1. Upper Agua Fria Partnership Meeting Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 10 am, Horse Shoe Ranch at Agua Fria National Monument, east on Blood Basin Road
Bring Bag lunch.
Main Focus: Tom Whitham and NAU Cottonwood Project
Agenda to follow
Mary 480-206-8228 or earthhouse@aol.com
2. Need an OSHA 8-hour Refresher? If you need an OSHA refresher, contact the editor to register. Cost $80. April 1st. Glendale. Call to register: 623-930-8197
3. Fire in the Southwest Today. Colloquium & Panel Discussion Friday Mar 23, 10am – 11:30am (AZ/PDT time) In Person: University of Arizona, ENR2, N595 Webinar/Online: http://bit.ly/2IxKHKy
4. Clemens: What’s Going On With Our Climate? Precipitation and Temperature
Precipitation varied considerably across the Southwest in February, but temperatures remained warm throughout the region. Precipitation amounts ranged from below average to much-above average, with the wetter areas concentrated in southern Arizona.
Temperatures ranged from average to above average in Arizona.
December-January-February precipitation was mostly below normal to much-below normal, with isolated areas of record-driest precipitation.
December-January-February temperatures were much-above normal to record warmest in Arizona
Drought: Drought-designated areas were further expanded and intensified in the March 13 U.S. Drought Monitor, with both Arizona and New Mexico documenting increases in the extent and intensity of drought since February’s outlook. The predominant classification in both states was severe drought, while the remainder was a roughly equal mix of extreme drought (D3) and moderate drought . These designations reflect short-term precipitation deficits and warm temperatures at monthly and seasonal timescales, as well longer-term drought conditions that track the cumulative effect of extended periods of warmer- and drier-than-normal conditions. February clawed back some of the precipitation deficit that accumulated over the previous weeks and months, but isolated events are unlikely to reverse longerterm trends or alleviate long-term drought and its impacts.
Reservoirs:
5. Using Less Water. Your dream yard may take less water than you think! Learn from landscaping pros at the city of Glendale’s free water conservation workshops:
- April 18 | Desert tree care: Just in time for Arbor Day, learn about basic tree care, proper selection, planting and more. 6-7:30 p.m.
- May 26 | Irrigation repair and maintenance: Get to know irrigation components, troubleshooting and basic repairs to help cut your outdoor water waste. 10 a.m. to noon
Registration is required. To RSVP, email the city of Glendale or call (623) 930-3760. Seats fill up quickly!
6. Coal Combustion Residual Program Stakeholder Meeting.
Please consider attending the following meeting.
Dear Stakeholder,
ADEQ’s Water Quality Division will hold a stakeholder meeting to discuss the state’s intention to obtain primacy for a portion of the Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) program.
The CCR program is a federal solid waste program that protects human health and the environment from water and air releases of coal combustion residuals, which are generated by electric utilities that burn coal. CCRs may be wet or dry and disposed into landfills and surface impoundments. For more information on the federal CCR rule, please see the EPA website https://www.epa.gov/coalash.
ADEQ intends to revise the Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) rules by adding a new subpart that only applies to CCR facilities. The subpart will include the portions of the federal CCR requirements related to water quality standards, monitoring, recordkeeping, corrective action, closure and post-closure. ADEQ also intends to adopt a rule to address air releases of CCRs from landfills.
MEETING DETAILS
Friday, March 30, 2018 10:00 a.m.to 11:00 a.m.
ADEQ Phoenix Office, Room 3175 1110 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007
You may also join the meeting online at: https://azgov.webex.com/azgov/j.phpMTID=e506b438abed34063924aa19d0723b812
You may also join the meeting by phone at: Call-in 240-454-0879 USA Toll
Access code: 289 861 695
Meeting Objectives:
- Provide an overview of the Coal Combustion Residual program and its applicability to Arizona
- Discuss ADEQ’s intentions in pursuing assumption of the program, which is currently a self-implementing rule
- Identify what you, as ADEQ customers and stakeholders, value most in terms of a state administered CCR program and delivery of CCR-related products and services
For program or meeting information, please contact:
Maribeth Greenslade Greenslade.Maribeth@azdeq.gov 602-771-4578
7. City Of Kingman Water-Usage Rate Could See Increase. Opening a water and sewer bill from the City of Kingman can be disheartening, and residents should expect feelings of animosity toward that bill to continue into the foreseeable future.
One aspect of the bill, the water rate, is currently being reviewed for the first time since 2008. The study is in response to the need for the City to meet operation costs, repair and maintain the water system, and maintain targeted reserve levels.
