8/12/2006 4:00:00 AM Upper Verde River group recommends studies review
By PAULA RHODEN
The Daily Courier
The Upper Verde River Watershed Protection Coalition executive board on Wednesday agreed to forward an intergovernmental agreement to the Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley councils to hire Errol L. Montgomery & Associates jointly to review two water studies on the upper and middle Verde River.
Prescott Valley Water Resource Manager John Munderloh said the consulting firm would review two U.S. Geological Survey studies, "Hydrology of the Upper and Middle Verde River Watersheds, Central Arizona" by K.W. Blasch and "The Verde River Headwaters, Yavapai County, Arizona" by Laura Wirt.
Munderloh said this is the first time the coalition has "taken an actual project and moved in to the actual entities."
County Supervisor Carol Springer asked at what point a USGS report becomes official.
Munderloh replied that a report is official if it carries the USGS name.
"We are all trying to come up with scientific information. We need to make sure our intent to do that is coming from an objective, credible source," Springer said.
Coalition Chairman and Chino Valley Mayer Karen Fann said a lot of federal tax money paid for reports that "confuse everyone. Now we are talking about spending more money to clarify those reports. Just give us the information good, bad or indifferent."
Prescott City Attorney Gary Kidd said the coalition board has no authority to approve the IGA, but it could recommend approval to the three councils.
Fann also asked about the cost of the contract with the consulting firm.
Prescott Mayor Rowle Simmons said, "The way I read the IGA is that the $27,000 cost would be split into thirds, with each city or town paying $9,000."
Springer told Munderloh, "You are asking for an IGA with a consultant yet to be named with credibility yet to be determined to study the validity of the reports."
Munderloh said Montgomery & Associates is "respected in the field and its credibility is usually unquestioned. The firm also has a close relationship with the USGS."
The executive board approved a request from the staff working group to prepare a Request for Proposals for the design and installation of a Big Chino Monitoring Network.
Munderloh said the idea is to expand monitoring work on the Big Chino sub basin. He said the Prescott Active Management Area is one of the largest monitoring systems in the state, and the Big Chino Water Ranch is developing a monitoring system.
"However, the Big Chino sub basin is bigger and there is a need for more information before development (in the area)," he said.
Munderloh said the idea is to look at current monitoring on the Big Chino sub basin, find the data gaps and build additional monitoring stations.
Munderloh said the working staff would create periodic Water Resource Fact Sheets.
He said, "Sometimes the public has the misconception there is a water crisis. The fact sheet would provide actual facts and explain any work in progress."
Chino Valley Water Resources Director Mark Holmes said staff members have developed a coalition Web site. Users, he said, can reach it through a link on the Chino Valley Web site, with additional links from the other entities.
The executive board agreed that members of the public may speak on agenda items as the board discusses them. Persons attending the meetings also may complete a Call to the Public form if they wish to talk about something not on the agenda. The coalition will limit public comment to three minutes per person.
On Wednesday, several audience members talked about the IGA with Montgomery & Associates.
Tom Slayback of Prescott Residents for Responsible Growth asked why, if the coalition has five members, only three are paying for the IGA.
Fann said part of the original discussion when the coalition was forming was that Dewey-Humboldt was a new entity and did not have very much money.
"We did not want to push the money issue. We decided we would rather have them as a member," Fann said.
Michael Harrington from the Center for Biological Diversity in Phoenix said he as "very supportive of monitoring the Big Chino sub basin. We will see the impact of drilling wells and pumping stations. I am looking forward to further discussions about mitigation."
Prescott resident Howard Mechanic asked what the conflict was with the two water studies.
"Where is the confusion? I think we should look at peer review first," he said.
The difference in the reports, Mechanic and others said, is where they gathered data. Basically, the two studies are saying the same thing in different ways. The reports measure the amount of water from the Big Chino in Verde River, at different locations.
Mechanic said the Big Chino contributes 80 percent of the base flow at the Upper Verde. However, by the time the Verde River reaches Horseshoe Lake, only 5 percent of the water is from the Big Chino.
Prescott resident Jack Wilson said the USGS is the "gold standard" and the coalition could probably get USGS officials to review the two studies at no additional cost.
Prescott resident Bill Meyer is a former USGS employee. He said reports are official when published. He said each report is subject to at least five peer reviews.
