseat to the real reason PV and Prescott want all the water, which of course is for new growth. Your first allegiance should be to those of us already here NOT to strangers that have no investment in our beautiful area. You and all the other local politicians are stubborn and arrogant and could care less who or what you hurt as long as you get more water to grow, grow, grow.
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Water Girl
Mr. PV Mayor,
Well, well, SRP is the convenient whipping boy for the day again. But what will PV and Prescott say when the Big Chino Grande land owners adjacent to their precious water ranch start pumping the 18,000 acre feet water right they were given in court recently, and that cone of depression impacts the BC Ranch water flow? I can hear the crying now. Cones of depression work both ways! His honor and Jack's focus is all on finger pointing and petty David and Goliath, small town blame instead of action to resolve the bigger picture problem. Any pumping in the BC of significant quantity is going to have an impact on area properties and well owner water supply, the least of which will be impact to the Verde River headwaters. As more development goes in, the more groundwater consumption will accelerate. Nobody is looking into the future. I'm asking that our city fathers focus on long term problems at a state wide level. At a minimum, that the Big Chino Aquifer be included in it's own AMA to insures its preservation. What's the point of being allowed to pump in the Big Chino if we do the same thing we've done to the other aquifer that is now out of safe yield? Please give us some meaningful action on preserving this water source instead of your whining, bellicose bickering.
P.S. The PR firm can't even get their facts straight. 515 gallons/capita/day is not even close for Phoenix. According to Water SISWEB information posted about a year ago from the city's [phoenix] Water Services Department, average per capita daily usage has plunged from about 250 gallons per person per day to about 200 gallons.
We deserve better for our taxpayer money!
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Jabe Wills
Mayor Skoog correctly states that SRP wants all it can get. Litigation will ultimately resolve that issue. Completely lost in his remarks, however, is the effect of pumping out of the Big Chino Water Ranch on the Upper Verde riparian community. Not important, Harvey?
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
P.O.'d in Paulden
Dear "Sick of Anti Everything Crowd," I'm not anti-business, anti-builder, or anti- expansion. I AM anti-theft of MY water from MY well, to further someone else's agenda. Nice try on bringing President Obama's name into this, since it's so relevant ! It's always easy for the elitists to blame us "Eco Nuts" as your idol Wilson calls us, when they aren't getting their way. Just how many more Home Depots, etc. do you need ? How many more subdivisions with their little ticky tacky houses do you want to see close up the open spaces? How about all the available homes for sale that stand vacant ? If you want more of the same old-same old, why don't you move on down to Phoenix and just leave us country folk alone. Also, I'm not an "old geezer or geezerette," but I am retired. I also have a family that should not be punished in their future by yours, Skoog's, and Wilson's arrogance. Again, your lack of relevance with that statement shows that you can't grasp this issue, so don't give yourself a migrane !
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Leslie Hoy
Mayor Skoog's ghostwriter,paid for with taxpayer funds, says, "Setting aside for a moment our disagreements about whether pumping groundwater 20 miles away from the headwaters of the Verde River will affect its surface water flows, let's just compare the numbers." EXCUSE ME!! Sure, just set aside the primary reason the pipeline is a bad idea and by calling SRP names, obfuscate the fact that all the best science shows the pumping will eventually dramatically reduce the flows in the Verde River. The Phoenix P.R. firm must think us rural folks are boobs. Well, they've got it wrong. It's not the citizens who are boobs; the real boobs are our public officials who hire Phoenix P.R. firms to sell us the pipeline with our own tax dollars.
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Sick of Anti everything crowd
"developers/ranchers/real estaters." I am so sick of this silly "single venue talking point" used and over used by the anti-expansion crowd. IF YOU are dumb enough to think an area can survive without economic expansion, THEN WHY is the Obama clamoring to jump start "ECONOMIC GROWTH?" If ever you ventured deep enough in your own mind to wander what life without ECONOMIC GROWTH would be like for this area, just look around you right now and ask yourself, IS THIS THE LIFE YOU WANT, JOBLESSNESS, HOMELESSNESS REAL ESTATE CRASHING. If you are some old retired geezer/geezerette, you may say yes, but you will be dead long before the impact of water shortage hit us. I was going to say, wake up and smell the coffee, but even that requires water.
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
P.O.'d in Paulden
Skoog and Wilson, " Twin Sons of Different Mothers" ! Thank you Chuck for telling it like it is. They are bullies, and they will lose this fight. SRP may not be the ultimate "savior," but for those of us on wells in Paulden, they're the biggest, baddest dog in the fight that offers us some hope.