These rates and studies were presented Thursday to the Municipal Utility Commission. Tina Moline, City finance department director, said the City has not had a rate increase since 2011, but that rates have not been reduced either. However, there was an average of $2 per month lost per user in 2013.
“So for the last five years we have experienced anywhere from $450,000 to $480,000 in lost revenue,” Moline said. “Of course, over that period of time operational expenditures have also increased. So the last few years we have been depleting our cash reserves.”
To mitigate financial issues and to further promote water conservation practices, City staff is looking at a slight rate increase for residential customers and a more-substantial increase for industrial and irrigation customers.
“We’ve got two different types of rates,” Moline said. “We’ve got our monthly fixed charges and then we have our usage charges. So our monthly fixed charges are a base rate and then a capital renewal fee. The base rate goes right into our operating fund. The capital renewal fee funds part of our capital improvement program. We will be proposing an increase over a period of time to both of those rates.”
The option discussed would yield $5 million a year in capital improvement projects from a 3 to 5 1/2 percent increase to revenue throughout the next five years.
Tier structures for residential customers differ between those within city limits and those outside. The rate structure for the proposed plan would keep residential residents on a tiered structure, but that structure would be reorganized to be more uniform and to further promote water conservation.
The tier structure currently has differing monthly rates for residential-customer usage between zero-10,000 gallons ($1.93 in city, $2.60 outside city), 10,001-45,000 gallons ($2.42, $3.28) and more than 45,000 gallons ($3.64, $4.91). The proposed structure for that same category of customer would go from 0-8,000 gallons ($1.99, $2.34), 8,001-20,000 gallons ($2.48, $2.93) and more than 20,000 gallons (3.10, $3.66). Outside-city customer data for this tier was not available when the Daily Miner went to press. Base ($7.14) and capital renewal ($4.03) fees would jump in fiscal year 2022 to $8.85 and $4.99, respectively.
A “lifeline tier” option is also on the table, which would reward water conservationists even further by adding a fourth tier to the above proposition.
Non-residential and irrigation customers would take the brunt of the increase if approved by Council. Moline said 20 of Kingman’s biggest customers could see an 18 to 21 percent increase in their monthly rates. These include hospitals, schools, city and county buildings, and hotels.
“So our residential users are not going to be impacted too much when you look at the across the board proposed rates,” Moline said. “It’s our commercial users and our industrial users who are going to absorb most of this increase.”
Since capital improvement projects are paramount in the 5-year structure, Commissioner Paul Shuffler asked Moline if those projects will be looked at in more detail.
“One large portion of what we’re looking at on there is capital improvements,” Shuffler said. “Are we going to review any of the capital improvements and give a recommendation to staff as far as whether it should be put off … ?”
Moline also provided the commission with an overview of the wastewater utility, which is funded from sewer investment fees as wastewater charges. The former is a $91 fee for each drainage fixture connected to the sewer system. The latter, wastewater rates, includes a $26.80 base rate, a $1 capital renewal fee and a monthly sewer-use charge. Residential customers pay about $5.66 per 1,000 gallons for the sewer-use charge. Businesses, like markets and restaurants, can pay more than $15 per thousand gallons used.
“The sewer-user charge is computed based on the actual monthly metered volume of water used by the customer and the expected wastewater strength that they put into the system,” Moline said.
There are currently just less than 20,000 water customers in Kingman, and about half of them are connected to the sewer system. Of the 10,415 connected customers, 9,350 are residential and 1,065 are commercial.
Moline said from early 2009 until now the City has experienced about a 300 percent rate increase to mitigate the economy’s decline from about 2009 to 2012-13
“We didn’t connect as many customers as we thought we were going to connect, and we didn’t build as many homes as we expected,” Moline said. “So we weren’t getting the monthly fees and we weren’t getting the sewer-investment fees.”
There have been no rate increases since 2013, but neither have there been reductions. Moline reported the wastewater finances are in good health. If the City does not embark on any capital improvement projects from now until fiscal year 2023, there would be about $25 million in reserve. However, staff has identified a five-year capital improvement plan consisting of about $40 million in projects. Moline noted that some projects would have to be put on hold or thrown out.
Potential projects within the plan include sewer line extensions, relocations, replacements and realignments. About $22 million would go toward sewer extension, which Moline identified as expansions and or extensions to customers not currently connected.
However, after keeping 180 days-worth of operating fees in reserve, only about $1 million would be left at the end of each year to roll into the next.
Moline asked the commission Thursday to make a recommendation to Council on how the funds should be utilized. Those options include funding $23.75 million for improvement projects, paying off debt or reducing rates.
