IMPORTANT OPEN LETTERS FROM THE NORTHWEST ARIZONA WATERSHED COUNCIL CONCERNING THE WATER CRISIS IN MOHAVE COUNTY ARIZONA!    ARE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES LISTENING?

We want to know what you think! Write us at speakoutarizona@frontiernet.net 

 

 

To County Manager Ron Walker

Mohave County Arizona

 

Hello Ron

In the interest of the protection and preservation of our water in Mohave County in perpetuity, the Northwest Arizona Watershed Council has come together unanimously to make recommendations about this important issue to protect future generations.

 

Attached you will find two Word Document letters.  (SEE LETTERS BELOW)

 

The first letter, "Water in Perpetuity Letter" is our effort to identify particular issues of high importance to be addressed immediately. This letter identifies three key issues that we believe will form a foundation for water management, consistent with your and our water conservation principles, that will fit within the county's resource planning horizon.

 

The second letter, "Further Conservation Recommendations," is a revised letter that we had previously sent to Supervisor Pete Byers and others, which outlines issues of overall conservation management as a response to his request. Consistent with the principles of the Northwest Arizona Watershed Council's dedication to future generations and education, we added more details and further ways and means to go forward. The additions are in red so they can easily be seen from their earlier counterpart.

 

There will be many challenges and opportunities as we go forward in Mohave County and it is our interest to help provide creative ways to address the future of our water so as to maintain sensible long term growth, like our water, in perpetuity.

 

Thank you for the work that you do for Mohave County

 

Earl Engelhardt

Secretary

Northwest Arizona Watershed Council

 

Copies to

Supervisors Pete Byers, Tom Sockwell and Buster Johnson

and Planning and Zoning Director Christine Ballard.

 

__________________________________________

 

April 30 2007

Page 1 of 3

 

To: County Manager, Ron Walker.

Re: Water in Perpetuity.

Hello Ron.

 

While in the Board of Supervisors meeting on April 16^{th I was pleased to see passed, an agenda item relating to the approval of amending "Mohave County’s Business Goals" to include "Natural Resources Planning and Management" as goal number nine. I also saw that we now have approval for an attorney specializing in "water management and utilities."}

Also waiting near certain approval by the BOS is the extension of the building code throughout Mohave County allowing the county to enforce water conservation measures, especially true as new structures are built.

As you may know, the Northwest Arizona Watershed Council has discussed the issue of "water in perpetuity" in a workable model that we could present to the county. We have devoted considerable time to this issue and have submitted a letter to Supervisor Pete Byers dated Sept 26 2006, entitled "Mohave County Water Conservation Issues".

In our last meeting we came to a unanimous agreement on three primary issues of focus.

1, The cost of water to the consumer should provide incentives for conservation.

Recharge, which is minimal naturally, needs to be significantly increased by man induced means.

The County should hire a water specialist similar to the City of Kingman’s water position.

First, the cost of water does not reflect its real value neither currently or long term. This cost/value relationship has been out of proportion for a very long time. Water is no longer the endless commodity of years past. And it is clear that the overall public is poorly educated as to the real cost of water and it is also clear from interviews that other than water coming from a tap, most people are clueless of any of the inherent problems in providing them with water long term. We concluded that we need to do everything possible to change the perception of "cheap and unlimited water," to be used indiscriminately. Even those not in the "water business" are now in the water management and conservation business, like it or not. A tiered cost system would force people to conserve.

Second, recharge is a significant issue and must be aggressively addressed to dramatically increase the collection of rainwater for recharge. In addition all subdivisions should be required to treat effluent for reuse and the amount not reused should be recharged.

The third and an equally important issue is that of having a single knowledgeable person to administer the "Natural Resources Planning and Management." function. The Northwest Arizona Watershed Council unanimously agreed on the importance of this additional coordinating position with the County.

