Michael Byrd takes the attendees to the Watson Woods Riparian Preserve.

On this one point most of the panel and audience seemed to agree with Yavapai County Supervisor Carol Springer at the 41st Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona-New Mexico Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and Wildlife Society this weekend at the Prescott Resort and Conference Center. The two day conference included presentations from The Nature Conservancy, Prescott Creeks, and The Center for Biological Diversity, the Salt River Project and Northern Arizona University. And that was just for the Plenary which kicked off the conference.

Springer continued to speak about the things elected officials have to take into account as they make decisions. She said, “Water laws are constantly evolving with growth and the human consumption. It becomes very difficult for us to try to balance the needs of all the stakeholders. In this area alone we have over 80 groups who are involved in water related issues, with no growth on one side, to the other side which is those who are strictly promoting development. We recognize as elected officials that we have all these different points that we have to deal with.”

Laughter followed her next observation: “Part of the problem, at least from my perspective is the fact that we have, among a lot of those groups a certain amount of distrust.” Springer feels that finding a balance between the groups is the key. She does not think the area is doing enough to conserve water. She said they “have to be fairly dramatic. We’ve done conservation issues in the past but frankly they haven’t been anything that causes anyone any real pain. And sometimes the pain translates to the pocketbook. Water is cheap. One of the ways we can address water is through pricing. So I think we’re at the point where that will be a bigger and bigger issue and people will have to understand the true value of water.” Springer said things like water harvesting and recharge projects will need to be looked at in the future. She ended her part of the presentation by stating, “I think I can speak for pretty much all elected officials when I say this; our goal as policy makers is the same as all of you who are stakeholders. And that is to make sure that in Arizona the Verde River runs through it.”

Dan Campbell, who’s been with The Nature Conservancy for 23 years, spoke about the Verde River and its wildlife. He noted that the Verde River is one of the last running rivers left in the state and it happens to be the second best river system in terms of restoring native fish population. Additionally it contributes water to 3 ½ million people, and 40% of all the surface water in the Salt River Project (SRP) area in Phoenix, (which is not the 5th largest city in the United States), is derived from the Verde River. In addition The Verde supplies all the water for Sedona, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley. Campbell cautions, “Let’s go carefully before we wreck this river system. For many of us the first model that we always try to follow is the words of Aldo Leopold when he said, ‘The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the pieces.” We need to keep the pieces so we can put it back together.”

Campbell also says, “One of the most important things citizens who are concerned about the local environment should educate themselves about are the laws. Many of us are not aware of what the laws of this state actually allow and we need to be educated about what the reality is.” When speaking about the importance of the Verde to wildlife he states that it is, “One of two river systems in AZ that still produce otters, and there are 135 species found here and no where else. We have biological diversity at great risk. Most of us in the room are aware that 86% of the native fish in our state are in peril.”

Growth is another issue that is worrying to The Nature Conservancy, as it impacts the local area. Campbell said that recently Yavapai County has been almost doubling every 20 years. There are also people who feel that this is just the beginning. Campbell cited demographers who say that in the next 50 years Sierra Vista, through Tucson and Phoenix to Prescott will be one uniform urban.

The Nature Conservancy is working with six private ranchers in the area whose land is close to the Verde River and speaking with them to find out if they would be willing to use conservation easements to help protect that entire riparian area. Campbell says the ranchers are very open to the idea which would assure that the ranches remain ranches into the future.

Campbell also spoke of the importance of everyone pulling together for a common goal. “It is all of us. It’s us if you’re a student or a professor, it’s us if you are agency personnel, it’s us if you’re an elected leader or a citizen. It’s going to take all of us. We’re going to have to work together. One thing I would suggest is that we be a bit more civil with one another. It’s been an issue here, it’s an issue everywhere. But also start talking across the boundaries.”

Michelle Harrington, Rivers Conservation Manager for The Center for Biological Diversity called herself an “all round political rabble-rouser” and seems passionate about her devotion to helping preserve the Verde River. Her group’s “Save the Verde” campaign started in 2006. She is not afraid to dive into the politics of the area when she spoke about the group’s concern about “mitigating” the impact of pumping water from the Big Chino Aquifer. Mitigation is one of the words frequently used at water meetings around the area and Harrington expresses her feelings succinctly when she says, “What is mitigation? Say this with me: Monitoring is not mitigation.”

Harrington cited section 45-555 in Arizona law that states communities do have the rights to pump water from the Big Chino “but there’s nothing in the law that says they have the right to destroy the Verde or its habitat. And I know it’s not their intention.” She is also concerned that the mitigation meetings they had have ceased and they have not been meeting for over a year. She would like those meetings to start up again.

Harrington is clear when stating her group’s stance on growth. “The Center holds the position that the proposed Big Chino Water Ranch, Chino Valley Water Project and massive development in Yavapai County represents significant risks to the future health of the Verde River and the many people, plants and wildlife that depend on the river.” In addition they want to prevent the Verde from becoming an effluent dependent river, saying, “Effluent is just icky,” and “has an adverse affect on plants and wildlife and will even alter the sex of the fish in the Verde.”

The group is trying to get more public awareness out about the Verde River and says one of the things they do the second Wednesday of each month is hold an event called “Watershed Wednesdays” at The Raven Cafe. In addition April 12 – 20th they will have a public awareness event everyday, and they are working on some public access cable programs.

Michael Byrd , Executive Director of Prescott Creeks was the next panelist to speak and laid out his groups goals for community based restoration. He noted that Prescott Creeks’ mission statement ends with the words, “preserve, restore and celebrate.” Byrd says, “We very deliberately try to position our organization so we’re not in the political fray. We’re working with different stakeholders and entities in our watershed to find solutions for everyone.” Prescott Creeks works in the Granite Creek Watershed’s upper basin inside Prescott. Currently and for over 10 years they have had a focused on the ecological restoration of the Watson Woods Preserve. Watson Woods is 126 acres owned by the city of Prescott and has been set aside as a riparian preserve. Prescott Creeks has a 25 year lease with an option for renewal on the property. Currently they are in conversations with the city to provide long term perpetuity protections with conservation easements. They have worked with Natural Channel Design Inc. to get a long term plan for the area, which includes a way to restore the stream flow so it could function as it did in the past. In the mid-1950’s the area was mined for sand and gravel, and when the company left they did not restore the stream bed. This plan would help reconnect the channel tubes to the riparian areas. In addition they are using macro-invertebrates to measure the health of their intermittent stream. The group also has 8 groundwater monitoring wells which are approximately 25 feet deep. Byrd also stated that the group has put up many signs in the area explaining the preserve to people, and they use volunteers to help them keep the creeks in Prescott clean and plant native species of trees and plants. Wildlife that is seen in the preserve includes many birds, including red-tail hawks, bobcats, ducks and elk.

Community involvement is very important to Prescott Creeks Association. Byrd states that by including community members in the process, “it really empowers people to see they are part of the solution.” The group has planted approximately 1000 trees along Granite Creek.

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