SRP blocks plans by Yavapai County communities to use river water

February 2008

U.S. Water News Online

PHOENIX -- Three Yavapai County communities have agreed to consider changes to their plans to import groundwater from a regional aquifer in order to protect the Verde River.

The Salt River Project, a large Phoenix-area water and power district, said it would sue to prevent permanent damage to the Verde, which depends on flows from Big Chino Aquifer -- an underground store of water targeted for the import plan.

The threat of a court battle appears to have nudged Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley to consider altering their plans, which included multiple well sites and two delivery pipelines.

"You might say we've turned the heat up," said John Sullivan, SRP's associate general manager. "We'd like to work something out with them, but it won't be easy. We want to sit down and find a solution."

Prescott and Prescott Valley bought a ranch on Big Chino and announced plans in late 2004 to tap its groundwater rights and build a 30-mile pipeline to import the water. The two communities needed another source of water.

Last year, Chino Valley approved its own proposal to drill into the aquifer and build a shorter pipeline with the help of a private developer. Chino Valley also bought ranchland to acquire the water rights.

SRP officials long had feared the spread of wells on Big Chino Aquifer, which supplies as much as 80 percent of the water that flows in the upper Verde River.

Tempe-based SRP holds the rights to virtually the entire flow of the Verde, which fills Horseshoe and Bartlett lakes northeast of the Valley.

Environmental groups have sided with SRP and have threatened to sue over the pipeline plan. The groups cite a string of studies that predict a dire future for the Verde if too much groundwater is pumped.

A profusion of wells could drain long stretches of the river's upper 24 miles, wiping out habitat for native fish and birds.

"We want some assurances that what they're planning won't endanger the river," said Michelle Harrington, rivers-conservation manager for the Center for Biological Diversity. "So far, what we've gotten from both Chino Valley and Prescott are promises that they'll protect the river, but no indication of what that might be."

A hydrologist hired by SRP to study Chino Valley's plan said that a well drilled so close to the headwaters could reduce the river's flow in as few as 10 to 20 years.

Moving the wells farther away would reduce the immediate damage and give the communities time to develop a recharge plan.

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