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PHOENIX — State senators approved a measure Thursday designed to let Cochise County residents protect the San Pedro River and, by extension, Fort Huachuca.

The preliminary vote came after lawmakers tacked some new restrictions onto legislation that would set up a nine-member board to come up with a plan to create an agency whose job it would be to ensure there is enough water in the upper San Pedro basin to keep the stream flowing.

But the final word — including whether to levy a tax — would be up to the Cochise County Board of Supervisors and, ultimately, voters of the district.

HB 2300 is designed to help Fort Huachuca comply with its agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the area reach "sustainable yield" by 2011.

That is the point at which the amount of water being taken from the ground is equal to natural and artificial recharge.

This is critical because the government believes the presence of the fort, with both on- and off-base activities, is drying up the groundwater supply that feeds the river. And that endangers the wildlife living there.

Failure to achieve that goal almost definitely would mean no further expansion of the fort. In fact, it could mean the Army would move some of its operations elsewhere.

Herb Guenther, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said some of the goal could be met with conservation. But Guenther said he believes the only way to get "sustainable yield" would be to increase the groundwater artificially, whether with basins to recharge storm runoff or, on a grander scale, by pumping in water from elsewhere.

One option being considered is using the underground water from the mines in Bisbee.

A more expensive alternative would extend the Central Arizona Project Canal from Tucson to make Colorado River water available. A "crude" cost estimate in 1993 pegged the cost at that time from $71 million to $95 million.

Financing for any plan would depend on voters' not only approving creation of the agency but also ratifying a separate measure giving it the power to levy a tax of up to 50 cents on every 1,000 gallons of water delivered in the area.

Before approving the plan, senators added a provision spelling out that the county supervisors could ignore the recommendations of the temporary board and refuse outright to put the issue to voters. Sen. Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, said that preserves local control.

The legislation also was amended to make clear that if this new agency is approved by voters it would not have the power to regulate or zone property.

A final roll-call vote is necessary before the plan goes to the state House.