Community Watershed Alliance
of the Middle San Pedro Valley
NEWSLETTER
…an evolving team of stakeholders
working together to promote
the sustainable health of
our watershed.
    |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On January 7th, 51 positions were eliminated and 47 people were laid off. Tom Whitmer is the only survivor in the Rural Watershed Initiative Program which provided technical support to rural areas. ADWR's
previous budget was $18.6 million. In
FY2010, ADWR was appropriated $16,879,900 in General Fund monies. "Rumors on the street" indicate that another reduction in staff can be expected around May or June. PROPOSED
ORIGINAL TIME LINE FOR USGS STUDY: ADWR INTRODUCES TWO EMERGENCY BILLS Senate Bill 1355 is an emergency measure that establishes the Water Resource Fund, and imposes water use assessments on specified water users: municipal water delivery systems, agricultural irrigated acreage and industrial uses. The Bill specifies the fund is to be maintained in perpetuity, and that monies are to used exclusively by ADWR. Senate Bill 1359 is an emergency measure that establishes the Water Resources Fund, and requires that all fees related to ADWR statutory functions be deposited into the newly-created fund. ADWR is authorized to establish and collect fees-in statute and by rule-to carry out its statutory responsibilities. ADWR if funded by appropriations from the state General Fund, as well as other appropriated, nonappropriated and federal funds. In FY2010, ADWR was appropriated $16,879,900 in General Fund monies. The fiscal impacts to the state General Fund is unknown. However, because ADWR is funded by state General Fund monies, any increases in current fees may result in a reduction of ADWR's reliance on the General Fund. According to ADWR, the provisions of SB1359 would result in approximate revenues of $10 million to the department. ADWR also estimates the provisions of SB1355 would generate $18-20 million annually to the department. ADWR is responsible for managing Arizona's water resources to ensure long-term water supplies for the state. ADWR administers and enforces Arizona's groundwater and surface water law, and represents the state's water rights for the state and with the federal government. In order to carry out its role, ADWR administers several programs, including dam safety and flood damage protection, assured and adequate water supply administration, general stream adjudication support, rural water studies, conservation and drought programs, and automated groundwater monitoring, among others. UPPER SAN PEDRO WATER DISTRICT TO BE ON NOV. BALLOT "This District if permanently created would be unique in that it is intended to be solely focused on the special water related issues, as they currently exist or may evolve over time, in a portion of the Upper San Pedro Groundwater Basin approximately equal to the Sierra Vista Subwatershed." Three out of five scheduled public information meetings have been held throughout the Sierra Vista Subwatershed to receive public input regarding the acceptability of different programs and projects that will be incorporated into the final plan for the proposed District. The public meetings include a briefing by an Organizing Board Member on what the group has done and is followed by smaller group discussions about the District, plans for the future, the science behind the proposal, funding, the vision for a sustainable water future and economic implications. In the breakout meetings, members of the public are asked to provide views on the different subjects, which will be compiled and discussed during a second round of public meetings to be held in April and May. "In recognition of the area community concerns, the Arizona Legislature authorized the local communities to form a District to protect the river, the environment and the economics that are dependent on it. The District, if permanently created by voter approval, is intended to have a significant component of local control over water management decisions. The Draft Plan would be a guiding document for the District." The Organizing Board is working toward an election on Nov. 2 that includes two components: one to create a district and the other to establish a permanent seven-member board. The current Organizing Board Members are appointees of either the Governor or the President of the Arizona Senate or the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. Final
