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FLAGSTAFF — The city has signed off on a five-year contract extension to sell treated wastewater for snowmaking at the Arizona Snowbowl ski area, even as a federal appeals court ponders the legality of using the water.

The extension was approved without action by the Flagstaff City Council as an administrative matter, city officials said Wednesday. The contract carries three five-year renewal options.

The ski area plans to begin snowmaking operations next winter if a federal appeals court now weighing an appeal by Indian tribes doesn't block it.

The project would use up to 1.5 million gallons of treated Flagstaff wastewater a day from November through February. It would be piped 14.8 miles from Flagstaff, across Lowell Observatory and into a 10 million gallon storage pond.

Several Indian tribes have sued to stop the snowmaking plan, alleging that a ski-resort expansion and the use of reclaimed water is an affront to their religion and its existence. They also argued that the water may be harmful.

U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt of Phoenix ruled in January that the tribes "failed to present any objective evidence that their exercise of religion will be impacted by the Snowbowl upgrades." The tribes appealed, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case in September. A ruling is pending.

The 777-acre resort rests on the western flank of the San Francisco Peaks that have spiritual and religious meaning to 13 tribes in the Southwest.