1. Arizona Supreme Court Rules Against BLM, Other Plaintiffs In Significant Water- Rights Case. The Arizona Supreme Court held, though not unanimously, legislation passed by Arizona lawmakers to govern the ADWR’s policy on determining adequate water adequacy for development allowed the agency to grant the permit for PDS to build its 7,000-unit “Tribute” development.
“We granted review because whether ADWR is required to consider unquantified federal reserve water rights when determining water adequacy of developers’ water supplies presents an issue of state importance,” wrote Justice John R. Lopez IV in the Supreme Court’s majority
opinion.
“The issue in this case is whether ADWR is required to consider unquantified federal reserved water rights when it determines whether a developer has an adequate water supply for purposes of state statute. We hold that the statute does not require ADWR to do so,” Lopez wrote.
The opinion further stated ADWR is charged to “address the impact of existing uses on the groundwater supply available for the applicant, not the impact of the applicant’s proposed groundwater use on existing uses. The regulation is not a mechanism for considering potential legal disputes between groundwater users.”
It was not a unanimous ruling. Chief Justice Scott Bales and Justices Clint Bolick and John Pelander wrote separate opinions “concurring in part and dissenting in part” with the opinion
written by Justice Lopez on behalf of Vice Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, and Justices Anna Scott Timmer and Andrew Gould.
Plaintiffs’ responses to decision
“The bottom line is we lost,” Gerrodette said Thursday, her voice quivering. “It hurts.”
Gerrodette sees the ruling as a blow to efforts to preserve the San Pedro River and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, managed by the BLM.
Dr. Robin Silver, who owns land along the river, noted, “It was devastating for the San Pedro River and for Fort Huachuca. The Arizona Supreme Court, basically, gave
PDS owner David S. Murdock a license to kill the San Pedro River. Pueblo del Sol development alone will pump yearly the equivalent of one-third of the Upper San Pedro Basin aquifer’s entire yearly natural recharge.”
Silver pointed out from Jan. 1, 2012, through March 13 of this year, ADWR has “issued an additional 306 new well permits” in the Upper San Pedro Basin.
Defendants waited five years for the decision
Rick Coffman, senior vice president at Castle & Cooke, Inc, was pleased with the court’s decision. “It’s been a long time coming,” Coffman said. “This started in 2013 when ADWR gave us the certificate. We’ve been litigating ever since.”
The Tribute development was designed with low water use features before the county required water conservation in the Sierra Vista Subwatershed, he noted. The plans call for recharge and detention basin projects, as well as the use of reclaimed water for landscaping. “It was a very forward-thinking plan,” he added. “And we will still do everything we can to protect the river.”
ADWR Director Thomas Buschatzke stated in a phone interview, “We are pleased with the decision. I think they made the right decision. I’m pleased with the court.”
Buschatzke went on to say the regulations guiding ADWR’s determination were clear. Nothing specified the agency had to consider unquantified federal reserve water rights for the BLM’s San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
Cochise County Board of Supervisors member Pat Call said, “The Supreme Court did what it was supposed to do – follow the legislation. It was a straightforward decision. Now, is this decision appealable or not? The BLM may have gone as far as it can in the state.”
On to U.S. Supreme Court?
However, Silver emphasized, “We’re not done.”
He and his attorneys, Timothy M. Hogan of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest and Heidi J. McIntosh with Earth Justice, are prepared to head to Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Supreme Court if an appeal is granted.
Contacted for comment Thursday, both the BLM and Fort Huachuca officials asked for more time to submit responses.
2. What’s Up There? Astroshed. While the brightest star hangs low in the east before dawn, the brightest planet lurks low in the west after sunset. Venus dazzles at magnitude –4.4, nearly 15 times brighter than Sirius. Pay particular attention to Venus this evening, when a 10-percentlit crescent Moon appears 10° to its right.
If you thought to check out the sky on Tuesday night (August 14th), the Moon and Venus made a pretty pair yesterday evening, the view tonight should be even better. The planet hangs 7° below the crescent Moon, which now appears 18 percent illuminated.
By Friday night, a nearly half-lit Moon lies just 7° to Jupiter’s upper left this evening. The two make an attractive pair from evening twilight until the planet sets shortly after 11 p.m. local daylight time. Source: Astronomy Magazine
3. WRRC Brown Bag Seminar To Feature Update On Restoring The Santa Cruz River In Tucson. In 2016, the City of Tucson initiated a discussion about using reclaimed water to restore perennial flow to a portion of the Santa Cruz River near downtown Tucson. This action would support riparian habitat in the urban core, improve long-term water management in the region, and stimulate economic activity. The concept has been well received by a multitude of stakeholders and Tucson Water has started to bring the vision to reality. In May 2019, perennial flow will return to the Santa Cruz River near Tucson’s birthplace, and a new era of water management will begin.
On August 28, Tucson Water Director Tim Thomure will provide an update on the project, discuss the challenges that lie ahead, and advise attendees about what they can do to support the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project. This presentation will be held from 12:00 noon to 1:15 pm in the WRRC Sol Resnick Conference Room at 350 N. Campbell Avenue, and will also be live
streamed via GoTo Webinar.
