12/29/2008 10:56:00 PM Top 10 Stories of 2008: No. 3 -
ADWR ruling buoys pipeline plans; opposition grows
Nathaniel Kastelic, file photo/The Daily Courier
Greg Kornrumph, left, senior analyst of water rights and contracts with SRP, leads a hike in September 2005 for the Big Chino Ranch mitigation group along the Verde River near Stillman Lake in Chino Valley.
Julie Machia, file photo/The Daily Courier
Foam sprays well above the lip of Sullivan's Canyon in Paulden in September 2004 as water from Paulden Lake roars into the Verde River after heavy rains. This is the second highest the water in this area has been in recorded history.
PRESCOTT - Even as the City of Prescott took one step forward in November when it received a relatively positive water ruling from the state, opposition to its plans for a 30-mile pipeline continued to accumulate in 2008.
Indeed, as the year closes, city officials are looking ahead to a February 2009 appeal hearing on the Arizona Department of Water Resources' ruling entitling Prescott to pump thousands of acre-feet per year from the Paulden-area Big Chino Sub-basin.
The decision, which came after more than a year of back-and-forth questions and answers between ADWR and the city, attracted seven appeals, involving a total of 19 individuals and groups.
The appeals were the culmination of a year in which the level of interest in the Big Chino Water Ranch continued to grow.
Despite the questions that the project has generated, however, Big Chino Project Manager Jim Holt consistently has maintained that it continues to make progress.
This past week, he pointed to the ADWR ruling as a "significant event" in the ongoing effort by Prescott and its partner Prescott Valley to build a pipeline to import water from the Big Chino Water Ranch northwest of Paulden.
After receiving more than 60 objections to the city's application this past fall, ADWR ruled in November that Prescott was entitled to pump 8,067 acre-feet of water per year from the Big Chino Sub-basin.
That ruling set off a 30-day appeal period, which Sandy Fabritz-Whitney, ADWR Assistant Director for the Water Management Division, reported generated responses from: the Yavapai Apache Nation; the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation; the Salt River Project; the City of Tempe; the Center for Biological Diversity and a number of local residents.
In order to be a full participant in the process, the City of Prescott also filed an administrative appeal, disputing, in part, the 8,067 acre-feet ruling. Originally, the city applied for 9,500 acre-feet of Big Chino water.
While the city's application for modification of its assured water supply to reflect the Big Chino water dominated much of the past year, Holt reported that 2008 saw activity in a number of other areas as well.
In mid-December, for instance, the Prescott City Council approved the first round of acquisitions of the easements it needs for the construction and maintenance of the pipeline.
Even so, that purchase of 20 necessary easements still leaves more than 100 - some of which city officials allow could be difficult to acquire without use of eminent domain.
In July, two of the owners of property along the route, Roy and Patricia Urarro, expressed frustration with Prescott's efforts to buy an easement over their rural Chino Valley land, maintaining that they should not have to give up their rights to accommodate the city's needs.
The continuing doubts about the project, as well as "misinformation" that Prescott and Prescott Valley officials say has circulated prompted the two communities to bring on a public relations firm in October.
As a part of the Town of Prescott Valley's lobbying contract with consultant Greenberg Traurig, sub-contractor Policy Development Group came on board to help with public relations. The combined lobbying/public relations contract totaled $144,000.
Prescott City Councilman Robert Luzius, as well as a number of area residents, maintained that the move lacked the "transparency" that they said the Big Chino project should have.
Along with the hearing on the ADWR ruling and the continued work on easement acquisitions, Holt said 2009 likely will feature more discussion on an issue that local officials touched upon in 2008: a possible public/private partnership on the financing for the $170 million-plus Big Chino project.
While local officials started the discussion in 2008, Holt said he expects a formal decision on the matter in the coming year.
