Water drain still a concern for Sedona

Sen. O’Halleran seeks new legislation

By Doug Blackwell | Sedona Verde Valley Times

Sedona, AZ - What can Sedona and the State do now that we know that the Coconino Aquifer is being tapped above us?

Will Flagstaff, Williams, and the other Mogollon Rim communities lower the aquifer yield and possibly deplete the aquifer before we in Sedona can get our water from it?

And, will Oak Creek suffer because those above us on the Rim are pumping between seven and 15-million gallons per day?

Sen. Tom O’Halleran (R-District 1) said estimates for water use in the future include the regional guess that agriculture water use will decrease as agriculture decreases in Arizona. Not so,” said the Senator.

Corn is now being used as a source of ethanol, a currently favored “green fuel,” and according to O'Halleran, has a yield ratio of 1:1.3 (i.e. 1.3 gallons of ethanol produced for every gallon of oil used). This is not a very good return on the investment. Water planners claim that water use in the growing of corn will therefore drop since ethanol is not a very productive use of water and oil.

“In the near future we will have ethanol crops with a ratio of 1:15, or 15 gallons of ethanol produced for every gallon of oil used,” the Senator said. “This will mean a huge increase in agriculture in a state where we grow and use water year round. So, we could see an increase in agricultural water use in the years to come.”

As Arizona’s population grows and as development and agriculture continue to increase demands on our water supply, Arizona must come to grips with responsible land use and water conservation.

The Sedona-Verde Valley Times reported in its first issue that Senate Bill 1575 was flawed as written due to the fact that 100 percent of the County superintendents were required to vote 'yes' to pass this responsible legislation, which would finally allow supervisors to deny a water-use permit if water adequacy could not be demonstrated.

In Yavapai County, Supervisor Carol Springer publicly stated that she would vote 'no,' thereby denying the County the opportunity to deny a permit if water supplies were inadequate.

Sen. O’Halleran said the 100-percent provision was the result of special interests getting in to gum up the works of what could have been Arizona’s first usable water adequacy law. He said there is legislation on tap right now that would fix the 100-percent requirement and instead allow a simple majority vote for passage. The Senator also described the 'Groundwater Divide.' This is the point in our aquifer where water flows towards Sedona or back towards Flagstaff. Sen. O’Halleran said pumping along the Flagstaff to Williams area may have already caused this 'Groundwater Divide' to move further towards Flagstaff, meaning the Coconino Aquifer would favor Flagstaff with more water flow than Sedona.

In Northern Arizona, groundwater is all we have to rely on due to the fact that we were not at the table when the Colorado River Compact of 1922 was signed or when the new Compact of 2007 was signed three weeks ago. There are nearly 40 million more people living in the Southwest today then there were in 1922.

This was the deal the Sedona-Verde Valley Times reported was in the works in the November 1 issue article titled “Sedona no longer first on water chain.” SVVT was in the loop two months before the Arizona Republic.

As SVVT reported before it became public, we now have a new Colorado River Compact, 85 years after the last one was signed. Unfortunately, Sedona was not represented at the signing of the 2007 Colorado River Compact.

The Sedona Water Conservation Advisory Committee chaired by Anita MacFarlane has been in action for more than two years now. Discussed, planned, and recommended by SWCAC, the Sedona City Council has adopted a comprehensive water policy for the City. The committee is also running a program with volunteers to install water saving devices in the City’s restaurants. “Members of the committee are participating in the 'Smart Rinse' program coordinated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, to install water-saving devices in most of the restaurants in the City,” Ms. MacFarlane said.

The Committee is also providing education to the public in print, on Sedona’s Cable Channel 4, on the City of Sedona web site and by promoting an “informative day” every year for Sedona area 4th graders, through the City of Sedona Water Awareness Day.

At this year’s event, 4th graders learned where our water comes from; why a desert is unique; about our current 12-year drought; and how to use water wisely.

Individuals who have any questions for the committee, or who would like to help, please visit their web site (www.sedonaaz.gov, click on Council/Commissions, click on Committees, then click on Water Conservation Advisory Committee) or call 928-204-7107.

Water saving tips

What can YOU do today to start saving water?

1.	Take a shorter shower (150 gallons per month (gpm) per person).
2.	Fix the leaky toilet (Arizona Water on Coffee Pot across from Bashas' has the tablets you will need to detect a leak) (2000 gpm).
3.	Get rid of the lawn (500 to 1000 gpm in the summer). Plant only native plants that actually belong here.
4.	Use a broom on your sidewalk and driveway. Watering your driveway will not cause it to grow (30 gpm).
5.	Bottle the water running in your kitchen sink as you wait for it to get hot (45 gpm) and use this water for your wild birds and to water your plants.
6.	Redirect the water that exits your evaporative cooler and A/C to your needy trees (150 to 600 gpm per home in the summer).
7.	Tell the restaurant staff when you first arrive that you do not need a glass of water (saves 3 glasses of water for every glass of water you refuse -- more than 100,000 gpm for Sedona).
8.	Use a California Car Duster to dust your car. You do not need soap and water, (30 to 50 gpm per car in Sedona).

Add up the above possible savings, assuming only half of us will actually do these water saving measures, and each of us collectively, along with the Rinse Smart devices now in most of Sedona’s restaurants, and we will be responsible for saving more than 31 million gallons of water per year.

This also means 31 million less gallons into the sewer plant, and maybe 10 more years before Sedona needs to spend millions increasing the capacity of the sewer system.

These savings result in a minimum 10 percent reduction in water usage and sewer needs. What additional home water saving technique eclipses all of those mentioned above?

The greatest water-saving technique you can employ in your own home is to have everyone remember this simple phrase (related to flushing) coined by a 7^th grader in California – “If it’s yellow, it’s mellow; if it’s brown, put it down!"

Be assured, your children will remember that one.

If only half of the 6600 homes in Sedona put that phrase on their toilets, and flushed the toilet only once per day per person, Sedona could save another 27 million gallons of water per year.

That would be a 10-percent water saving, making this water-saving technique the greatest thing we could all do in our homes!

The dirty organic water that millions today are forced to drink in the Atlanta area and other parts of the Southeast as their reservoirs are now almost totally dry due to their drought, is much more disgusting than just waiting to flush for a few hours.

It all starts with you, Sedona. You either do it in your own home now, or eventually the State will be forced to legislate it.