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Napolitano signs law to study San Pedro valley water supply

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PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano signed legislation Wednesday to study the water supply problem in the upper San Pedro Valley, and maybe even create a new layer of government.

The new law sets up a nine-member board to come up with a comprehensive plan to both conserve and reuse water within the area as well as to find ways to augment the water supply. That panel also would figure out how to organize a permanent water district, elect members, determine how much it would cost to meet the goals and how to raise that money.

But none of this guarantees there actually will be a permanent board at the end of all that to implement the goals.

The final word would be up to voters within the area, which stretches from Sierra Vista and Tombstone to the San Jose section of Bisbee and down to the border. Some opposition is expected from members of the already existing Hereford Natural Resources Conservation District.

And that can only happen if the Cochise County Board of Supervisors agrees to put the issue on the ballot.

The measure is based on an agreement that Fort Huachuca has with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the area achieve "sustainable yield" by 2011, with the amount of water being pumped from the ground no greater than the recharge.

That whole issue arises because the San Pedro River, fed in part by groundwater, is in danger of drying up, endangering the plants and animals that live there. And federal dollars cannot be used in ways that threaten these species.

Sierra Vista officials say they're already working on conservation measures. But backers of the legislation say more will need to be done, from simple projects like recharge of rainwater to importing water from outside the valley, whether from underground mines in Bisbee or potentially even extending the Central Arizona Project from its Tucson terminus.

And that will take money.

The legislation permits the permanent board to levy a tax of up to 50 cents for every 1,000 gallons of water delivered — but only if voters approve a separate ballot measure to permit the tax.

Rep. Jennifer Burns, R-Tucson, argued the district is the best chance for ensuring the federal government does not transfer some missions from the military base elsewhere.

Approval of the bill came over the objections of Mary Ann Black, a supervisor with the Hereford conservation district. She said her organization already has the power to do recharge projects, calling the new district unnecessary.