Conservation groups say Arizona is not protecting the San Pedro River, will sue again
An alliance of local, regional, and national conservation groups says Arizona is still not doing enough to protect the San Pedro River and that the water rights of the riparian conservation area next to Sierra Vista are being violated.
In June, the alliance sued Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources for failing to review the need for an Active Management Area in Sierra Vista to regulate groundwater pumping. In August, they sued to require the state to review and potentially revoke the water certificate for a proposed development of nearly 7,000 homes by Pueblo Del Sol Company.
"We've known for decades that home construction in the area was based on the fantasy of a limitless water supply," said Robin Silver, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has led lawsuits to protect the San Pedro River for about three decades.
The revocation of the water certificate of Pueblo Del Sol is inevitable, he said, because the project's pumping would interfere with the San Pedro River National Conservation Area water rights.
In the upcoming weeks, the conservation group will sue again to demand the review of over 35 development projects with what it says are invalid water supply certificates, Silver told The Republic.
Hobbs asked a court to dismiss the lawsuit in which plaintiffs claimed she failed in her duty to take action over the San Pedro River and consider designating an AMA. She also settled in a court agreement to review Pueblo Del Sol's 100-year designation of adequate water supply, which closed that court case. There is no deadline for the state water agency to conduct the review.
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Federal reserve rights vs. development
The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area is a 40-mile section of river granted federal protection by Congress 36 years ago, a unique stretch of desert river that sustains abundant biodiversity and acts as a migration corridor for hundreds of species.
As a federal reserve, the conservation area has federal water rights. Those rights had to be quantified in court, which took nearly 35 years.
In the meantime, the state water agency gave permits to drill some 2,400 wells close to the river and handed out water certificates for 66 development projects, including Pueblo Del Sol. The agency held the position that, until the Arizona Supreme Court made its decision, it would be "speculation" to say there wasn't an adequate water supply for the next 100 years.
The first time Silver sued to get Pueblo del Sol's water certificate revoked, the judge sided with the water agency, ruling that the agency wasn't required to consider water rights that hadn't been given yet.
A dissenting judge said such a decision would allow water regulators to ignore the problem until it became a reality: "The potential harm suffered by homeowners would be even higher if their property is one day rendered almost worthless due to an inadequate water supply," the judge said.
That supply could now be inadequate for many development projects.
Last year, a judge quantified how much water the conservation area is entitled to . It's hard to put a round number on that water right, which establishes a minimum water level for four stream gauges and nine monitoring wells. Four wells are already below those court-mandated levels, so the river isn't getting its full share.
The Bureau of Land Management, within the Department of the Interior, has oversight of the conservation area but is not involved in the litigation between Silver, Hobbs and the state water agency.
Desert oasis: Environmental groups seek groundwater protections around Arizona's San Pedro River
As aquifers empty, efforts continue to replenish them
State law doesn't recognize a connection between groundwater and surface water, complicating efforts to protect rivers from groundwater pumping. Wells drilled too close to a river can divert water that would have fed the river's flow.
Development is stealing water from the river, said Silver. He estimates that 60 existing and under-construction development projects don't have the 100 years' worth of water their certificates are supposed to back them for because they would be pumping water that sustains the San Pedro River.
All 35 developments in the complaint sent to Hobbs and the water agency are in the vicinity of the riparian area. Some developments cited in the complaint are Buffalo Soldier Ranch, Ranchos San Pedro, Trinity Terrace, and Vistaview Estate.
There are efforts to increase water recharge in the area. Silver said their benefits are "like spitting on the ocean," and only curtailed groundwater pumping will make a difference.
The Cochise Conservation and Research Network , which includes the City of Sierra Vista, Fort Huahuca, BLM and The Nature Conservancy, has eight projects in various stages of development that could help replenish the aquifer.
Sierra Vista has an effluent recharge project west of the San Pedro River, which is estimated to put back some 3,000 acre-feet of treated effluent underground through basins and wetlands. Partners also hold conservation easements to avoid future groundwater pumping and development in parcels close to the river. Stormwater recharge projects, some still in construction, have benefits of 15-25 acre-feet of water in a year.
This week, the Department of the Interior announced BLM will get $2.7 million to do fence repairs in the riparian area, and Sierra Vista will get $550,000 for surface and groundwater modeling and $300,000 for aquifer, wells and stream monitoring.
On Tuesday, Hobbs announced a $1.5 million grant to complete the stormwater recharge project in Coyote Wash, calling it a "down payment on the state's long-term commitment to securing Arizona's water future."
Clara Migoya covers agriculture and water issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to .
