A WATER CRISIS IN MOHAVE COUNTY “A State of Depletion” First of a Four Part Series on Water

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A WATER CRISIS IN MOHAVE COUNTY “A State of Depletion” First of a Four Part Series on Water

By: Denise Bensusan

The citizens of Mohave County Arizona are facing a major crisis concerning their water supply. No matter how you spin it, the science tells us that this community is in trouble!

Most of us don’t think much about where our clean (potable) drinking water comes from let alone how long it will be available to us. We have come to assume that water is an unlimited natural resource that will be there for us no matter how much is wasted. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

The United States has the cheapest, cleanest water in the world current day, but our flippant attitude toward this vital resource is crashing in upon us faster than we can implement a real solution. “Americans are facing serious water shortages, especially in areas that rely on groundwater.” The majority of Mohave County i.e. the City of Kingman, Golden Valley, Dolan Springs, Yucca, Meadview, Valentine, Hackberry, Truxton, Peach Springs etc. depends on groundwater (aquifers and tributaries underground) for their water supply.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (A.D.W.R.) is extremely concerned for our water supply, but we are outside of an Active Management Area (A.M.A.) and water laws are practically nonexistent. They see and understand the crisis plaguing our community but in truth they have very little control over water issues here.

Herb Guenther, the director of the A.D.W.R., said the State is in denial over water quantity. He went on to say that we must use our water in a sustainable way or that the uncertainty over water availability will slow economic growth.

A.D.W.R. was created legislatively in response to a serious condition called “overdraft” of Arizona’s water supply. In the Mohave County General Plan, “overdraft” is referred to as “depletion." Simply put, overdraft or depletion is the act of pumping groundwater out of the aquifers faster than it is being replaced or recharged naturally. Just imagine drinking a glass of your favorite beverage through a straw and never refilling your glass. As you suck through the straw, your beverage will disappear and your glass will become empty. Overdraft or depletion also increases the costs of drilling and pumping, and of course the inevitable loss of our water supply will be both physically and financially devastating to the entire community.

Let’s look at the recharge rate (or lack thereof) of the Hualapai Aquifer. This aquifer supplies water to the City of Kingman and private well owners north of Kingman. This is the Estimated Annual Natural Recharge (water replacing the water being drawn out of the aquifer) per A.D.W.R...

(a) 2,000 - 2,500 acre feet per year (per Remick 1981)

OR

(b) 3,000 acre feet per year (per Freethey & Anderson 1986)

Let’s give the benefit of the doubt and utilize the higher recharge rate of 3,000 acre feet per year for this example. With Cultural Demand (water usage) in the period of 2001 - 2005 (it's is far higher now) of 8,900 acre feet per year. A.D.W.R.’s hydrology shows that the Hualapai Aquifer is being pumped into a state of decline at approximately 5,900 acre feet per year. Now, let’s add in the 4,000+ acre feet that the proposed Mohave Sun Power “WET COOLED” power plant plans to withdraw. Laura Grignano, A.D.W.R.’s Industrial Planner, has verified that there is NO monitoring of the amount of water that Mohave Sun Power removes from the aquifer. Now we have 9,900 acre feet per year of depletion within the Hualapai aquifer. That’s … 3 BILLION, 237 million, 300 thousand gallons of water per year being taken out of the aquifer and NOT being recharged back in.

The FACT is that we are emptying our water supply and not replenishing it. The Hualapai aquifer is in a state of DEPLETION! We WILL run out of water if we do not IMMEDIATELY start practicing intelligent growth and create a water plan to suit our emergency status!

If Mohave County ignores the health, well being and property values of the average citizen in favor of destructive industry then there will be recalls, referendums and lawsuits. The cost to the county will be extensive.

You have heard a lot of propaganda out there and this community is faced with elected officials and project developers who simply don’t care about the FACTS and they don’t care about you. If our elected officials cannot be creative enough to attract truly green industry that has a positive impact on this community, then replace them with people that can actually handle the job!

RESOURCES

1. A.D.W.R. main site: Click here for Website

2. A.D.W.R. overview of the Arizona Groundwater management Code : Click here for Website

3. PHOENIX (Associated Press)

4. The World’s Water 2008-2009: Click here for Website

5. Mohave County General Plan: Click here for Website

6. A.D.W.R. WATER ATLAS: Click here for Website

7. Laura Grignano, Industrial Planner for A.D.W.R.