The Truth about "Green Valley Water Issues"

There is some misleading information on the internet that has been used as a pivot issue by anti-mine groups, unfortunately.  On the back of an outdated and factually inaccurate report, circulated nearly 10 years ago. The water supply in Green Valley nonetheless continues to be a hot topic.

We hope to address your Green Valley water concerns with the following facts:  

1) The information that is cited as the source of these claims states that water will become "critical in the next ten years".  It is now nearly ten years since that claim was made and nothing could be further from the truth.  According to the local water companies:

A)  They currently reach bedrock (the bottom) at 1,000 feet. They reach water at 200 feet (the top). This gives our water table a depth of 800 feet. The length of this water table extends from the beyond the southern most part of Green Valley and north past the northern border of Green Valley.

The water table has been declining at a rate of 2 - 4 feet per year. So this rate of decline would give us 200 - 400 years of water supply IF no corrective action were ever taken.

B) The CAP project supplements our water table (corrective action).  We now have two 36” pipelines connecting us to our allocation of supplemental water.  This will bring our water table’s net rate of decline to zero feet per year.  In other words, the approximately 800 feet of water we have will neither decline nor go up. None of this was considered or accounted for in the report from nearly 10 years ago.

As always, I encourage you to do your own due diligence and confirm this information if it is of concern to you. Community Water Company serves the majority of Green Valley and they can be reached at (520) 625-8409.  The manager of Community Water is Arturo Galbaldon.

2) You can download and view the official Project Renews update regarding the CAP project (One of the two 36” pipelines) here:
http://u.realgeeks.media/greenvalleysahuaritahomes/pdfs/Project_Renews_Updated.pdf

In addition to this document you can also find information about Green Valley CAP on the Green Valley Community Water website here:
http://communitywater.com/the-pipeline-route-project-design/

3) The state of Arizona also requires confirmation of a 100 year water supply (after considering future growth) before a new development can be started. This is not something that is simple or easy to get.  It requires the State of Arizona to verify and confirm all of the items listed in the yellow table on the web page linked below:
http://www.azwater.gov/azdwr/WaterManagement/AAWS/default.htm

So in essence, the fact that we have new homes being built with new communities in the works - is proof by itself that we have a sustainable water supply of at least 100 years. According to the State of Arizona.

4) One of the largest users of water in our area is the Pecan Farm. They use approximately half of all water pulled from our water table.  This is because their water usage for their 7,000 acres of trees is grand fathered.  The Pecan Groves are being re-developed for other usages such as residential and commercial space. This project is called Sahuarita Farms and the Specific Plan for this has recently been approved by the Town of Sahuarita.  

So this will all but remove the largest user of water from our water table over the next 35-50 years.  You can see the details of the Sahuarita Farms project here:
http://www.sahuaritafarms.com/

5) Lastly, there are several areas of the country that actually do have to rely 100% on imported water. One of these areas is in Orange County California where Hundreds of Thousands of users receive water that has been recycled and/or reclaimed. Property values and housing demands there have of course continued to increase rapidly nonetheless.

Hopefully this helps to provide a more factual and level headed perspective.  If you have any further questions we are always happy to help.

Patrick & Louise