WMIDD Seeks Levee Repair, Faces New Flood

The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District is locked in a fight with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over plans to repair levees destroyed or damaged during state-wide flooding in early 1993. Of 105 miles of levees protecting 62 miles of Gila River frontage, 65 percent was destroyed, with most of the rest damaged.

The District, which delivers Colorado River water to farmland in eastern Yuma County, wants the levees re-built and has drafted an Environmental Assessment (EA); the EPA is calling for a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement that would consider other options.

District administrative assistant Herb Guenther contends that reconstruction of levees under the federal disaster recovery act requires only an EA, and describes EPA's demands for an EIS as "bizarre, beyond description." The EPA position is that new levees along the altered watercourse constitute a new project, and therefore an EIS is required. Guenther claims such a position is unprecedented, stating that "in all my years associated with the federal regulatory arena, I've never seen anything like this."

The District argues that, without flood protection, there would be no farming in the area, and without irrigation tailwater, there would be no riparian habitat along that stretch of the Gila. The District's levee reconstruction plans include enhanced protection of oxbows in the channel to extend wet periods along the Gila and improve riparian habitat.

The current EPA position is supported by the Yuma Audobon Society, and by the Phoenix-based Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, which has threatened to sue the EPA if an EIS is not conducted.

Meanwhile, the District is bracing for more flooding. The current channel can carry Gila River flows of 2,000 cubic feet per second; releases of 5,000 cfs are anticipated from Painted Rock Reservoir.

Landowners Sue for Gila Flood Damage

Land owners along the Gila River in Yuma County have sued Maricopa County and the Maricopa County Flood Control District over flood damage to their land that occurred when the Gillespie Dam broke two years ago. The lawsuit alleges negligence in design, construction and operation of the concrete diversion dam located 10 miles southwest of Palo Verde. A 60-foot section of the dam gave way January 9, 1993.

PVs Power Pump

Arizona Electric Power Cooperative and Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative have installed Arizona's first AC-powered photovoltaic (PV) water pump. The system's 30 PV panels generate up to 800 watts of electricity to power a 1/3 horsepower pump that provides domestic and livestock water in Cochise County.

Environmental Impacts of Mill Questioned

It sounds like the ultimate in environmentally-sensitive industry -- a mill that uses effluent and recycles old newspapers and magazines into newsprint. But the Fletcher Challenge mill, to be built in Red Rock 30 miles northwest of Tucson, is raising concerns among some Pinal County residents. The Canadian-based firm claims its refusal to agree to use mostly Arizona workers to build the mill, and not genuine environmental issues, are at the heart of the dispute.

The $400 million mill, which will employ 180 workers, will emit 100 million pounds of sludge and 100 million gallons of wastewater containing 200,000 pounds of pollutants annually. Some of the wastewater will be piped to the Central Arizona Irrigation and Drainage District to irrigate crops; the rest would be discharged to the Santa Cruz River. Pinal County has offered to build a landfill for sludge disposal.

A study commissioned by the Southern Arizona Work Preservation Fund, a Tucson labor-union group, concluded that emissions over the mill's expected 20-year life would put millions of pounds of pollutants into water, soil, and the air. The group wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require a full Environmental Impact Statement.

So far, the EPA has required only a draft Environmental Assessment (EA), which concluded that the mill would not pose a significant threat to the environment. EPA staff admit, however, that the EA did not adequately address issues of sludge disposal. Meanwhile, nearly all participants at an EPA-sponsored public hearing in Red Rock on February 13 called for more study.

Santa Cruz County Well Owners Warned

Well owners in the Santa Cruz communities of Tubac and Rio Rico have been advised to have their water tested for nitrate and bacteria contamination. The warning was issued jointly by the Santa Cruz County Health Department, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Elevated nitrate levels were found in private wells in the two areas to exceed drinking water levels, apparently due to discharges from septic tanks. Water high in nitrates can interfere with the functioning of hemoglobin in the blood, causing Blue Baby Syndrome, a health risk to pregnant women and their unborn babies, and infants under six months of age.

Testing of public water system wells in the same areas revealed no nitrate violations.

Ombudsman to Assist Riverbed Owners

An ombudsman is the latest player to join the ongoing effort -- albeit an interrupted effort -- to determine which Arizona rivers were navigable at statehood in 1912. The search to identify such navigable rivers is being done in response to a court decision. Once identified, the beds of such rivers are to be declared state property.

The hitch is that much of this property is in private hands. Enter the ombudsman.

Legislation created the ombudsman position last year to assist property owners affected by state activities to determine ownership of riverbeds.

The private property ombudsman originally was to be hired early summer, but the Legislative Council did not fill the position until mid-January when Phoenix attorney Mike Foster was hired. The ombudsman position includes an annual budget of $250,000.

Foster's duties as ombudsman include representing private property owners in proceedings arising from government actions. Such actions could include proposed state agency rules, licensing, permitting conditions or dedications limiting private property use. His first priority is to represent owners of residential, non-commercial and agricultural properties.

Riparian Advisory Committee Reports

After more than two years of deliberation, the Riparian Area Advisory Committee (RAAC) submitted its recommendations to the Arizona Legislature. The RAAC was created by the Legislature to develop recommendations for riparian protection measures.

The RAAC early on agreed upon basic concepts and goals for riparian protection. When it came to the specifics of implementing those goals there was much less agreement. Some members felt strongly that riparian protection could be achieved through providing local entities with powerful tools for managing water supplies and land use; others were suspicious of this type of authority and felt that such decisions by local entities should be subject to legislative approval.

The final report recommended that the Legislature develop a mechanism for local interests to plan for riparian protection (e.g., the Upper San Pedro or Verde rivers). It also recommended that a Council be established composed of representatives from Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Arizona Game and Fish, and Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to facilitate this planning and provide technical assistance.

Linked to this planning process, the RAAC requested the Legislature provide funds for an economic analysis of several additional proposals (called for in the original legislation, but never funded) and reconstitute the committee to present a final proposal to the Legislature with the completed analysis.

Additional recommendations to be brought back in 1996 include a set of management tools which local planning groups could use at their discretion to protect riparian areas, along with various non-regulatory tools, including: a lower property tax for land maintained for environmental preservation; recommendations for grazing management on state land; restoration with native plants; and establishment of a technical assistance office.

For the full RAAC recommendations, contact Kris Randall, ADEQ, 602-207-4510.

Kachina Water, Sewer Rates Hiked

Water and sewer rate increases approved by Coconino County Supervisors for Kachina Village will result in drastic increases in some customers' bills. Hardest hit will be mobile home parks, with increases in combined water/sewer bills of as much as 243 percent, to $21 per 1,000 gallons.

Apartment units will see increases of 125 percent, while commercial users will see modest increases of about six percent; both will pay nearly $16 per 1,000 gallons under the new rates. Single-family residences will see increases of over 25 percent, to $12 per 1,000 gallons. Water and sewer hook-up costs were increased from $1,000 to $1,850. The new rates are expected to increase annual revenues by $200,000.