4.
The Environmental Information
Association
Arizona Chapter
In alliance with
AND
WILL BE PRESENTING A
FREE SEMINAR ON
ASBESTOS REGULATIONS
Breakfast and Lunch included.
Come meet, share a meal and learn the basics from EIA
Board Members, ADEQ Inspectors and instructors from The
Asbestos Institute.
Flagstaff, AZ August 30, 2018 8:00am – 3:30pm
Location: Elks Lodge #499
2101 N. San Francisco St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001
8:00 am Registration – Continental Breakfast / 8:30 am Seminar Start / 3:30 pm Seminar End
So that we can arrange for food, please register on-line at
www.eia-az.org or call (602) 864-6564
5. Don’t Be A Stupid Motorist. RESIDENTS ARE REMINDED OF DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODING – With storms in the forecast for the rest of the week, it’s a good time to remember that the summer monsoon can produce heavy rains that may result in flash flooding in specific areas. Flash floods can occur many miles away from the storm event that causes them. Drivers are reminded to not drive around barricades, which are in place for their protection. If you come to a flooded roadway, stop. The depth of water is not always obvious and the roadbed may have washed away under the flowing water. In addition, a driver can be fined and forced to pay for rescue costs if there is an incident. The Pima County Regional Flood Control District has a map that shows current and accumulated rainfall amounts and treamflows of area washes and rivers. You can also sign up to receive weather and other emergency notifications on electronic devices on the Pima County Emergency Alerts website.
Pima County Regional Flood Control District map: http://bit.ly/2MfPMfP
If you need sand bags, With monsoon rain in the forecast for at least the next week or so, the Tucson Department of Transportation (TDOT) is offering free sandbags. A self-serve sandbag site is open in the east parking lot of Hi Corbett Field, 700 S. Randolph Way, at Reid Park. This location is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Residents should bring their own shovels and will need to fill and load the sandbags into their vehicles on their own. Sand and empty sandbags will be provided by TDOT, which also distributes pre-filled sandbags in the north parking lot of the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, 4823 S. Sixth Ave., every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. To accommodate as many residents as possible, there is a limit of 10 sandbags per vehicle at both locations. TDOT staff will be on hand at the Rodeo Grounds location to help people load sandbags into their vehicles.
6. Would You Like Some PFAS With That Bacon? When was the last time you looked around your kitchen or bathroom for chemicals that are toxic to your health? In many households, those chemicals don’t just come in the form of liquid products like pesticides or bleach. They often can be found in the most common items, like frying pans used to cook up some bacon and eggs, or in that popcorn bag heating up in the microwave. That’s because a class of highly toxic, long-lasting chemicals called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has become ubiquitous in American products.
PFAS have been used in U.S. households since the 1950s, when it was first marketed in Teflon cookware by DuPont. Today, PFAS are added not just to nonstick pans, but also to water resistant clothing, grease-repelling fast-food wrappers, stain-proof carpets, and other products. Its unusual resistance to degradation is what makes PFAS so damaging to human health and the environment: Decades of study have shown that accumulation of PFAS in the bloodstream can cause various cancers and birth defects. Yet the Trump administration is reluctant to make the dangers of PFAS, and their common use, widely known to the American public.
In January, the Trump administration tried to suppress a report about PFAS that was conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR – a division of the EPA)— the latest instance of the administration’s predilection for scientific censorship. An internal aid
stated that public knowledge of PFAS toxicity and their use in consumer goods would create “a public relations disaster.” Six months later, in June, the ATSDR released the report, which conclusively links PFAS to a host of harmful side effects and recommends lowering the EPA’s current nonenforceable risk level to 12 parts per trillion, down from 70 ppt (about the size of a drop of water in an Olympic pool).
The report links PFAS exposure to liver toxicity, immune disruption, and developmental problems. In court cases against chemical manufacturers, plaintiffs and medical studies have also linked PFAS in drinking water to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, pancreatic cancer, and birth defects. “It’s an unusual list of chemical effects,” says Sonya Lunder, senior toxics policy advisor at the Sierra Club. “It’s hard to tie that all together—it’s affecting multiple parts of the body in different ways.”
Exposure to PFAS isn’t only limited to household products, and their presence in drinking water has led to intense litigation. Thousands of people who live near manufacturing plants owned by companies such as 3M and DuPont have reported water toxicity levels exponentially higher than the EPA limit, often sourced from storm runoff that seeps from chemical plants into the ground—or, from illegal dumping directly into rivers and creeks. Source: Green Lifestyle
6. ADEQ Hazardous Waste Program Since our stakeholder meetings for hazardous waste rulemaking on June 14th and June 29th, we have received and evaluated your comments and questions. Based on that input, we have developed Principles and Features for the new hazardous waste rules for your review and comment. The primary objective of this document is to obtain general consensus before we develop a draft rule for your review.
Please send any comments by August 24, 2018 and stay tuned for future meetings. For questions regarding meeting registration and technical issues, please contact: wastecompliance@azdeq.gov.
7. AZ’s Water Situation
