Sat, Oct 11, 2008
RN - FT Health Care PAINTED HILLS PEDIATRICS LPN, RN, MA Administrative & Professional AVIVA, Inc Executive Director Health Care ALLIANCE IMAGING PRN MRI TECH Health Care CD Therapist CD Therapist Computer Flowing Wells Schools Computer Technician Driver/Transportation DRIVERS Tucson RegionDevelopers face new water-supply rules in Pima CountyArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.27.2007
Pima County, for the first time, will look at future water use before deciding whether developers can build more houses or businesses.
Environmentalists and county officials have long been concerned that current policy does not consider the effect of groundwater pumping on the environment or neighboring wells.
Also, many developers meet their state requirement to show a 100-year assured water supply by joining the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District. The district looks for new supplies to replenish water lost to pumping, but may not recharge that water in the same basin from which it was withdrawn.
The proposed policy changes would require developers to provide detailed information about their water sources, location within a given water basin and proximity to any ecosystems dependent on groundwater when requesting a comprehensive plan amendment, often the first step in a rezoning.
And when requesting a rezoning, developers would have to provide a description of water supply options, an analysis of water levels in the area, the difference in water use between existing zoning and the proposed future zoning, and a plan for well locations.
The more water a development would use, the more information would be required, with the largest developments required to perform an analysis of their effect on surrounding wells and a feasibility study on bringing renewable water supplies to the area.
Developments with no access to renewable water supplies would not be recommended for approval, nor would those that would have an adverse impact on threatened ecosystems.
Developers proposing to pump groundwater would have to recharge in the same area from which they pump, and if the area is prone to subsidence, they have to take specific steps to prevent the problem.
"I hope it leads us to considering developments that are sustainable from a water-use perspective," said Pima County Water Policy Manager Kathy Chavez. "And it gives the development community the opportunity to explain how they're going to be proactive."
The policy would apply to comprehensive plan amendments larger than 4 acres and all residential rezonings larger than 5 acres. Commercial rezonings or requests to build four or more homes per acre would be included on projects of 1 acre or more.
If approved, the new policy would allow developers to get credit for making use of "gray-water" systems and storm-water recharge.
President Ed Taczanowsky of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association said last week that early versions of the proposal were not flexible enough and didn't account for all water resources a developer might bring to bear, such as gray-water systems or effluent.
Representatives of Diamond Ventures pushed for the water requirements after a rezoning is approved.
But Chavez said at that point densities are already set, and if a water impact problem arose, the county couldn't reduce the number of houses.
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said he takes encouragement from the complaints of developers.
"From the amount of resistance we've seen, I think we're going in the right direction," he said.
Carolyn Campbell, executive director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, said she was pleased with the policy changes, but ultimately, it will be up the Board of Supervisors to apply it to every proposed development.
"Whether or not the board will say no to a rezoning that has significant adverse impact to ecosystems, I don't know," Campbell said. "It's up the them to decide whether it will apply. It will at least make a difference in what people are required to replenish."
Find more coverage of environmental issues at www.azstarnet.com/environment
● Contact reporter Erica Meltzer at 807-7790 or emeltzer@azstarnet.com.
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