VALLEY
– State water regulators are again asking private well‑water
users to file estimates of how much water they use each
year.
That
information will be a part of the Arizona Department of
Water Resources assessment of the Gila River Watershed
(which includes Maricopa County), intended to determine
how much groundwater is available and how much is being
used.
The
department has been ordered by the Superior Court to send
out a new use summons, asking well owners in the Gila
River Watershed to file a Statement of Claimant Form for
their surface and groundwater. The original deadline for
filing groundwater claims, based on a 1981 court ruling,
was January 1985.
“It
is in residents’ best interest to file usage,” said Barbara
Sims of the Department of Water Resources.
The
department is encouraging well‑water users to file
their claims as the courts are preparing to settle water
rights of the Gila River Indian Reservation. After the
reservation’s claims are adjudicated, the courts will
then look at remaining claims within the watershed.
“I
filed for my claim in January of 2002,” said Desert Hills
resident Terry Marron, adding: “A lot of my neighbors
threw the notice out. That might be a problem.” Marron
went on to say, “Groundwater is what they’re trying to
get everyone off of. And
wells run on groundwater.”
The
issue at hand, according to Marron, is: “How full is the
glass, how many straws are in the glass, and how hard
is everyone sucking on their straw? And some people are
sucking hard on the straw.”
Arizona
gets its water–through the Central Arizona Project canal
system–from the Colorado River, as does California, Nevada
and Utah. Those states in recent years have been taking
more and more of their Colorado River allotment, which
means less water is moving downstream to Arizona, adversely
affecting the Gila, Rio Verde and Salt rivers, among others.
Increased
water consumption brought on by Arizona’s growth, coupled
with severe drought conditions, has led to water shortages.
The
state water resources department is expected to release
its assessment Aug. 23, and is
slated
to hold three public informational meetings in mid‑September
to address the assessment.
Reach
the reporter at jennifer@thedesertadvocate.com.
