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Dear Friend,
Happy Earth Day, Verde River Lovers!!
What's New?
It's been a couple months since our last update. Since then, more than 19,000 petition signatures have been presented to Prescott and Prescott Valley with more continuing to trickle in. One wonders how long the cities can continue to ignore the call to responsibly steward the Verde River? Please pass along the link to the petition to your friends and families, and if you haven't yet signed it, please do so today. Maybe they'll blink when we get to 25,000.
Local folks may have noticed that the Center for Biological Diversity's office in Prescott closed this month. The economy hits not-for-profit groups just like it does municipalities and individuals and causes all of us to make difficult choices. We were very sorry to shutter the office. Fortunately, in the past three years of the Save the Verde campaign, invaluable alliances have been formed with other groups and individuals in the region all concerned about the continued health of the river. Many of the groups share members and volunteers thus improving communications and amplifying our ability to "be everywhere" and "watch(dog) everything." The Verde River remains an important priority for the Center.
Center Sues Prescott for Obstructing Records Law
Further evidence of the City of Prescott's stubborn streak lies in their refusal to provide access to public records. In May 2008, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a request to review records that pertained to the Big Chino Water Ranch Project. As of today, we have still not received certain requested records nor been given any explanation as to why they are being withheld despite repeated phone calls, emails, letters and in-person queries. In response to Prescott's decided unresponsiveness, we have filed a complaint today under A.R.S. Sec. 39-121 et seq., Arizona's public records statute, with the Arizona Superior Court in Yavapai County. Funny, seems like only weeks ago that Prescott complained about SRP not providing access to documents... but then quietly filed suit themselves to keep from sharing their records with SRP. Sort of like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time, Prescott's holding their cards close and talking out both sides of their mouth - looks just as silly and makes just as little sense.
Have You Received Unsolicited Email?
Some of you may have recently received unsolicited emails from a Mr. John Sellers. Sellers obtained the email addresses from the petitions we submitted to Prescott and Prescott Valley. We have requested that Mr. Sellers cease using the email for his own propaganda purposes, but he indicates that he has now provided that list to candidates for office in the area. Please do not hesitate to request being removed from any email or mail list on which you would rather not be included. That includes emails from the Center for Biological Diversity and our Save the Verde campaign. In the future we will redact contact information from the petitions before providing them to the cities.
Please accept our apology for any inconvenience this has caused.
ON NOW - April River Days
Events associated with the second annual April River Days: A Week of Celebration and Action for the Verde River are going on now at a venue near you! The opening event was sheer delight as musical storyteller Tony Norris accompanied by the Springfed Band and special local talent brought together just for the evening, Soul Creek, tickled our bluegrass, folk and Celtic toes. The event was co-sponsored by the Center and The Folk Sessions.
Several events are still on tap: a Verde River Stream Ecology Symposium at Prescott College; movie night featuring Is the Southwest Running Dry? sponsored by CWAG; a Verde Springs hike; a river safety training; etc. Also, Sedona Outdoor Adventures are providing at cost river running trips on the Verde all week. Contact them at (877) 673-3661.
Make sure to check out the special April River Days calendar here for more upcoming fun!
ADWR Hearing Continues
After three more days of hearing in April - in addition to the three days in February we commented on in our last update - the question of whether ADWR should reconsider their approval of Prescott's modification of designation of an Assured Water Supply is still completely up in the air. In fact, the parties will reconvene again to continue the hearing on June 15 and 16 beginning at 9:00 a.m. each day, at Yavapai College, 1100 East Sheldon, Building 19 - Rm.147, Community Room, Prescott, Arizona 86301.
In mid November, the Arizona Department of Water Resources concluded that Prescott has approximately 20,000 acre-feet of water from physically, legally, and continuously available sources to the city for no less than 100 years, including 8,067 acre-feet from the Big Chino Water Ranch. That approval does not take into account the impacts to the upper Verde River. Appeals to this decision were filed by the Center and others. The City of Prescott also filed an administrative appeal as they had originally applied for 9,500 acre-feet of Big Chino water.
Public hearings held February 9, 10 and 11, and continued on April 13, 14 and 15, reviewed the ADWR decision. The Honorable Thomas Shedden, administrative law judge for the Arizona Department of Administrative Hearings, heard testimony from witnesses brought by the City of Prescott, the Beverly Appellants, the Center for Biological Diversity, and ADWR. Rebuttal witnesses for the City of Prescott are "currently" on the stand.
The highlight of the most recent days of the hearing was the repeated acknowledgement by ADWR assistant director Sandra Fabritz-Whitney that the department's director, Herb Guenther, has publicly and personally expressed to her his belief that the city's proposed pumping from the Big Chino will eventually impact the flows of the upper Verde River. And despite this, the modification was approved because the "rules" don't say that ADWR can consider impacts to a river or spring - only that the groundwater level under the well must not drop beyond 1,000 feet below land surface. So much for the department's duty to manage our water resources...
Ultimately, Judge Shedden will evaluate witnesses' testimony, decide what evidence to admit, and finally make a recommendation to the ADWR director.
Click here and here to read a couple of The Daily Courier article about the hearings.
You can follow the hearings on the Office of Administrative Hearings Web site here by searching by client under the Department of Water Resources or by the docket #08A-AWS001-DWR. Or click here to access all of the documents filed in the case.
Verde Exhibit Moves to Prescott College and Destinations As Yet Unknown
The Center's beautiful Verde River exhibit that was created for the Prescott Public Library "Viewerie" has moved on to Prescott College for the month of April. Through large-format photographs, poetry, and three-dimension demonstrations, witness the story of our beautiful Verde, the threats that beleaguer it, and what citizens can do to help. The exhibit is set to "travel" to new destinations starting some time in May, so if you have or know of an exhibit space that would lend itself to this, please contact us! Many thanks to Prescott College students Allison Trowbridge and Heidi Black for design assistance, as well as Edie Dillon, Joanne Oellers, Gary Beverly, Walt Anderson, and Robin Silver. Photos of the exhibit are available on facebook.
Donate!
The Center for Biological Diversity appreciates your interest and involvement in the Save the Verde campaign. Please visit savetheverde.org for other news and updates. You can make a donation to this campaign from this secure Web site. Please contribute today!
Photo by Gary Beverly.
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