Comprehensive Plan 7-27-09.pdf Maps produced by the efforts of BLM, The Nature Conservancy, CWA and other partners are now finalized and will be available for viewing shortly. See the map for the entire river now. The posted map demonstrates monitoring completed on nearly 118 miles of the 174 mile San Pedro River from below the Mexican border to the town of Winkelman on June 20th. Forty-five percent, or 53.1 miles, of the river was wet. Seven to eight teams of three volunteers were recruited and trained for the Middle San Pedro area so that the standardized use of GPS units and forms would produce quality data. The wet/dry mapping dataset will then be used to historically track the river’s health by monitoring the persistence of surface water during the driest time of each year. CWA has coordinated the efforts within the Middle San Pedro for three years, extending the ten-year program developed in the Sierra Vista Watershed by BLM and TNC. Equestrians, ATVs, and hikers were on the river from approximately 5:30 A.M. to approximately 11:00 A.M.- traveling stretches of the river varying from 3 to 8 miles across lands to which property owners provide permission. 2009 Wet-Dry Map for Entire River. Specific area maps are expected to be posted by the end of next week. At the Annual CWA meeting, Deborah White - Right Of Way Services Manager, Ron Orozco - SSVEC, and Carmen Miller - SWPPP Inspector provided an overview of the Stormwater Pollution Protection Plan (SWPPP) for the SSVEC power line just west of Highway 80 between Benson and the St. David. area. All work was greater than 1/4 mile from the San Pedro River - an Impaired Stream; therefore, the actual plan did not have to be submitted to ADEQ and work could begin after seven days from filling the Notice of Intent. The form also serves as a promise that the operator will comply with requirements in the General Construction Permit. The document based upon a six page checklist of requirements, was continually revised as work progressed on the three mile - 50' wide track across private lands. The document was not available for CWA review, but should have included the specific responsibilities of the operator, the project description, maps and descriptions of the selected best management practices, and post construction controls. In addition, it should have listed the qualifications of the inspector, frequency of inspections, and included a monitoring plan. At the time of the presentation, SSVEC was implementing their restoration plans by reseeding all disturbed land up to 70% of the existing background cover. Since the ROW is not public access, the track will be gated on each end. From the Arizona Drought Watch Team: Several impressive storms moved through Arizona in January, dropping exceptional amounts of rain and snow on much of Arizona. Certain locations in Yavapai and Gila counties observed over 10 inches of rainfall during the stormy week of January 18th. Snowfall amounts in excess of 50 inches were reported around Flagstaff and parts of the White Mountains during that same time period. Overall, almost all of Arizona received above-average precipitation during the month of January. So, is the drought over? Long-term
deficits still remain and lingering drought impacts are most likely
occurring across the state. Drought status maps produced by the
Arizona Governor's Drought Task Force and National Drought Mitigation
Center are in the process of being updated to reflect improvements
due to the precipitation from recent storm events. Questions circulating
in these discussions include... El Nino is still in full swing in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to continue to impact Arizona's weather over the next several months. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center (http://www.cpc.noaa.gov) is still showing an increased chance of above-average precipitation over the February through April period according to their recent forecast update. SUNZIA TRANSMISSION LINES ALONG SAN PEDRO DRAW MAJOR OPPOSITION U.S. Congress Members Gabrielle Giffords and Raul Grijalva, along with Cascabel residents, have weighed in opposing SunZia Transmission LLC's request for a right of way to build two parallel 500-kilovolt, high--capacity transmission lines from New Mexico to the Pinal Central substation in Casa Grande. The focus of the $ 1 billion project is to harvest the resources such as New Mexico's strong winds and Arizona's sun energy and transport those to any power plant in the line of the project. The lines will be 460 miles long and the 1,000 foot wide right of way would cross public, state and private properties. One proposed route involving the San Pedro River is between the Benson Narrows and Dudleyville, crossing the river near Redington, San Manuel, Mammoth or Aravaipa Canyon. Click to see proposed routes. For an in depth review of this project and a list of serious concerns, visit the Cascabel Working Group's website. Click here. WELL MAINTENANCE RESOURCE NOW ON WEB Two water research centers at the U of A —the Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA) and the Water Resources Research Center—have joined forces with Cochise County Cooperative Extension to provide information and services for well owners." 10,000 of the 100,000 domestic wells registered in Arizona are found in Cochise County. Significant tools found on the website include:
2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTED Chair: Tom Bousman Alternate: Peter Moran Executive Director: Mary McCool Treasurer: Kali Holtschlag - Adams Ranch Secretary: Nancy Up Members At Large: Wayne Fields Ellis East - Pomerene Water Fred Kartchner - St. David Domestic Water
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||