Reply to Letter Regarding Local Groundwater Study
June 1, 2010
This is a reply to Ralph Davis’s letter concerning the nature of the current groundwater study being conducted by the University of Arizona Extension Service. I am an Arivacan, a retired geologist. I worked with the University of Arizona researchers and established initial contact with prospective participants. I have also been active for the last five years working as a member of AWET (Arivaca Water Education Taskforce) conducting a well water-level monitoring study.
I have worked closely with ADWR (Arizona Department of Water Resources), Pima County and the University of Arizona. First and foremost I have a great love for our community. I believe I am in a position to clarify the nature and purpose of the project and allay fears about any perceived threats to Arivacans associated with the study. I appreciate the opportunity to make the nature of the project, purpose and methods completely transparent.
First some facts. The Principle investigators on the study are Kristine Uhlman and Mike Cummins, both faculty at UA. Kristine as an Extension Agent and Mike as professor in the School of Soil, Water and Environmental Science. They have responsibilities through thru UA Cooperative Extension to provide outreach education and research to support community efforts to manage their natural resources – in this case water. The UA Water Sustainability Program was asked to fund the project by the USGS because it was a highly regarded proposal important to safeguarding Arizona water resources. None of these institutions has the interest or power in controlling and exploiting Arizona water. Their mission is to help communities learn about and maintain their water.
Kristine, who is leading the study, is a highly regarded geohydrologist who has devoted her career to protecting and preserving the nation’s water resources. She has worked on 47 superfund sites using her knowledge of groundwater flow to help remediate the hazards. She is now working with small communities, educating them and helping them learn how to manage their own water resources. We are fortunate to have her!
Participation in the project is entirely voluntary and full disclosure was given to all participants and all questions were answered by the project personnel to their satisfaction even if it meant consulting a higher authority. There is and was nothing to conceal.
Now something about the nature of the project entitled, “Arivaca Community Water Supply Drought Vulnerable Assessment.” Chemical analysis of water supplies throughout Arizona and other areas has shown that many aquifers store “fossil water;” water that was recharged thousands of years ago at the end of the last ice age. Using this water is mining a non-renewable resource, meaning that it can be permanently depleted. The Tucson area is an example. Early studies done by Kristine’s group in Arivaca revealed – much to their surprise – that the groundwater in the Arivaca Basin is less than 50 years old. This is a good-news/bad-news situation. We are highly vulnerable to weather and climatic changes like the current drought cycle we are experiencing. Young water also means that it is a renewable resource, which in turn means that we, as a community, can more effectively manage our own water! Another aspect of our water reveled by early studies is that we are largely dependent on monsoonal recharge rather than recharge from higher altitude mountain runoff. This gives us critical knowledge of the relationship between groundwater and surface runoff in the watershed.
The current study is focusing on getting more data to support the young water and monsoonal water hypotheses and to try to get real data on local water usage. Data on local individual water use is absolutely critical for two reasons. First we are officially included within the ADWR Tucson AMA (Active Management Area). We could not be more different from Tucson and other larger basins in our water resources and their use. Yet water management decisions that could potentially impact us are based on Tucson data. Second, when developers try to get permits to create large developments, they try to create bogus arguments (based on Arizona water laws) that, with their careful and expert planning, they are much more able to conserve the water resources than a bunch of locals pumping their exempt wells. It is worthwhile noting here that Arizona water laws allow for nearly complete freedom of well drilling and contain no provision for monitoring water usage.
If Arivaca were threatened by a development plan we would have NO data and evidence to prove them wrong and influence the decision-making. We would be helpless! That means that we must have data on local water use and a major thrust of the current project is to begin this data collection. Presently five well owners have consented to meter their own usage and contribute it to the study. The project funds have paid for the meters and the installation which are now owned by the individual. The owner will read the meter monthly for a year and email the data to the project staff. There are no boxes that secretly collect data and transmit it to a secret entity. It is entirely in the hands of the owner who agrees to provide data for one year.
If we want to actively participate in determining Arivaca’s future as a unique and healthy community that is a haven for the independent and beleaguered in a modern world we have to inform and arm ourselves in preparation for all possibilities. We must be a united force that is clearly knowledgeable and prepared and a force to be carefully considered.
AWET is an outstanding local group of concerned residents lead by Peter Ragan. We have done some remarkable things and are becoming a model for how local people can effectively protect and sustain their natural and human legacy. If you are concerned about Arivaca’s future and would like to find out how you can help use the resource list below. We welcome your questions and thoughts. We have much work to do and much to offer people who want to live harmoniously in the arid lands of the Southwest.
AWET is holding its monthly meeting on June 5 at the Arivaca Community Center at 9 am. The two principle investigators will there along with the project climatologist. It will be an excellent opportunity to meet them and ask hard questions. You may even get excited about how Arivaca is setting the example for community-based water management and want to get involved!
Resources
AWET
Peter Ragan, AWET Chairman, sodwinder@yahoo.com
Richard Conway, Well Monitoring Program, r_conway@mac.com, 520 405 5665
AWET has a Website at www.seazrocks.net/AWET. It contains information about our activities and information and data related to the hydrology of the Arivaca Basin
PROJECT DETAILS
In brief -very brief – it is a “proof of concept” project focusing on the age of the groundwater and the origin of the recharge. If successful the project could be continued and ideas used to help other Arizona communities evaluate the renewability of their water and better manage it. The state allocated $9,000 for the project that is to be completed by June 1, 2010. For details go to AWET Website.
INVOLVED AGENCIES AND FUNDING
Entirely State and University entities dedicated to water resource studies and conservation support. See AWET Website for details.
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