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Freedumb Frize
Last time I checked. Prescott Valley is 30 miles or so from the Big Chino aquifer. A landowner outside Paulden with a small well for personal use could make the EXACT same argument about a big nosy urbanite coming in and stealing water from the rural little guy as you are making about Phoenix.
P.S. perhaps your space in the Courier would have been better filled by explaining why developers seem to think that it is foregone conclusion that Prescott Valley is going to annex some land they are speculating on. Has there been some backroom or golf course conversations we should know about?
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Win
Harvey seems unaware of the attention given to the Prescott area over the years by state and federal folks. The first pipeline to Prescott was from Del Rio Springs during 1904-26. The water supply for the second pipeline from Chino Valley was defined by the USGS. The proposed third pipeline from Big Chino Valley was considered a bad idea by the USBR because, as they clearly stated to the Sec. of the Interior, it would impact the Verde River. So where does Harvey get the idea focus has not been on the Prescott area?
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Dan G
Prescott Valley?--oh yeah, the place with the radar cameras.
So what has that got to do with anything.
The theme is take from people outside the city to use in your town.
My father always told me "If you didn't earn it, don't take it
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
George Seaman
I don't even know where to start with this one! The basic argument that SRP is making is that they have SENIOR claims to the water rights on the Verde (as well as others). SRP is making a private property claim to water that they believe belongs to them. By the way it seems ironic that the elected official in the area who have built their careers on protecting private property rights would not understand this claim! They are not trying to take away anyone else's water for use in the valley, and to claim such a pile of non-sense is truly propaganda at its worst. SRP's claim will be adjudicated in a court of law, and it will be based upon their claim to prior rights to the water, a law written in 1991 does not constitute prior claim when SRPs claims date back to the turn of the last century. Mayor Skoog would also be doing the citizens a favor if he would point out that SRP does not use any nore water today than it did in the middle of the last century. How about the falacious idea that the areas immediately around Prescott and Prescott Valley are even remotely "rural." At what point does that particular little ruse go away, when the area has the 500,000 people in it that CYMPO is planning for? And it is also interesting that the mayor can see so clearly how a large municipality can be viewed as taking water, but he is blind to the fact that all of the truly rural areas of the county feel the same way about the tri-cities. If PV dries up the base flow of the river, doesn't it seem probable that the downstream neighbors will consider that a strong arm taking of THEIR water? And what about the poor folks living in Paulden who are not even considered when the municipalities start talking about their interbasin transfers of water? To the rest of the county the Tri-cities have always been bullies of the first degree. I would advise the mayor that if it's good for the goose (PV), then it's good for the gander (the truly rural areas of the county), and please stop trying to mislead the people on this issue of SRPs claims, the judges are not listening to your propaganda anyway, their decisions will be based on the law, and when they give their decisions they might decide in your favor, but don't hold your breath on that one. I imagine that the real substance of this letter was written by PV's public relations firm in Phoenix anyway, it might be helpful if Mr Skoog refrained from being used in this fashion? Oh, I almost forgot...SRP has been saying all along that they were not interested in a lawsuit and that the only thing the cities had to do to prevent such action was provide for a plan to protect the river just in case the pumping does affect it. Pipeline without a contingency plan = "NO", pipeline with such a plan = "YES", this has been their position all along. Not too long ago a Mayor Steiger from the City of Prescott sent a letter to SRP and challenged them to just this duel,I think the quote was "Give it your best shot", well Harvey that is exactly what SRP is doing, they are taking that mayor's advice! Don't forget it has already cost over $600,000 in legal fees to fight and the legal mess is only just beginning!
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
Chuck Bordenave
Mayor Skoog's next to last sentence says it all. This whole fiasco is all about the economic opportunities!!! Only time will tell how much taxpayer money will be wasted on a project that will reduce the quality of life in the area, will do nothing to meet safe yield requirements, and benefit a few developers/ranchers/realestaters, This project alone is going to cost over 200 million dollars, a far cry from the 90 million cost put out in the beginning. Why should the public fund this outrage? Prescott and PV have no problem beating up on SRP, who has the legal right to the water, saying they just want the water because they're selfish, and on the other hand Prescott and PV are attempting to do the same thing to Paulden and future growth to that area and taking their economic opportunities. Two-faced politicians and greedy developers are trying to get the public to pay for the economic opportunities of a privledged few.