 

 

Page 2 of 3

The administrator, with the new attorney specializing in water management and utilities, would provide a team responsible for all the issues regarding water in Mohave County. Both the legal and conservation oversight requires significant independent management actions and are so

interrelated that having one office without the other would cause inefficiencies in the County’s plan to implement water conservation measures

In Summary:

In relation to price vs. cost of water, we believe that, although the county is not in the water supply business, you are in the water management business. As such, you can and should dramatically influence the indiscriminate use of water through a "variety of means,"

including future land use decisions through the discretionary legislative process, i.e. zoning. It is urgent that costs and value be brought into line protecting future generations.1

Within this "variety of means" comes the issue of the recharge of our aquifers. Collecting rainfall for recharge and recharging effluent has great potential for balancing our water budget. There are many challenges and opportunities in this single issue and we believe it will emerge as the single most important opportunity of all the methods of conservation, or resource enhancement, we could implement. With smaller snow packs and lessening rainfall, recharge will emerge as the most potentially rewarding avenue.2 It too, is an issue of protection for future generations.

With the new accepted BOS provisions, both legal and conservation management going forward will be a difficult task but having both positions recognized and filled will demonstrate the County’s commitment to growth and development management protecting future generations.

So it becomes easy to see how these three issues are inherently interdependent and we do not believe having one without the other makes sense in Mohave County’s self-deterministic future. The degree of urgency cannot be understated as the long term future of water in the West is now under serious attack on all fronts. We need to use every means to conserve, educate and provide oversight in protecting the County’s resources and providing future generations with a sustainable growth efficiently using commodities natural to our own area. 3

Lastly then;

1) There is a giant disconnect between the price of water and its real cost.

2) Recharge has significant opportunities, which cannot be overlooked any longer.

3) Having a person dedicated to water conservation, working with someone dedicated to the legal aspects of this "Natural Resources Planning and Management" issue, presents a team who can do all the interfacing and oversight and creative task assignments that will protect our water.

Thanks you for all the work you do and for the progress you have made to protect the peoples resources and our way of life here in Arizona.

Sincerely

Elno Roundy

Chairman, Northwest Arizona Watershed Council

Earl Engelhardt

Secretary

cc: Supervisors Pete Byers, Tom Sockwell, Buster Johnson

others; Chris Ballard --------

Page 3 of 3

Attachment: Letter to Pete Byers dated 9-26-06

1

Kristine Uhlman, RG. University of Arizona, Arsenic in Arizona Ground Water – Source and Transport Characteristics, a paper presented at the 2006 Arizona Hydrologic Symposium, Glendale Arizona.

2

Reference: 1) Bureau of Reclamation, Draft EIS for Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, 2) National Academy of Sciences, Colorado River Basin Water Management: Evaluating and Adjusting to Hydroclimatic Variability, 3) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group II, Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability and 4) CNA Corporation, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change - SecurityAndClimate.cna.org

3

In the 1970s Arizona's inability to regulate groundwater pumping had become a national issue. Congress balked at authorizing continued funding for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and east coast newspapers often reported that the state was running out of water. Meanwhile, financial institutions became leery of backing investments in Arizona. The Arizona Legislature finally faced the problems created by massive, unregulated groundwater pumping with the passage of the Groundwater Management Act, Arizona Water Policy Revisited, Arizona Policy Forum, 2004. Rather than abolish the rule of "reasonable use" as demand-side management tool, a comprehensive recharge and water harvesting plan could be invoked.

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

September 29, 2006 rev. 4/30/2007

Mohave County Water Conservation Issues

In response to a request for water conservation issues from Mohave County Supervisor Pete Byers, we have itemized our reply below, documenting issues as actionable recommendations, as developed by the Northwest Arizona Watershed Council. This is a listing with the intent to develop a starting point and open a dialog in order to aggressively face Mohave County’s water future with a greater degree of certainty as we experience substantial growth. This preliminary listing is considered open and dynamic in that new items will appear that will need our attention and new technologies will arise that change the water/growth landscape.

The issue of "water for 100 years," "1200 feet to depth" and "water in perpetuity" will be addressed in an amendment to this letter. These three issues combined are most complex and it is the intention of the Northwest Arizona Watershed Council to present workable options with which to manage a water budgeting process while accommodating all growth potential.

These issues and recommendations are all directed toward supporting the objectives of the Northwest Arizona Watershed Council, in its purpose to educate the public and others, while protecting our people’s most precious commodity, that of pure water. At the same time, we will plan growth while looking forward to protect future generations. Our goals are also consistent with the long-term county obligation for the overall health, safety and welfare of its citizens.

This listing is not prioritized.

Issues to Address.

