MOHAVE COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY
Tom Griffin, Chairman
Maureen R. George, General Counsel
P.O Box 2419
Bullhead City, Arizona 86430
HB 2132 is a Good Thing for Residents of Mohave County.
The Mohave County Water Authority (MCWA) is pleased to announce the progress to date of HB 2132 through the Arizona legislature. This bill, sponsored at our request by Representatives Nancy Mclain and Trish Groe, makes available for full use by our members, Bullhead City (BHCj, Lake Havasu City (lHC), Mohave County Water District (MCWOl. Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District (MVIDD), Golden Shores Irrigation District (G510), City of Kingman and Mohave County, 3500 acre feet of 4th priority Colorado River water. Our members unanimously voted in August 2007 to request this legislation.
Contrary to recent news reports:
(1) this is a very good thing for reSidents of the river communities as well as the City of Kingman, which would receive funds for water resource improvements. It does not take away the water, it in fact makes it available for all uses, including industrial.
(2) The water is currently under contract to MCWA and the contract with the Department of the Interior provides that it may be used for all municipal and industrial purposes. It is a State law restriction which imposes the industrial use limitation. The water has been available for industrial use for ten plus years and not one application has been requested. Our members are very concerned about the loss of this water if it is not put to beneficial use by adding it to the water portfolio of our various members.
(3) Members Kingman, BHC, and LHC already have a portion of their water portfolio used by industry and all are actively pursuing industrial development.
(4) The water has not yet been subcontracted to anyone.
MCWA, in 2007, was successful in getting this water under contract. We need to be sure it is put to the best use, as determined by our various member agencies through their eleeted or appointed governing bodies.
Mayor Mark Nexsen of Lake Havasu City, Mayor Jack Hakim of Bullhead City, MCWA Chairman Tom Griffin and Mohave County Supervisor Tom Sockwell have all testified at the legislature in favor of this legislation which has broadbased support in the water community statewide.
As noted by Chairman Tom Griffin: "This water is for use by our members and their citizens, not a special interest group. We ask these citizens to let our legislators know of their support."
Showing posts with label MCWA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MCWA. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2008
HB 2132~Supervisor Tom Sockwell Statement of Support
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MARCH 19, 2008
CHAIRMAN FLAKE & MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE:
Good afternoon. I am Tom Sockwell, a member of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors and the County's appointed representative to the Mohave County Water Authority. I am here to urge your support of HB 2132. For those of you who may not know, the members of the Authority, in addition to Mohave County, are Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, the City of Kingman, Mohave Water Conservation District, Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District and Golden Shores Irrigation District. The members voted unanimously to seek the legislation which is before you today as HB 2132.
The purpose of this legislation is to eliminate the industrial use restriction on a portion of Mohave County Water Authority's (Authority) Colorado River allocation in order to make said water available for all municipal and industrial uses, including industrial, commercial and residential uses.
Industrial uses are defined in ARS 45-2201 (8) as follows: 8. "Industrial use" means a non-agricultural use of water not supplied by a city, town or private water company, including animal industry use as defined in § 45-402. Since MCWA's formation in 1996 it has not received a single request for water for an industrial use. During that same time frame our members have been looking for additional water for municipal purposes (which includes industrial uses).
The Authority's members have done water resource planning, drought planning, and water conservation planning and implementation in order to deal responsibly with water resource issues. These efforts, however, still leave Mohave County's river communities, both incorporated and unincorporated, without sufficient water. This legislation would serve to restore to those Mohave County communities, for full use, 3500 alf of 4th priority water always intended for such use, consistent with the Authority's contract with the Bureau of Reclamation.
The water has not yet been allocated among our members since passage of this legislation is necessary to put it to full use. Authority policy is to first offer the water to Authority members based on need as supported by the water resource demands of the various members. Four of our members have expressed an interest in acquiring this water if the industrial use limitation is removed, including unincorporated areas in Mohave Valley and Golden Shores. In fact Golden Shores needed this water yesterday but we needed to wait for the Arizona Water Settlements Act to be effective. One of the provisions of this settlement was that this water would be restored to MCWA for all municipal and industrial purposes. One of the reasons the Authority has been successful to date is the ability of our members to assess their various needs and fairly apportion its resources in response to same and seeks this legislation to permit it to continue doing so.
