Colorado River Commission & 7-States Meeting Inside Info: Arizona

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Photos by Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic 'laying in the tree while Hunter transfers the water is his 8- year -old daughter, Sierra. Q -ody Hunter, 11, climbs down after checking the water level of his family's 5,000 -gal- +n water storage tank. " �1 YQak Cree^ `�' •'`E • t1b11WO0d -: ?t� „��'' IPA. \ / 0 �eer explosive growth north and west of Kingman will rapidly ' �' the drought after its primary supply of surface water demand. The has increase the demands on an untested groundwater store, ., couldn't meet city acknowledged As many as 200,000 new homes could be built in 20 years. Growth has already forced some subdivisions to X:.. Y survive on hauled water. Some builders have told prospec- tive buyers up front that they would have to haul water. • *• • MOp !' ; '' R(m }}i !j drought, including one that reached depths of about Prescott /Chino Vail ey ; .', 3,700 feet. The town anticipates stead growth, y Since Prescott, Prescott Valley and surrounding towns' . lack a source of surface water, they have been unable to control groundwater use. A proliferation of domestic Phantx Wet wells threatens the supply in some areas. If those wells "IYJJma Riven -, Beaver Creek run dry, towns could be pressured to take over small pri- t dry months. Payson requires new builders to secure vate systems. Prescott and Prescott Valley are spending 1 n ; ¢- Miles 6 West A Clear ...,.,. � Creek ■ The number of exempt wells is growing rapidly in some areas; most notably Yavapai County. In the Verde Valley alone, there are 7,208 exempt wells, most of them supplying private homes or ranches. Counting registered wells, which produce more water and are more closely regulated, there are more than 21,000 wells in Yavapai County, compared with slighly fewer than 15,000 in Maricopa County. ■ Wells are highly concentrated near the Verde River, Oak Creek and other streams in the Verde Valley. Salt River Project, which holds the rightsto surface water in the Verde River system, says those wells are depleting the river, but the law doesn't recognize that link. SRP, other water providers and environmental groups have asked a court to overturn that part of the law. Verde Valley growth projections. A study by Yavapai County and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation projects that private wells will grow at a rate faster than regular water system hook -ups. This will make it harder to manage water supplies. Growth ••• 2005 2035 • • Fopfdatlaft 6L6Q 01; 26647 153,32i', 149° ' System hook- ups 21,300 24,211 39,823 46,281 117% Privatewells I `5,614 16,5 6 11x 71 ,14366 ' 156% Sources: Salt River Project, Ariz. Dept. of Water Resources, lames Abundis/ Yavapai County, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation The Arizona Republic Read more on water issues The Republic has reported extensively on Arizona's water crisis and how it affects all of the state's residents. You can read these special reports online at azcentral.com: Conservation: How we use water now will have a lot to say about what kind of Arizona we leave for our children. Find out how to save water indoors, outdoors and in your every- day life. Read the report, complete with video tips on mak- ing your home water- efficient, at waterazeentral.eom. Journey down a troubled river: No American river works harder than the Colorado, which provides water and power for nearly 30 million Westerners. But the driest five years in half a millennium have starved the river. Read the report at azcentral.com/specials /river. Growing dry: Where growth and water will become issues in the coming years Mohave County Flagstaff /Williams Communities along the lower Colorado River likely won't face supply issues for a while, but state officials fear ' , Flagstaff has developed several new wells during explosive growth north and west of Kingman will rapidly ' �' the drought after its primary supply of surface water demand. The has increase the demands on an untested groundwater store, ., couldn't meet city acknowledged As many as 200,000 new homes could be built in 20 years. Growth has already forced some subdivisions to Kingman g it needs new water sources to meet future demand. Coconino County officials fear the spread of "wildcat survive on hauled water. Some builders have told prospec- tive buyers up front that they would have to haul water. • *• • MOp !' ; '' R(m subdivisions" will leave homeowners with no sure wa- ter supply. Williams has drilled new wells during the !j drought, including one that reached depths of about Prescott /Chino Vail ey ; .', 3,700 feet. The town anticipates stead growth, y Since Prescott, Prescott Valley and surrounding towns' which could overwhelm wells in another drought. lack a source of surface water, they have been unable to control groundwater use. A proliferation of domestic Phantx White Mountains / Mogollon Rim wells threatens the supply in some areas. If those wells "IYJJma Riven -, This is where towns already run out of water in' hot; run dry, towns could be pressured to take over small pri- t dry months. Payson requires new builders to secure vate systems. Prescott and Prescott Valley are spending 1 n ; ¢- an outside wa ter source and has forced businesses, more than $200 million to import water from Chino Val- Tucson ; including Wal -Mart and Home Depot, to comply with ley. Environmentalists and SRP may challenge that plan. strict conservation measures. Residents in