Arizona Water Resource Mar-Apr 2005

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4 Arizona Water Resource March -April 2005 i Cave Creek Wants Public Water Utility Asmall town in Arizona is confronting an issue that is of importance nationally, even globally: the issue of public vs. private own- ership of water utilities. Incorporated in 1986, Cave Creek has been served by the Cave Creek Water Co., a private water utility, for the past ten years. The town has been negotiating with the util- ity for three years in an effort to purchase it. As a result town officials were chagrined when they discovered that the utility was sold on March 3 to Global Water, another private water company. A principle is at stake in the issue. Cave Creek Town Manager Usama Abujbarah says, "Our philosophy toward water is that it has to do with public health, safety and welfare and is not a business for profit. We need to guarantee that in the future the water services will be provided without any interruption and that it will be safe." Also, Abujbarah is concerned that a private water company, concerned with the bottom line, may not pursue water policies that are in the best interest of the public. With their efforts to purchase and op- erate the utility gone for naught, officials are determined to take action to acquire the water company either through purchase or eminent domain. The town council ap- proved this course of action March 21. Ef- forts to negotiate a purchase with the new owner were not successful. Abujbarah says, "We talked with Global Water but the response we got from them about a friendly purchase was not friendly. They are not willing to sit down with us so far. Because of that we hired a law firm to file for condemnation." Eminent domain is a strategy avail- able to Arizona municipalities for acquiring utilities or private property if it is to the advantage of the community. It can involve lengthy court cases, with a judge often de- ciding a sales price, although such cases usu- ally conclude with a negotiated settlement. ADWR Deputy Director Appointed Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Herb Guenther has named Karen Smith as deputy director of the agency. Smith will be leaving her position as direc- tor of the water quality division of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, a position she held since 1998, to join ADWR. Smith's division at ADEQ had a budget of over $15 million, with approximately 200 employees. Her responsibilities included en- suring the safety of drinking water of public water systems, developing water quality management plans, establishing water quali- ty standards and responding to emergencies. She also has been a member of the Gover- nor's Drought Task Force, the Governor's Colorado River Water Quality Task Force and the Perchlorate Working Group. Report Faults USIBWC Commissioner AU.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission state- ment says a recent State Department report critical of its commissioner is politically motivated. Issued by the State Department's inspector general's office, the 60 -page re- port evaluated Arturo Duran's performance as head of the USIBWC. Duran, who was appointed by President Bush, has been commissioner for 15 months. The State Department report was espe- cially critical of Duran's personnel actions that it says undermined the operation of the USIBWC. The report states, "Internal man- agement problems have engulfed USIBWC, threatening its essential responsibilities for flood control and water management in the American Southwest " The report acknowledged that the agency had experienced several years of internal management turmoil when Duran took control of the agency. Also the report was favorably impressed with Duran's out- reach activities and acknowledged that his agency contributed to the successful nego- tiations to resolve Mexico's treaty obligation to provide Rio Grande water to the United States. Further, the report credits Duran for "helping break a logjam affecting sew- age treatment on the California border with Mexico." Yet the report found sufficient fault to state: "The Department of State bears clear foreign policy oversight of USIBWC. The time has come, however, for stricter Depart- ment or other U.S. government oversight of how the commission manages matters related to its personnel." In response, the commission's state- ment said the report was mistaken in claiming that the USIBWC was a State Department subdivision when in fact it is an "independent federal commission." It further claimed that the real intent of the report is to exert State Department author- ity over the commission, thus subverting its 115 -year history as an independent agency. The statement also added, "The USIBWC has taken a proactive and con- structive approach to the inspection and has already taken steps to implement some of the report's recommendations." No AMA for Upper San Pedro Basin The San Pedro Basin will not be declared an Active Management Area despite the urging of various environmental groups who wanted the designation as a means for preserving the flow of the San Pedro River. Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Herb Guenther determined that the San Pedro situation does not meet the statutory requirements for establishing an AMA outlined in the state's Groundwater Management Act. Beginning in Mexico and joining the Gila River at Winkelman, the San Pedro is a river of controversy, its perennial flow sup- porting stands of cottonwood and willow forests that provide habitat for more than 300 types of birds. Meanwhile groundwater pumpers in the Benson and Sierra Vista area pose a threat to the river's flow. Environ- mentalists fear for the survival of the river. Statutory considerations, however, determined Guenther's decision not to es-