Dean Knuth / Arizona Daily Star 2007

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Regulation of the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries has been thrown up in the air less than two months after it appeared the U.S. government had permanently agreed to protect them from the effects of new homes, roads and mines.

Depending on the final outcome, this change could make it easier for the proposed Rosemont Mine to discharge waste into a tributary.

It may also reduce delays and red tape for new housing developments and road projects.

The reason for the uncertainty is that last week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended its designation of two stretches of the Santa Cruz, totaling 54 miles, as a navigable stream.

The designation would have meant that anyone wishing to build a project that would alter the river or its significant tributaries, or discharge materials into them, would need a permit.

The permit would force a builder to show that its project doesn't violate the federal Clean Water Act, a process that can consume many months and lead to strict regulations.

The navigable designation affected the river from Tubac to Continental and from the county's Roger Road sewage plant to the Pinal County line. Unlike most of the dry Santa Cruz, these sections run year-round with treated sewage effluent.

Tucson's two members of Congress said they were alarmed by the abruptness of the Corps' reversal, and that they will investigate.

The Corps, however, said it decided to suspend the designation while conducting a national review of its policies.

That review stems from a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting Clean Water Act protection of rivers and washes, which ultimately could reduce the regulation of normally dry washes and streams in the Southwest.

During the review, which is expected to take at least 60 days, the Corps will make no decisions on whether a project along the Santa Cruz or its tributaries will require federal regulation, said Craig Schmauder, a deputy general counsel for the agency in Washington, D.C.

The decision on the Santa Cruz will be one of the first major calls the Corps makes in the Southwest, he said.

For the Rosemont mine in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson, environmentalists had hoped a navigable declaration would prevent waste discharges from flowing into saguaro-packed Davidson Canyon from a tributary near the mine. Davidson leads to the Pantano Wash, which in turn flows to the Rillito River and then the Santa Cruz.

Before the latest Corps decision, an Augusta Resource Corp. official had said the company intended to apply for a Clean Water Act permit for Rosemont. An Augusta spokeswoman said Wednesday that the company will comply with any regulations.

Tucson's two members of Congress, Democrats Raúl Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, and environmental groups had hoped Corps regulation would restrict the mine. They also wanted it to lead to strict oversight of city and county roads, flood-control projects and new subdivisions.

"I am deeply troubled about the decision," Giffords said in a written statement. "This sudden and unexplained action is likely to have far-reaching consequences by limiting federal protections for intermittent rivers and streams across Southern Arizona."

Giffords said she will immediately ask for an explanation from the assistant secretary of the Army, who oversees the Corps of Engineers.

Grijalva blamed the outgoing Bush administration for "trying to make regulatory and administrative changes to take care of people who took care of them."

"Is it the home-building industry? Is it government, Pima County or somewhere else?" Grijalva asked.

The National Association of Home Builders has been concerned about the issue of navigable streams because it would restrict use of some lands nationally, said Ed Taczanowsky, Southern Arizona Home Builders Association president.

"Almost four months ago, I went to a workshop with the Corps and EPA (the Environmental Protection Agency) and they couldn't define what a navigable water was," Tacza-nowsky said. "If a navigable stream is an effluent discharge that can float a boat, then I guess that's what the Santa Cruz is."

Pima County officials had been concerned about the navigable-river status partly on technical grounds, but also because the rules could prolong the time to build new projects while restricting land use, said John Bernal, deputy county administrator for public works.

But Hugh Holub, an attorney representing a big Tubac-area developer, said he had always assumed the Santa Cruz would be navigable and found it "shocking" that the river might not get that protection.

Environmentalist Carolyn Campbell, director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, agreed. "This would have devastating impacts on our ability to assess the effects of projects on the Clean Water Act," Campbell said.

While local governments have wash ordinances, the Clean Water Act has broader reach because its reviews cover more issues, such as endangered species and pollution, she said.

On StarNet: Find more stories about the environment and keeping it green at azstarnet.com/environment.