unincorpo- James Abundis •i Verde Valley Both growth and water use are still only loosely regulated, although some towns are beginning to impose new rules. Individual wells supply many homes in the area, but Salt River Project has legally challenged the proximity of some wells to the Verde River, to which SRP holds rights. If a judge agrees with SRP that groundwater and surface water are linked, many well owners and irrigators could be left dry. The Arizona Republic ° rated areas fear encroachment from growing towns. Residents in resort towns Pine and Strawberry fear water- quality issues with the spread of septic tanks. Sierra Vista / San Pedro River Rapid growth in Sierra Vista and areas surrounding Fort Huachuca have taken enough of a toll on the San Pedro River that federal courts have ordered the Army repeatedly to stop overpumping, an order that has been ignored at times. The river now runs dry in some stretches, and environmentalists say wildlife habitat is vanishing quickly. Growth is expected to spill over into Benson and other areas of Cochise County in the near future. L;rcaccu 11UW, aaiu ivut;xicue rim- t-uig'luu who works on Verde issues for the Centel for - Biological Diversity, a Micson- base,( conservation group. "I really hope we car be more forward - thinking than that." The debate delves into some of Arizona': most arcane water law, a sweeping 31 year -old court case on water rights and, definition of water sources that, i changed, would affect communities acros: the state. The conflict has also allied envi ronmentalists with a traditional foe: Sal River Project. At issue is a basic question: Do well: pumping groundwater affect the levels o. nearby rivers and streams? In some states such as New Mexico, there is no question Groundwater and surface water are treater the same: But in Arizona, the law recognize: them separately. For most scientists and conservation ists, there is no doubt that too mucl groundwater pumping can reduce the floe of a nearby river. Federal courts have ever agreed in southern Arizona, where evi dente shows that growth around the For Huachuca Army base in Sierra Vista ha devastated portionsof the San PedroRivex But it remains to be seen if these deci sions will establish a legal precedent. Thi Army has successfully sought congres sional protection from the court decisions and growth around Sierra Vista has no slowed. Stretches of the San Pedro now dry ul part of the year, and the Center for Biolog ical Diversity says wildlife habitat is vanishing, taking threatened and endan gered species with it. SRP is intervening on the Verde, one a the two major river systems that suppl3 the utility and its Phoenix -area customer: with water. It asked a court last year to stol more than a dozen Verde Valley landown ers from diverting water from the river of its tributaries. Those rases are pending. The Verde is also part of a larger water rights battle that has been winding through the courts for 31 years. In tha" case, which will eventually settle al claims to the Gila River and its tributar ies, including the Verde, lawyers anc judges are trying to define when water pumped from a well belongs to a river. SRP.argues that wells too near the Verd( are sucking away water that should con tinue flowing to Horseshoe and Bartlet reservoirs. It wants landowners and com munities to find other water sources "There just isn't enough water in all these areas," said Dave Roberts, SRP's water rights manager. "They're going to have t( import water or limit their growth." The environmental groups and SRI want major well- drillers to complete habi. tat conservation plans that assess the of fects of drilling wells so near the Verde of its headwaters. At least six threatened of endangered species live along the upper Verde, including the bald eagle, the South western willow flycatcher and the razor. back sucker. A 2004 study by two retired U.S. Geolog ical Survey scientists, who were working with groups that oppose pumping, sug• gested that time is not on the Verde's side They found that Prescott's and Prescott Valley's plans to pump 8,700 acre-feet frog the aquifer above the river headwater: could cause stretches of the upper Verde tc dry up within 100 years. That damage would be accelerated if other growing: communities also tap the aquifer as ex petted, they said. Although area ranchers have pumper water for decades, they generally used it on site, allowing some to percolate back into the ground, said Ed Wolfe, one of the former USGS scientists. Exporting the wa• ter leaves nothing to recharge the area SRP's Roberts said reducing the river': flow will lead to other problems. Phoenix Tempe and other Valley cities hold rights with SRP to the Verde that would be re- duced if the river's long -term flow dropped. Over time, the wells could drain so much water from along thq river that runoff would percolate deep into the ground instead of flowing toward SRP's reservoirs. Prescott and other communities have promised to repair any damage their pumping causes, arguing that they are drilling wells so far from the river': source that any effects will be minor. Jim Holt, who will oversee Prescott's nem wells, says lower tributaries will keel losses to a minimum. "To say that it will dr3 up is simply not the case," he said, citing studies that found the Upper Verde Spring: contribute less than 5 percent of the river'., flow. But SRP and environmental group- fear that until a court or the Legislature de tide that groundwater is part of a stream of river, the Verde remains vulnerable.