The oversight board voted three-to-one on Tuesday to follow a request by Democratic director Matt Heinz to send a letter to the Arizona Department of Water Resources making that request. Republican director Steve Christie disagreed. Democratic head coach Sharon Bronson did not attend the vote.

The state water authority has initiated such an evaluation, although the supervisor and county administrator Jan Lescher said he was unaware, but it is unclear whether the work can be expedited. The state’s analysis of the computer model won’t be completed until 2024, which could take up to 18 months, ADWR spokesman Doug McEachern told The Star.

“We know the Colorado River is in danger right now. We live in the desert,” Heinz told the board.

Heinz noted that in early June, ADWR released the results of a computer-model-based study that predicted a 4.86 million acre-foot gap between groundwater supply and demand in the Phoenix area over the next 100 years. As a result of these findings, ADWR has issued a 100-year plan for subdivision developments that rely solely on groundwater within the National Phoenix Active Management Area and are not supplied by a uniquely designated water utility. It announced that it would stop issuing new certificates for reliable water supply. Realize a reliable supply.

“We think it’s important to know what’s going on here in the Tucson Basin, and we’ll figure it out as soon as possible,” Heinz said.

Christie countered that this looks like a solution looking for a problem.

“As far as the Tucson AMA goes, all I’ve been led to believe is that water resources are managed,” Christie said, referring to the National Water Management District, which covers most of the Tucson metropolitan area. “We don’t want the Arizona DWR to rush the groundwater model. We have the ability to solve it on our own.”

Board Vice Chairman Rex Scott said, “I think it’s good to have that information, so I’m going to vote for it.”

“If we come to any conclusions similar to Maricopa County, I definitely hope that they will share the information with the public in the same discreet and sensitive way that they shared it in that (previous) report. there is,” he said. Scott, Democrat.

He said when the Phoenix area report was released, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said a state order banning new subdivision construction in a particular area would not bring development to a “quick halt.” pointed out that

Part of the reason for this is that most cities in the Phoenix area have 100-year solid water continuity designations that cover all new developments within the boundaries of a utility’s water district until the designation expires. It’s for

The new zoning ban would affect two cities, Queen Creek and Buckeye, which do not have such designations, and others, including within some city limits served by private water companies that do not have such designations. Affect the region.

Water conditions in the Tucson area are generally considered brighter than in Phoenix by most experts. The city of Tucson now relies almost exclusively on renewable Colorado River water, not groundwater, for drinking water, causing the water table to rise in parts of the city.

Tucson’s actively managed areas are nearing the state’s goal of balancing groundwater extraction and recharge by 2025. This condition is known as the “safe water level”.

Phoenix is ​​not expected to score that goal. Moreover, his recent ADWR study found that although the ongoing groundwater overflow in the Phoenix area has declined significantly since 2000, he will increase dramatically from now until 2121 as development continues. indicates a possibility.

But ADWR warned in a slide presentation at a public conference late last month that the Tucson area may not always be in such good shape. In this slide, state-of-the-art groundwater modeling for the Phoenix and Pinal counties water management areas shows that “over the next 100 years, these two he AMAs have reached their expected growth limits for groundwater supplies.” ‘ said.

“Without action, other AMAs will eventually reach this limit,” Slide said, adding that three other national active management areas covering the Tucson and Prescott areas and Santa Cruz County south of Tucson. Mentioned.

One of the unknown factors for the Tucson area is whether continued drying of the Colorado River will significantly reduce deliveries for Central Arizona projects here. This situation could further increase groundwater pumping. Another issue is that many unincorporated areas of Pima County north, south, and southeast of Tucson still rely on groundwater to support the rapid growth taking place there.

This has raised concerns among some water experts that these aquifers are prone to land subsidence, known as subsidence, as the water quality eventually declines.

However, the hurdle for the state to decide that such an area will not have a reliable water supply for 100 years will be high. Groundwater modeling for ADWR must show that pumping will lower the water table by at least 1,000 feet over 100 years.

In a June 28 memo, Heinz said the city of Tucson will voluntarily contribute 50,000 acre-feet of its total annual water supply from the Lake Mead Central Arizona Project this year to maintain reservoir levels. said to give up. Democratic Mayor Regina Romero said the city agreed to leave a total of 110,000 acre feet of CAP water in the lake over the next three years in exchange for about $44 million in compensation from the federal government.

“In the near future, our region will become increasingly dependent on groundwater, putting stress on the AMA’s ability to balance groundwater levels and use,” Heinz wrote. “Given this inevitability, there is an urgent need for a clear understanding of the demands on groundwater systems and how much growth the aquifer can safely support over the next 100 years.”

In a letter to the Board of Supervisors dated July 9, resident Kathy Madsen offered a different interpretation of Tucson’s action to leave some of the river’s water in Lake Mead. When Tucson Water Commissioner John Kmeek announced these measures, he said the city was not using all of the CAP water it received and was “storing” the surplus underground, so there was some water in the lake. He pointed out that he said he could afford to keep the

“If the Tucson Mayor and Water Commissioner are confident, why is the BoS suspicious? What the hell is going on?” Madsen wrote. “As long as the pumps and parts to maintain the existing underground wells are stockpiled and the wells are monitored, that is the job of the local water authority, not the board, so why would the board suddenly have such concerns? Is it?”

Two other letter authors now express water concerns after voting in December to approve a lease-purchase agreement that would allow out-of-state companies to build battery-manufacturing plants that use large amounts of batteries. , essentially accusing the board of being inconsistent. Water.

Utah-based lithium battery startup American Battery Factory has invested more than $1 billion to build a “Gigafactory” complex south of Tucson International Airport under a lease purchase agreement with Pima County. and plans to eventually employ 1,000 workers. The county regulator approved the agreement on December 6.

The company, a spin-off of energy storage system manufacturer Lion Energy, plans to produce lithium iron phosphate battery cells for residential and commercial energy storage systems. County administrator Lesher told the board in a pre-voting memo that the plant would use about 150,000 gallons of water each day.

American Battery Factory will lease up to 267 acres of land at Raytheon’s south county aerospace research campus and airport at a fair market value determined by valuation.

Subject to timely lease payments and the achievement of early construction and hiring milestones, the company will value approximately $21 million for all 267 acres as early as 30 months after the lease closes. Lecher said there is an option to buy land in board.

One resident who wrote to the board, Terra Radriffe, said: “Are there plans to introduce water restrictions or fees for voters in the near future? Due to the current ‘climate emergency.’ Is it?” he asked. You created this situation because you did not responsibly manage the use of the county water supply. How do you responsibly fix it?”