I am here, therefore, to seek your approval of HB 2132 which will eliminate the industrial restriction on the 3500 a/f. This would then result in additional water being available to Authority members for municipal use as well as providing the City of Kingman with additional funds to develop its groundwater resources. With passage of this legislation Kingman's additional water developed with these funds, as well as the water which would be subcontracted to our members, would be available for a wide range of uses as determined by the elected officials and boards of our various members to whom subcontracts would be made available. Included in those uses would most certainly be industrial uses as illustrated, for example, by the development of industrial parks in Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Bullhead City and the importance those communities place on industrial development. Likewise as Golden Shores and the Mohave Valley develop they will see increased demand for water for ALL uses, which will in all likelihood include industrial uses. The distribution of this water, however, should be left to those local communities who are best positioned to assess the competing demands in their area.
Thank you for your attention.
Tom Sockwell
Mohave County Board of Supervisors
P.O. Box 7000
Kingman, Arizona 86402
928 753-9141
Tom.Sockwell@co.mohave.az.us
CHAIRMAN FLAKE & MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE:
Good afternoon. I am Tom Sockwell, a member of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors and the County's appointed representative to the Mohave County Water Authority. I am here to urge your support of HB 2132. For those of you who may not know, the members of the Authority, in addition to Mohave County, are Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, the City of Kingman, Mohave Water Conservation District, Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District and Golden Shores Irrigation District. The members voted unanimously to seek the legislation which is before you today as HB 2132.
The purpose of this legislation is to eliminate the industrial use restriction on a portion of Mohave County Water Authority's (Authority) Colorado River allocation in order to make said water available for all municipal and industrial uses, including industrial, commercial and residential uses.
Industrial uses are defined in ARS 45-2201 (8) as follows: 8. "Industrial use" means a non-agricultural use of water not supplied by a city, town or private water company, including animal industry use as defined in § 45-402. Since MCWA's formation in 1996 it has not received a single request for water for an industrial use. During that same time frame our members have been looking for additional water for municipal purposes (which includes industrial uses).
The Authority's members have done water resource planning, drought planning, and water conservation planning and implementation in order to deal responsibly with water resource issues. These efforts, however, still leave Mohave County's river communities, both incorporated and unincorporated, without sufficient water. This legislation would serve to restore to those Mohave County communities, for full use, 3500 alf of 4th priority water always intended for such use, consistent with the Authority's contract with the Bureau of Reclamation.
The water has not yet been allocated among our members since passage of this legislation is necessary to put it to full use. Authority policy is to first offer the water to Authority members based on need as supported by the water resource demands of the various members. Four of our members have expressed an interest in acquiring this water if the industrial use limitation is removed, including unincorporated areas in Mohave Valley and Golden Shores. In fact Golden Shores needed this water yesterday but we needed to wait for the Arizona Water Settlements Act to be effective. One of the provisions of this settlement was that this water would be restored to MCWA for all municipal and industrial purposes. One of the reasons the Authority has been successful to date is the ability of our members to assess their various needs and fairly apportion its resources in response to same and seeks this legislation to permit it to continue doing so.
I am here, therefore, to seek your approval of HB 2132 which will eliminate the industrial restriction on the 3500 a/f. This would then result in additional water being available to Authority members for municipal use as well as providing the City of Kingman with additional funds to develop its groundwater resources. With passage of this legislation Kingman's additional water developed with these funds, as well as the water which would be subcontracted to our members, would be available for a wide range of uses as determined by the elected officials and boards of our various members to whom subcontracts would be made available. Included in those uses would most certainly be industrial uses as illustrated, for example, by the development of industrial parks in Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Bullhead City and the importance those communities place on industrial development. Likewise as Golden Shores and the Mohave Valley develop they will see increased demand for water for ALL uses, which will in all likelihood include industrial uses. The distribution of this water, however, should be left to those local communities who are best positioned to assess the competing demands in their area.
Thank you for your attention.
Tom Sockwell
Mohave County Board of Supervisors
P.O. Box 7000
Kingman, Arizona 86402
928 753-9141
Tom.Sockwell@co.mohave.az.us
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