MINUTES
Coconino Plateau Water Advisory Council
February 29, 2008
USGS Building #3
2255 N Gemini Drive,
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
Water Advisory Council Members Present
Joelynn Roberson, Hopi Tribe, WAC Vice-Chairman
Joe Haughey, City of Flagstaff
Carl Taylor, Coconino County
Charles Vaughn, Hualapai Tribe
Tom Whitmer, Arizona Department of Water Resources
Brenda Smith, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ron Sieg, Arizona Game and Fish Department
Bob Michaels, Bureau of Reclamation
Mike Hanneman, Kaibab National Forest
Bob Hart, USGS
Barry Baker, Tusayan
Pud Colquitt, City of Sedona
Virginia Riedel, Coconino NRCD
Nikolai Lash, Grand Canyon Trust
Joelynn Roberson, WAC Vice-Chairman, opened the meeting and asked for introductions by those in attendance. Bob Hart, USGS, welcomed everyone back to their facilities and reminded them of the housekeeping issues, including keeping conversations in the hallway to a minimum and taking cell phone calls outdoors to limit the disturbance to those working in the building.
Joelynn noted that the first item on the agenda was approval of the minutes from the November 30 and December 14 meetings. On a motion by Tom Whitmer, seconded by Ron Sieg the minutes were approved as submitted.
Next was a presentation by Kyle Blasch, USGS, on the new regional groundwater flow model. Kyle reviewed the watershed boundaries for the model which includes the upper and middle Verde River, the Coconino Plateau, and the Mogollon Highlands extending to the Little Colorado River. He explained the purpose of a regional model and noted that it was not a tool for small localized questions. Kyle said that they have been working with the Yavapai County Water Advisory Council’s Technical Advisory Committee in developing scenarios for the model. Abe Springer noted that the Coconino Plateau TAC is also developing some scenarios to run based on recommendations in the appraisal level study and in conjunction with the Yavapai TAC’s scenarios. The expectation would be to have the preliminary model results by the retreat on May 2.
Next on the agenda was a presentation by Herb Dishlip, Consultant to the Northern Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (NAMWUA), regarding his report on Colorado River water supplies within Arizona. Herb said that this report was done for NAMWUA based on their issues related to municipal water supplies. He said he looked at physical supply, legal framework, institutional issues, water rights, and costs. He noted that his report did not make a recommendation, but just provided the information.
Herb reviewed the physical availability of Colorado River water, noting that the rights to the water include 7 states, 2 countries, and are split between the upper and lower basin states. He said that the nature of the watershed is variable from year-to-year as well as being seasonal, with May, June, and July having the biggest runoff. He noted that there is a continuing decline in the long-term average trends, which show extensive periods where the supply is well below average. He noted that this is a significant issue for management for municipal users. He said that the system deals with the variation by building reservoirs for storage.
Herb reviewed the River allocations comparing demand and supply for upper and lower basins and Mexico. He reviewed the priority system and legal background associated with it. He reviewed the legal availability for both upper and lower basin and some of the pertinent legal issues associated with the allocations.
Herb reviewed the unallocated water, noting that there is 87,269 acre feet of CAP NIA priority water held in trust by ADWR pursuant to the Arizona Water Settlement Act, and that all or part of it will be allocated in 2010. He noted that Pinal County has the right of first refusal for approximately 15,000 acre feet of that water.
In outlining the future opportunities, Herb suggested that M&I users probably won’t sell, that Indian PPR’s are prohibited from selling unless authorized by Congress (would be a lease, not a sale), agricultural districts are reluctant to sell, but may be possible, and noted that land fallowing is a concept which is being tested in California.
He noted that there are costs considerations associated with obtaining an allocation and identified some of those.
Joelynn thanked Herb for his informative presentation.
Joelynn recognized Hualapai Tribal Chairman Vaughn, thanking him for coming and noting that the WAC Executive Committee would like to schedule some time with their tribal council to update them on the WAC’s activities. Chairman Vaughn said that he enjoyed Herb’s presentation but noted that the information presented doesn’t include claims that have yet to be made against the River, including those by the Hualapai and other tribes. He said he was glad to be back at the table and was amazed at how far the group has come.
Next on the agenda was a report from the TAC, which was given by Abe Springer. He noted that the TAC met with Kyle Blasch just before the WAC meeting and that as previously mentioned they will be working on scenarios to run with the regional groundwater model. He also noted that the At-Risk Waters research project workshop is scheduled for the evening of April 30 and all day on May 1, invitations will be sent out soon.
Joelynn said that the Executive Committee is working on developing an agenda for the retreat as a follow-up to the December WAC meeting and the discussion of the strategic plan. The current date being considered is Friday, May 2. The location is to be determined, but they want the entire WAC and all of the subcommittee members to attend and participate.
There was no update on the Statewide Water Advisory Group.
The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 28, and will include a presentation from Utah representatives on the St. George Pipeline proposal.
There was a request to have an update on Federal Rural Water Supply Act at a future meeting.
Robert Kirk mentioned that the Navajo Nation submitted a letter in support of the feasibility study and that he had copies if anyone wanted to obtain one.
The meeting adjourned at 12 p.m.