MINUTES
Coconino Plateau Water Advisory Council
Thursday, March 25, 2010
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Bright Angel Room
Coconino County Human Resources Building
420 N. San Francisco, Flagstaff
Flagstaff, Arizona
Water Advisory Council Members Present
Liz Archuleta, WAC Chairman, Coconino County
Carl Taylor, Coconino County
Brad Hill, City of Flagstaff
Cliff Hamilton, City of Sedona
Leo Manheimer, Navajo Nation
Joelynn Roberson, Hopi Tribe
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.
Diane Chung, National Park Service
Brenda Burman, The Nature Conservancy
1. Welcome and Introductions, Liz Archuleta, CPWAC Chairman
Chairman Archuleta opened the meeting and asked for introductions from those present. Chairman Archuleta announced that the Executive Committee had met and discussed future meeting dates and decided to keep the CPWAC meetings the last Friday of the month from 10 a.m.- 12 p.m.. She noted that her conflicting commitment which competes with that day and time will lessen when the legislature adjourns, and in the meantime Vice-Chairman Joelynn Roberson will chair the meetings.
2. Overview and Status Upper San Pedro Water District Formation
Tom Whitmer, ADWR
Tom Whitmer introduced this item by giving background on the Upper San Pedro Water District, how it was formed, what it is, and who is in it. (The power point presentation will be available on the CPWAC website www.cpwac.org )
Tom stated that the establishment of the district is provided for through special legislation (HB2300) passed by the Arizona legislature in 2007. He said that the legislation created a 9 member Organizing Board of Directors which has until September 20, 2012 to obtain approval from a majority of registered voters in order to be permanently established, otherwise the District is terminated. Tom said the stated goal of the District would be “to maintain the conditions needed to sustain the Upper San Pedro River and to help meet the water supply needs and water conservation requirements for the communities within the District and for Fort Huachuca.” Tom described the district boundaries, noting that is has a population of approximately 78,970. The driving forces behind the district include Fort Huachuca and the San Pedro River, which includes a National Conservation Area. Tom identified what the district would do, and what it wouldn’t do, noting that it would provide local control over water management decisions, and that it would not engage in the retail sale of water or regulate the acquisition, use or disposal of water or right rights, among other things.
Tom explained how the Organizing Board of Directors has been developing plans which cover water, finances, organization, and the election and held outreach associated with these plans. Tom mentioned some possible short and long term projects which are directed at an effort to reach long-term sustainability. He noted that the Organizing Board has conducted a public outreach survey with 60-73% in favor of the District.
Brad Hill asked how long it took to get to this point. Tom said they started in 1999 and it took eight years before the legislation was passed. Brenda Burman asked if the legislation could be applied to other districts. Tom said no, it’s specifically for the Upper San Pedro. Karla Brewster asked if Mexico is a party in this. Tom said no. Don Bills asked if there was a critical point that prompted the measure. Tom said this matter was discussed at the SWAG meetings and that is where the legislation came from. They felt it was a unique situation and supported the legislation to allow the establishment of the district.
Chairman Archuleta noted that the Executive Committee is considering meeting with the USPWD the third Thursday in May, or asking them to come to Flagstaff in June or July.
3. Committee Reports
Technical Advisory Committee, Leslie Meyers, TAC Chair
Leslie Meyers reported that the TAC had met on Thursday and discussed possible funding options for students to work on data collection for the Sustainable Water Budget project. She said that the TAC also discussed a strategy for preparing an application for feasibility study authorization under the Rural Water Supply Program. The RFP under the Program is expected in mid-April and will be open for 90 days minimum. Chairman Archuleta reminded everyone that this is to pursue authorization for conducting the feasibility study as the next step to the North Central Arizona Water Supply study. Carl Taylor asked about selection criteria under the Program. Bob Michaels, USBR, noted regional is the main criteria, with others including a federal nexus and need.
Government Affairs Committee, Brenda Burman, GAC Chair
Brenda Burman reported that the Executive Committee wants to have a local legislative day for WAC and invite elected officials who are represented on the WAC, this would include tribal councils, city and town councils, and similar boards and officials. The target date is the regular WAC meeting of September 24. The idea is to make a similar presentation as was done with the state and federal legislative day last year, but to CPWAC member organizations.
Public Outreach Committee
There was no POC meeting this month. Chairman Archuleta reported that she had made a presentation to the High School Envirothon as a result of a web-site request, as did Brenda Burman and Tom Whitmer. Don Bills requested feedback from members on the speaker’s bureau when they make presentations.
4. Rural Water Supply Act Update, Bob Michaels, Bureau of Reclamation
This item was addressed in the TAC Report under item #3.
5. CAP ADD-Water Update, Brad Hill, City of Flagstaff
Brad Hill reported on this agenda item, noting that in early March the CAP staff had asked the CAP Board to include “Just Water” in the ADD-Water program, he noted the involvement of NAMWUA (Northern Arizona Municipal Water Users Association) in supporting this proposal. Brad stated that the request was unanimously approved by the Board. Just Water is the aspect to include rural water outside of CAP in the program.
6. Blue Ribbon Panel on Water Sustainability, Brad Hill, City of Flagstaff
Brad Hill reported on this agenda item, noting that the Blue Ribbon Panel is comprised of the ADWR and ADEQ directors and a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission. He said that the panel has created a number of work groups, noting that Brenda Burman sits on the conservation workgroup and a number of other WAC members or their representatives sit on other groups. Liz said that she is a member of the public perceptions working group but has not been able to attend and asked that others report back to the WAC if they are attending.
Chairman Archuleta reported on a related issue which is the Water Ethic which was a strategic initiative that came out of the last WAC Retreat. She reminded everyone that the idea is for the CPWAC to adopt a regional water ethic and ask other agencies in the region, including WAC members, to adopt policies based on it. She noted that an ad-hoc committee had been identified previously but had not met yet. The committee consists of Don Bills, Abe Springer, Brenda Smith, Robert Kirk, Carl Taylor, Sue Pratt and Brad Hill, with Brenda Burman chairing the group. Brenda Burman said that the group will be meeting to come up with something that they can present to the CPWAC in August.
Chairman Archuleta noted that she will also be sending out letters and invoices asking for allocation for funding WAC as per the previous commitment requests.
7. Legislative Update and Report on State Tom Whitmer, ADWR
Water Issues
Tom reported that ADWR budget cuts have continued and they expect 60-70% additional cuts resulting in a loss of 70-90 staff members, leaving 80-90 in the entire department.
Tom reported on House Bill 2661 which provides for the establishment of a Statewide Water Commission which would consist of 15 members appointed by the Director of ADWR. The initial charge to the Commission would be supply/demand projections for each county by October 2012. He noted that there is broad-based support throughout the state for this legislation. Brenda Burman noted that right now it is just related to a study and that there are no guaranteed seats on the Board for rural areas, encouraging the CPWAC to stay involved. Brad Hill noted that CAP only supports a study, not an augmentation board.
8. Scheduling Future CPWAC meetings, Liz Archuleta, CPWAC Chairman
This item was addressed under Agenda item #1.
9. Wrap-up and set agenda for next meeting, Liz Archuleta, CPWAC Chairman
Chairman Archuleta noted that the Executive Committee had set out a tentative schedule for meetings through the end of the year, including a meeting on April 30, a possible retreat to replace the August meeting, a local legislative day in September, and regular meetings in October and early December. The WAC would not meet in May or July and combine November with December for the annual year-end meeting.
The Meeting Adjourned at 3:05 p.m.