1/27/2009 5:21:00 PM My Turn: The Upper Verde: 'No one will even miss it'
Dorothy O'Brien
"Who cares if the first 24 miles of the Verde River dries up? No one will even miss it!"
These astonishing words were recently shared with me while I listened with alarm. It was painful to hear that someone could be so bereft of sense and grace, and that this statement could not only be made, but was meant to be taken seriously.
It showed a profound lack of sense and the stewardship for future generations that ethics require of us. And it wasn't very neighborly. I rarely write about my passion for subjects like this, but part of our future is at risk.
Four years ago, Supervisor Chip Davis appointed me to a two-year term as the alternate representative for District 3 at the Yavapai County Water Advisory Committee. I was willing to do my best but had a huge learning curve to ascend.
I'm originally from New Jersey, where water is all around us just about all the time. While many people shared their experience and knowledge of Arizona water with me, I had the great pleasure and privilege to learn from a woman who before her death was proclaimed in a local newspaper as our "Water Gladiator." Dorothy Hores, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, invited me to spend what time she had left here on earth surrounded by files and notes and engaged in serious discussion about Arizona water politics.
As it turned out, she had four months left. She made sharing her deep understanding of Arizona water politics her last gift.
Using water and politics in the same sentence was a completely new concept for me, but I quickly understood how closely they are bound together in Arizona. What concerns me is that this statement about the first 24 miles of the Verde articulates an underlying movement among neighbors to deprive one neighbor of precious resources while the other takes and uses the resource without regard for the consequences. In fact, the consequences are exactly what the neighbor wants to suppress and prevent from ever seeing the light of day.
If our neighbors have the legal right to pump water from the Big Chino Aquifer, (legally they do have the right to pump approximately 8,700 acre feet per year) it would follow then that a plan to ensure no harm is done should be in place if a recent ruling goes into effect that could increase as much as another 8,000 acre feet per year.
The Big Chino Aquifer is the home of the headwaters of the Verde River. Springs bubble up and feed the Verde making it one of the last free-flowing rivers in Arizona. Only a few other rivers in our state run at all, and all are beleaguered by demands on their strained capacities. Some don't run all year round anymore.
The willow and cottonwood nurseries fed by the Upper Verde are some of the last living nurseries in Arizona. All these wonders have been fought for, written about and spoken of at length. But a dangerous situation is looming.
The neighbors who don't think anyone will miss the first 24 miles of the Verde River are already organized and have effectively kept any funding from finding its way to the Verde River Basin Partnership. The Partnership was formed by many of our citizen-based water groups working with elected officials including Sen. John McCain in response to concerns stemming from the Ruskin Land Exchange.
In 2005, President Bush signed the legislation enabling the Partnership. In neighborly fashion, the community came together, argued, negotiated and compromised yet hasn't budged for three years.
Based on my view from inside the Partnership, the Verde Valley communities need to organize and get energized before one of our greatest natural resources and important economic drivers literally goes down the drain. To say the Verde River is an economic driver for the entire region is an understatement.
I got involved in Arizona water politics because my mentor, on her deathbed, said to try and make a difference. At her urging I worked with those forming the VRBP and became the communications chairperson. She was hopeful that there were still, in her words, enough "bright sparks" among the neighbors to finally get the studies done, learn the facts and find solutions among this great community of neighbors on both sides of the mountain.
The Verde River Basin Partnership Coordinating Committee has scheduled a meeting for Feb. 2, at 2 p.m. in the Jerome Town Hall. The sole agenda item is a discussion of the assimilation of the VRBP and the Yavapai County Water Advisory Committee. It is the only item on the agenda and perceived by some as the only way to get funding for the VRBP scientific studies.
Sen. McCain has said that he prefers the Verde River Basin Partnership to remain autonomous and as representative of all the stakeholders as it was originally created to be to solve the water problems that come from land trades.
While he repeatedly asked President Bush for funding, his efforts have not been successful. Without the support of all the neighbors, it seems to be too politically dangerous for our congressional delegation to risk losing re-election by angering those constituents who don't think anyone will miss the first 24 miles of the Verde.
Now is the time for each of you "bright sparks" to engage in this issue.
Who will speak for the river? Who will speak for the wildlife, the nurseries and what native fish may still live in the river? Who will speak for us who love and depend on the Verde?
There are only you and I and those other "bright sparks" we know who will engage themselves in this battle.
And a battle it is.
The opposition has found ways to undermine us at every turn, but we have been many small groups with small voices. It's time to put our voices together and be heard as one loud voice.
You should know that the WAC does not include the entire Verde River Basin, it is run by consensus; therefore one vote can veto any decision or action. The WAC Board does not represent the stakeholders outlined in Title II nor are they represented in its Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The Title II Legislation requires broad stakeholder representation and TAC won't expand to be more inclusive. It has been stated that the WAC wants to pick and choose what studies are done on recommendation of the TAC.
Speak out to friends and neighbors. Make it known that there are others who care very deeply about the first 24 miles of the Verde River. Attend this meeting on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. in Jerome Town Hall and encourage others to do so. Your voice can make a difference.
The VRBP Coordinating Committee meeting is open to the public.
My statements in this article are my own and I am not writing this as the VRBP communications chair.
Dorothy O'Brien is serving her second term as President of Big Park Regional Coordinating Council representing an unincorporated community along SR179 of 6200 people commonly known as the Village. Mrs. O'Brien also serves as the Communications Chairperson for the Verde River Basin Partnership. For more information call (928) 300-8360.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, January 29, 2009
Article comment by:
Paul Bishop
I knew there had to be someone out there other than SRP that was concerned about the Verde River. Bravo!
