Minutes
Coconino Plateau Water Advisory Council
Friday, February 26, 2010
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
USGS Building #3
2255 N Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
Flagstaff, Arizona
Water Advisory Council Members Present
Mandy Metzger, Coconino County
Karla Brewster, City of Flagstaff
Cliff Hamilton, City of Sedona
Robert Kirk, Navajo Nation
Tom Whitmer, Arizona Department of Water Resources
Ron Sieg, Arizona Game and Fish
Bob Michaels, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Brenda Smith, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Don Bills, U.S.G.S.
Rory Steinke, Coconino National Forest
Paul Whitefield, National Park Service
Michael Macauley, NRCD
1. Welcome and Introductions, Tom Whitmer, for Liz Archuleta, Chairman
Tom Whitmer opened the meeting and asked for introductions by those in attendance. During introductions Rory Steinke announced there is a new forest supervisor on the Coconino National Forest, Earl Stewart, so he may begin attending CPWAC meetings.
2. USGS research related to Uranium in the Grand Canyon Region
Don Bills, USGS
Don Bills introduced this presentation by providing background on the issue, noting that due to a resurgence of mining activity, the current price of uranium, and the United States looking to alternative energy sources, the interest in uranium mining activity in the Grand Canyon Region has increased in the past year or so. Don showed a map of study area. The presentation will be available on the CPWAC website at www.cpwac.org and the full study can be downloaded at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5025/
By way of background, Don noted that on July 21, 2009 the Secretary of the Interior temporarily withdrew 1 million acres of land from mineral entry in the Grand Canyon Region. He identified concerns of the National Park Service related to uranium mining activating including possible contamination, and negative impacts to wildlife, view and soundscape, and cultural and natural resources. Don said that the basic issue to be addressed is balancing a national energy resource with protecting natural resources of the watershed of Grand Canyon National Park.
Don stated that in April 2009 the USGS started getting requests from Secretary’s office about uranium mining in the region so they compiled a list of existing published literature. In July 2009 the Secretary withdrew lands and the USGS began developing a plan for short-term studies. In July 2011 the Secretary will decide whether the lands will be permanently withdrawn.
Don said that there are four components of USGS science related to uranium and which were addressed in the initial study.
1. The location and amounts of uranium reserve in the ground. Estimate the amount of uranium in each of the areas proposed for permanent withdrawal.
2. Occurrence and extent of any post-mining waste release into the environment.
3. Levels of naturally occurring dissolved uranium in streams and springs tributary to the Colorado River. Investigate the possible contamination of regional water resources by past or future mining.
4. Identification of plants and animals that could be affected by Uranium mining and the exposure pathways.
Don’s presentation included extensive detail of the three study components: geology, hydrology, and biology.
Don said that the final EIS will be completed in the spring of 2011, and the Secretary of Interior will make determination on permanent withdrawal in June 2011
Rory asked about the relationship of sites where levels were higher, if any were up gradient from mining activity? Don, said, yes, some are and that would indicate naturally occurring. In response to a question, Don stated that all mine sites all on federal lands now. Don said that the highest dissolved uranium was found on Virgin River, don’t really know where it’s coming from.
The WAC thanked Don for his detailed presentation.
3. Committee Reports
Technical Advisory Committee; Leslie Meyers, TAC Chair
Leslie Meyers gave the TAC report, noting that all of the subcommittees met jointly the day before to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern in regard to the strategic plan. She said that the TAC was working with a student to obtain a grant to work on the Sustainable Water Budget, and were pursuing other funding opportunities as well if that one grant doesn’t come through.
Government Affairs Committee; Brenda Smith, GAC Member
Brenda Smith noted that the GAC would like to host another legislative day this year, last year’s was very successful.
Public Outreach Committee; Patricia Cox, POC Chair
Patricia Cox mentioned that there was a request from the CPWAC webpage for Speaker’s Bureau and that Tom Whitmer would be meeting with students this afternoon at Flagstaff High School related to the envirothon.
