Water Rights Settlement Act finalized
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The United States Department of the Interior has published a statement of findings pertaining to the Gila River Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2004.
Publication of the notice finalized necessary actions for enforceability of some conditions of the act, which then became effective Dec. 14, 2007. The department also published a notice pertaining to the water rights of the San Xavier and Shuk Toak districts of the Tohono O’odham Nation south of Tucson.
The act affirms Safford’s water allocation at 9,740 acre-feet per year, and the city currently uses about half of its allocation. An acre-foot of water is approximately 326,000 gallons and is the amount of water necessary to cover an acre of land with water to a depth of 1 foot.
The act also affirms Safford’s unique right to take out an additional gallon of water for every gallon of treated wastewater it returns to the Gila River. Currently, Safford’s treated wastewater goes either to the river or the Safford Golf Course, with the river receiving about 1 million gallons per day.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a municipality is getting a one-for-one deal,” City Manager Huey Long said. “It’s an incredible feat to bring all the entities together and reach an agreement on water rights.”
The act also allows the federal government to relieve Safford of the $12 million debt it owes for its waste treatment facility.
Howe said the city has already been receiving money for the debt allocation, but it must be appropriated every year.
“That’s the key reason why we spend time in Washington, D.C.,” Long said. “Jon Kyl and Rick Renzi really helped us a lot.”
The finalization of the water act ends water disputes between state and Indian agencies that have gone on for nearly four decades and helps resolve critical water management issues.
An issue that was at the heart of the matter was the allocation of Central Arizona Project water from the Colorado River to Arizona’s tribes.
In the late 1960s, Arizona gained access to Colorado River water in part due to Indian water rights. The state controlled the allocation of the water, however, and the tribes complained that they received only a fraction of the water due to them.
Debates and discussions went on through the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.
In 2002, Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl introduced the Water Settlements Act.
The act amended the Southern Arizona Water Rights Act of 1982 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Dec. 10, 2004.
The department’s notice states 102,000 acre-feet of CAP agricultural priority water has been reallocated to the Gila River Indian Community.
In addition to other CAP entitlements, $53 million has been retained in the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund for the benefit of the Gila River Indian Community.
The trust fund is to be managed and invested by the Secretary to the Interior, who will make money available to the community consistent with the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994.
The finalization of the act is a cause for celebration, and that is exactly what will be taking place March 18 in Chandler.
Some of the scheduled speakers for the celebration will be Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Jon Kyl and representatives from the Gila River Indian Community and Tohono O’odham Nation. The tribes will also open and close the celebration with cultural ceremonies.
