Hi, I just want to applaud Arturo for his presentation at West Center today. I think some of the speakers were inappropriate but then they are allowed to speak. I am from Reno, NV and my acre property had a well which had to be deepened due to two huge golf course with million dollar homes sucking our aquifer dry.

My question to Arturo is if we go ahead with the CAP pipeline and the mine is approved, will we just be replacing the water drawdown that the mine will use, will our aquifer ever be recharged? Can we ever get on the plus side?

Thank you again for a great forum,

Dear Customer

The mine is expected to draw 100,000 acre feet of water over a twenty year period (5000 acre feet per year for 20 years), starting when they get their approvals in about 5 years. Remember, Community Water has no influence over the permit process; only our elected Federal representatives do.

The Community Water pipeline project is designed to provide 105,000 acre feet over a 15 year period (7000 acre feet per year for 15 years) and we want to start right away to stay ahead of the mines impact.  After 15 years we will continue with regular recharge at a rate of 7000 acre feet per year. So the short answer yes, we get start getting some benefits right away.

The long-term plans for Community Water Company are to direct use CAP water when it is economically feasible and acceptable to the membership. By having a pipeline readily available at no cost we save the rate payers the cost of seven miles of transmission lines ($9 million in 2007 dollars).  Community Water believes that the burden to pay for the mitigation related to the aquifer impact should be paid for by those who caused that impact.  Community Water does not support having taxpayers or rate payers assume the responsibility to pay for an impact caused by a known third party.  Community Water is very supportive if the taxpayers are willing to pay for an increased pipeline size to mitigate their own impact on the local aquifer.  In either case, we need to be bringing CAP water to our service area to protect our local environment.

The pipeline is only one of many tools that will be needed to achieve a sustainable water supply for the area.  It is important to note that, to our knowledge, we are the only organization that has taken action to protect our community interests if the mine application is approved.  It is apparently easy to protest the mine application; much harder to prepare for what happens if it is approved.

Can we ever get on the plus side? I don't know.  In round numbers the local mines and agriculture use about 66,000 acre feet of water, while Community Water uses about 3,000 acre feet of water. We are only one of six municipal water providers in southern Pima County, our membership cannot be expected to supply water to the whole valley. There are many fine organizations in our community that are working on the issues of a regional water solution.

Thank you again for your interests in these important water issues.

Sincerely,

Arturo Gabaldón,

Community Water Company of Green Valley