Post by Marks - the Earth's Sun on Jul 23, 2005 0:26:50 GMT -5
Water: liquid gold for O'odham
Tucson reaches out to tribe for future needs
B. POOLE
Tucson Citizen
XAVIER GALLEGOS/Tucson Citizen
Richard Antone of the San Xavier District Cooperative Farm adjusts the water flow to an alfalfa and Bermuda grass field. The plant mixture is used for horse feed. The water is from the Central Arizona Project.
The Tohono O'odham Nation could play a role in determining how much you pay for water in years ahead.
The cool, clear liquid flowing by the millions of gallons from a Central Arizona Project pipeline into Tohono O'odham farm fields near Interstate 19 is more than water - it's liquid gold.
Recent deals give Arizona Indian tribes control of almost half of the Colorado River water from the CAP canal and much of the water from the Salt, Gila, Verde and Black rivers.
All that water - more than 300 billion gallons annually, which could supply about 11.3 million people - means a resurgence in agriculture for some tribes.
And for all of them it means a potentially deep well of cash - from farming, other tribal business pursuits or leasing water rights to cities, water companies and businesses.
"They're sitting on a gold mine for the future," said Warren Tenney, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Domestic Water Improvement District, a water company that serves about 45,000 people on Tucson's Northwest Side. "They will determine the marketplace, the price of water. As demand increases, the price will increase."
A law President Bush signed in December gives the Gila River Indian Community, which covers about 600 square miles bordered by Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Coolidge and Casa Grande, the deepest pool of CAP water and finalizes the O'odham share.
Agreements with the Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache, Zuni and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes are pending.
Related:
Tribal farm goes natural
Tribal water agreements
University of Arizona professor Bonnie Colby, who recently wrote a book, "Negotiating Tribal Water Rights, Fulfilling Promises in the Arid West" doesn't think tribes will jack up prices.
She points to Gila leases at competitive market rates as an indication that tribes will not abuse their water powers.
"Arrogance would be very expensive for any of the parties in cases like this because they're going to continue to need each other," she said. "They're going to have to go back to the congressional delegations, no doubt, to make sure things get done as promised."
The closing of tribal water deals means southern Arizona water officials now know where to seek water. Tucson Water has approached the O'odham to lease some of the tribe's 66,000 acre-feet, or 21.5 billion gallons, of annual CAP water allocation, said Tucson Water administrator Dennis Rule.
Tucson's annual allocation of CAP water - 135,966 acre-feet, or more than 44 billion gallons - is second to the Gila River community's 155,700 acre-feet, or more than 50 billion gallons.
The O'odham Nation isn't interested for now, but the Arizona Water Settlements Act gives southern Arizona water providers and users first right of refusal to lease the water. The nation will focus on its needs, said Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders.
The tribe has begun a study to figure out where the water is needed, how much is needed and how it could be used.
"That will help determine what the course will be for the future," Juan-Saunders said.
Agriculture will be a focus.
"Farming is a traditional way of life," Juan-Saunders said. "When our water rights were being infringed upon, it took away a way of life."
Tucson reaches out to tribe for future needs
B. POOLE
Tucson Citizen
XAVIER GALLEGOS/Tucson Citizen
Richard Antone of the San Xavier District Cooperative Farm adjusts the water flow to an alfalfa and Bermuda grass field. The plant mixture is used for horse feed. The water is from the Central Arizona Project.
The Tohono O'odham Nation could play a role in determining how much you pay for water in years ahead.
The cool, clear liquid flowing by the millions of gallons from a Central Arizona Project pipeline into Tohono O'odham farm fields near Interstate 19 is more than water - it's liquid gold.
Recent deals give Arizona Indian tribes control of almost half of the Colorado River water from the CAP canal and much of the water from the Salt, Gila, Verde and Black rivers.
All that water - more than 300 billion gallons annually, which could supply about 11.3 million people - means a resurgence in agriculture for some tribes.
And for all of them it means a potentially deep well of cash - from farming, other tribal business pursuits or leasing water rights to cities, water companies and businesses.
"They're sitting on a gold mine for the future," said Warren Tenney, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Domestic Water Improvement District, a water company that serves about 45,000 people on Tucson's Northwest Side. "They will determine the marketplace, the price of water. As demand increases, the price will increase."
A law President Bush signed in December gives the Gila River Indian Community, which covers about 600 square miles bordered by Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Coolidge and Casa Grande, the deepest pool of CAP water and finalizes the O'odham share.
Agreements with the Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache, Zuni and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes are pending.
Related:
Tribal farm goes natural
Tribal water agreements
University of Arizona professor Bonnie Colby, who recently wrote a book, "Negotiating Tribal Water Rights, Fulfilling Promises in the Arid West" doesn't think tribes will jack up prices.
She points to Gila leases at competitive market rates as an indication that tribes will not abuse their water powers.
"Arrogance would be very expensive for any of the parties in cases like this because they're going to continue to need each other," she said. "They're going to have to go back to the congressional delegations, no doubt, to make sure things get done as promised."
The closing of tribal water deals means southern Arizona water officials now know where to seek water. Tucson Water has approached the O'odham to lease some of the tribe's 66,000 acre-feet, or 21.5 billion gallons, of annual CAP water allocation, said Tucson Water administrator Dennis Rule.
Tucson's annual allocation of CAP water - 135,966 acre-feet, or more than 44 billion gallons - is second to the Gila River community's 155,700 acre-feet, or more than 50 billion gallons.
The O'odham Nation isn't interested for now, but the Arizona Water Settlements Act gives southern Arizona water providers and users first right of refusal to lease the water. The nation will focus on its needs, said Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders.
The tribe has begun a study to figure out where the water is needed, how much is needed and how it could be used.
"That will help determine what the course will be for the future," Juan-Saunders said.
Agriculture will be a focus.
"Farming is a traditional way of life," Juan-Saunders said. "When our water rights were being infringed upon, it took away a way of life."