4. Rural Water Supply Act Update; Bob Michaels, Bureau of Reclamation
Tom Whitmer reminded everyone that the CPWAC had submitted an application in January 2009 to get feasibility authorized through he Bureau of Reclamation’s Rural Water Supply Act, but it was not approved as there were no formal procedures developed to accept such applications. Bob Michaels, Bureau of Reclamation, said that they have made progress and now they expect to put out an RFP in April for submitting applications.
5. CAP ADD-Water Update; Brad Hill, City of Flagstaff
Brad Hill gave an update on the efforts under the CAP-ADD Water, mentioning that they have been meeting. He noted that NAMWUA (Northern Arizona Municipal Water Users Association) had worked on getting a “Just Water” component inserted which addresses acquisition of water for entities outside of the CAP Service Area.
6. Blue Ribbon Panel on Water Sustainability; Brad Hill, City of Flagstaff
Brad explained that the Blue Ribbon Panel on Water Sustainability was established by Governor Brewer and consists of the Directors of ADWR and ADEQ, and a Corporation Commission Representative. He noted that a larger group has subsequently been formed and includes representation from Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, and The Nature Conservancy, among others. He said that the larger group had met twice and will be meeting again on March 5. They are studying reclaimed water and reuse. There are six subcommittees, although the water conservation/energy nexus will be split into two groups. http://www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/waterManagement/BlueRibbonPanel.htm#Workinggroup
Subcommittee meetings are open to the public, they just began meeting and expect to continue through the end of the year.
Mike Macauley asked if they are addressing watershed health. Tom Whitmer said no, the emphasis is on effluent reuse.
Brad read four goals of the Blue Ribbon panel, the web site states: “The 40 member Panel of appointed members, (representing Legislative leadership, State Agencies, Local Governments, City Governments, Tribal Governments, Federal Government, Universities, and Private Utilities) will provide advice to ADWR, ADEQ, and the ACC on the technical, legal, and policy aspects of promoting recycling of wastewater, gray water, industrial process water, and stormwater. While there are many opportunities to increase water recycling and conservation, an early priority of the Panel will be to focus on increasing wastewater reuse throughout the State through detailed examinations of water quality, regulatory, infrastructure and public acceptance challenges that could limit the increased use of this important water supply.”
The working groups are: 1. Public perception/Acceptance 2. Regulations and Permitting 3. Infrastructure/Retrofit 4. Water conservation/Recycling/Efficiency/Energy Nexus 5. Economic/Funding.
Patricia asked how often are working groups going to meet. Brad said that anyone interested should contact individual group.
7. Legislative Update and Report on State Water Issues; Tom Whitmer, ADWR
Tom said that surprisingly, there has been a large number of water bills introduced in the legislature this session, he mentioned some and noted that some were for funding, although the 5-cent bottle bill died.
HB2661-came out of ADD-Water and is a concept of Tom Carr and Tom Whitmer, which is to form a statewide water commission. He said the intention is to address water resources statewide, not compete for water. If formed, the commission would have 18 months to put together supplies, demands, sources for every county in the state. Also put together legislation, financing, infrastructure.
Brad Hill emphasized the significance of rural and urban interests working together on ADD-Water/Just Water and support for statewide water planning.
Tom is optimistic the legislation will go through and then appointment of a 15-member commission.
8. Wrap-up and set agenda for next meeting
Tom Whitmer noted that at the December meeting Liz Archuleta said that due to scheduling conflicts she would not be able to attend Friday WAC meetings. Tom said that the Executive Committee had discussed the possibility of changing the regular meeting day to accommodate Liz’s schedule in order to keep her as Chairman. He said that there are many efforts currently underway that would be important to maintain continuity. He suggested moving the regular meeting day to the last Thursday of each month from 1-3 p.m.
Mike Macauley said that conflicts with his Board meeting every-other month. Mike said that the third Thursday and Friday work best for him. Tom suggested that they schedule the next meeting for the last Thursday in March (March 25) and talk about it then. Don noted that the regular meeting room at USGS was not available in March, but he has it booked for April, May, and June.
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday, March 25, at 1 p.m. location to be determined.
The meeting adjourned at 12:10.