Mohave County needs to fund a water conservation "department" and enlist a "Water Coordinator/Lobbyist" who is responsible for all aspects of implementing Mohave County’s water conservation strategy, protection programs and strategic planning. Items which will fall under the coordinator’s responsibility include;

1. All public educational programs, public and private, coordination of overcoming all legal obstacles for recharge and reuse of all water, investigate and prepare proposals for water exchanges for ocean water to California for Colorado River water in Mohave County and other such exchanges, coordinate feasibility studies for high mineralized aquifer water demineralization for local use, develop pilot programs for all Mohave County stakeholders, (city, county and state) to combine efforts for county wide recharge methodologies, expand current flood control ponds for recharge, evaluate the Mohave County Wash for recharge possibilities, create "purple pipe network" for parks, schools and other public buildings and open dialogs for support with local Chamber’s of Commerce and hotel sites, and other businesses who’s interest is having a long-term supply of local water, coordinate efforts for city expansions through annexation across water basin "boundaries." This "stream of consciousness" section covers a lot of ground and ranges from a political lobbyist to Public Works technicians.

2. Create website links from the Mohave County Home page to ADWR, ADEQ, USGS, and other sites that can be used as reference for water education. Link other sites like Payson, Southern Nevada and Coconino County sites that have existing conservation programs. Task for Information Technology Dept.

3. Develop a Mohave County "Icon" and conservation "slogan" for ease of identification of water interests in the arid desert. This creative task may require outsourcing.

4. Well drilling data collection issues include,

a. Well sounding tubes or measurement access to all wells.

b. Require all drillers to keep identified "chip trays" for every well drilled.

c. Map chip trays for location.

d. Do annual "well sweep" information of depth and report.

Develop volunteer private and public "well pumping monitoring"

sources.

f. Work with well drillers to understand chip tray geology.

This would be through ADWR in conjunction with possibly Public Health Dept.

5. Support the expansion of County Flood Control Districts and weather monitoring stations (http://weather.co.mohave.az.us/perl/DWReports.pl). Public Works Dept., Flood Control

6. Have the County Library allocate space to consolidate all water file information so it will be in one location for anyone to look at.

7. Education --- Conservation and drought public programs, media and TV spots for current local water information and conservation tips, free home audits for public information, brochure for water conservation for distribution is all public buildings in a noticeable location, use "drop in the bucket" and "project WET" as water education programs in elementary schools. Public Information Officer, Planning and Zoning Dept., Building Division and Public Health.

8. Green Home Ordinance --- Use Green Building classifications for all new homes (see Scottsdale and Coconino County), LEED standard, explore all closed and semi-closed (NORWECO) recycling systems, reuse systems within all private and public developments and public retrofits, low-flow toilets, use only high efficiency appliances make composting toilets optional. Planning and Zoning Dept., Building Division.

9. Develop "Landscape ordinance" for both private and public buildings and grounds using existing desert landscape information like Xeriscape, rainwater collection. Planning and Zoning Dept., Zoning Division

10. Water conservation logo/motto on all hotel restaurants bathroom mirrors. Public Health Dept.

11. Develop funding sources --- Pay for water in restaurants, tiered water pricing, building impact fees, all for educational uses and future water mitigation funding. Private Sector, Improvement Districts, Planning and Zoning Dept.

12. Make plan for higher efficiency home and commercial water-cooling devices and locate a balance of efficiency between air conditioning and water-cooling. No water-cooling device without thermostat control. Planning and Zoning Dept., Building Division

13. Create no new truck or car washes that are not of the latest water

conserving technology such as cycling bay water. Planning and Zoning Dept.

14. Home vehicle wash limited to specific days within license numbers. Sheriff’s Office

We appreciate your genuine concern for this important topic and we will continue to provide help and insight wherever possible

Sincerely

Earl Engelhardt

Secretary

Northwest Arizona Watershed Council

Kingman Arizona

86401

928 692 1068

See support attachments in Word and PDF. also

http://www.coconino.az.gov/comdev.aspx?id=148

 

http://co.coconino.az.us/inner.aspx?id=4645

http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/buildings/gbcodtoc.shtml

http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/index.asp?NID=599

http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/index.asp?NID=31

http://www.pprc.org/pubs/greencon/code_std.cfm

http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=147

http://www.greenbuildingservices.com/green_resources/pdfs/WaterConWeb.pdf#search=""green building" "water conservation""

http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/IndoorWater.html

http://www.epa.gov/region03/p2/building.htm