Our own Bald Eagle wants to Save the Verde!r
Yavapai Group Home
Contact Us
Yavapai Group, Grand Canyon Chapter, Sierra Club
Newsletter February '09
Prescott Water Wars: Death of the Verde
by Gary Beverly
You probably know about Bartlett and Horseshoe Reservoirs on the lower Verde, operated by Salt River Project, providing a third of Phoenix's water. You might know about the Verde Wild & Scenic River, and about Fossil Creek, but most folks are not aware of the Upper Verde River (UVR). Grab a map and find Camp Verde, where I-17 crosses the Verde. Move up the Middle Verde to Cottonwood, then further to Clarkdale. Now follow that sweet little river for nearly 50 miles upstream to Hwy 89. That's the Upper Verde - one of Arizona's last free flowing streams - a perennial riparian habitat home to over 500 birds, six threatened species, an excellent native fishery, spectacular hiking, and surprising natural beauty.
The Upper Verde is in trouble: sewage sludge and effluent recharge harm water quality, non-native fish out compete endangered native species, illegal and destructive OHV traffic damage the riparian zone, trashy campers litter the banks, and freeways may bridge across the canyons - all threaten this wild and pristine river. But the biggest trouble of all is this: no water, no river.
Prescott has obtained a permit to pump municipal water from the Big Chino Aquifer, which supplies over 80% of the perennial flow for the first 25 miles of the UVR. Hydrologists agree that if Prescott pumps, the UVR will become a dry wash in a couple of decades. Twenty-five miles of rare riparian habitat, including dependent plants and animals, will die.
The River has been flowing for 2 million years.
Ignoring scientific evidence to the contrary, the pumpers claim they will not harm the River. Prescott's population now far exceeds existing water resources, yet they have the "growth accelerator" floored! Roads are now being planned to support another Tucson north of Prescott. Even the Big Chino aquifer can't support that many people. Minimal efforts at water conservation have had little effect.
We will not let this river die.
A legal tornado rages around Prescott's pumping plan. Objections to the permit have been filed by SRP, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Sierra Club, and many individuals. SRP has filed one major lawsuit, and more will follow. CBD has notified Prescott that they will sue to protect threatened species using the Endangered Species Act, and we believe that several other national groups will weigh in to protect the river. A local coalition of the Yavapai Group, CBD, Prescott Audubon, and Citizen's Water Advocacy Group is alerting Prescott area citizens to the real dangers threatening the River. There is substantial local support for protecting the Verde. Local citizens generally do not want to compromise their quality of life by growing into a major metropolis.
To learn more, visit www.cwagaz.org/reports.html
To see what all the fuss is about, hike with me to see this wonderful river. Six one day hikes are now scheduled to cover the UVR from headwaters (have you ever seen the birth of a river?) to Clarkdale.
Save the Verde!
===================================================
Sierra Club Endorses Dewey-Humboldt Mayor Candidate
By Gary Beverly
===================================================
The Yavapai Group of the Grand Canyon Chapter has voted to support Len Marinaccio for Mayor of Dewey-Humboldt.
The Executive Committee interviewed Len at our regular monthly meeting in January. He filled out our candidate questionnaire. His responses in person and in writing indicate he will be an excellent advocate for the environment in Dewey-Humboldt.
If you vote in D-H, please consider our endorsement when you vote.
=====================================
Update: New Roads Crossing the Verde
by Gary Beverly
=====================================
We won! The Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization (CYMPO) board directed that no new crossing of the Verde river would be included in the transportation corridor planning report. The citizens of Rimrock, the Sierra Club, and CBD strongly objected to any new roads crossing the Verde. We are extremely pleased that Supervisor Carol Springer forcefully opposed the road crossing plans. Now, we need to watch and be vigilant. These things tend to pop up again, later...
==================================
Update: Prescott's Pipeline Plan
By Gary Beverly
==================================
Your local Sierra Club partnered up with the Center for Biological Diversity, Prescott Audubon, and CWAG to present a public forum on the pipeline on January 28. I hope you noticed the press reports. We hosted about 200 people at the highly successful event.
Please express your opinion to governmental officials. Email gbverde@cableone.net to request an action list with addresses and talking points.
To learn more:
- Attend the forum (see event announcement above)
- Hike the river with us!
- Contact and support Citizen's Water Advocacy Group (CWAG) at
http://www.cwagaz.org/aboutus.html#member
- Read the newspapers: The pumping/pipeline project has had piecemeal coverage from local daily newspapers. A local independent news magazine, Read It Here (now defunct) published an excellent series of articles on the pipeline plan written by Candace McNulty. These stories are still available online here: http://www.readitnews.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/ user,65/
- Read excellent article in High Country News: http://www.hcn.org/issues/346/17001
- Support the Sierra Club (http://arizona.sierraclub.org) and the local Yavapai Group. The current and past issues of the Canyon Echo can be downloaded at http://arizona.sierraclub.org/echo/index.asp.
- Support The Center for Biological Diversity (www.savetheverde.org)
This page was last updated on May 26, 2009