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SAN PEDRO RIVER -- Battle lines are being drawn as opponents to a rider to the 2004 Defense Appropriations Bill prepare to attack the idea of limiting Fort Huachuca's responsibility for off-post water use.
Defenders of the installation are calling on their troops to support the proposal.
The point of attack and defense is an amendment to a House of Representatives' Defense Authorization Bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., that the post should not be held responsible for any water pumping off the installation.
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The House passed a bill with the rider, but the U.S. Senate's version of the bill does not have a similar amendment. The proposal will be considered by Senate and House conferees after Labor Day.
The House passed a similar rider last year, but the Senate did not. During the conference, the rider was not added to the bills both chambers of Congress passed.
On Tuesday, Tricia Gerrodette, president of the Huachuca Audubon Society, called for the defeat of this year's proposal.
Gerrodette said that if it is passed, the off-post community will not have a reason to stop unbridled growth, leading to harm to San Pedro River.
"There is a steady increase in pumping (water from the aquifer) except for the fort," she said during a press conference at the San Pedro House near the river.
Saying post officials have been outstanding environmental stewards and reduced water use, Gerrodette said the same thing cannot be said of Sierra Vista or Cochise County officials.
Unrestrained growth in the civilian communities has continued to aggravate the area's water problem, she said.
"Environmentalists have been saying for a number of years the river will go dry," Gerrodette said. "It's not will the river dry up, it is when."
A number of people involved with the Upper San Pedro Partnership, a consortium of federal, state, local agencies, environmental groups and businesses, disagree.
Bob Strain, chairman of the partnership's advisory commission, said the attempt by some environmental groups to ensure the Renzi rider is defeated ignores reality when it comes to the commitment of off-post communities to work on mitigating water use to make sure the river is saved.
"The environmental community that follows Dr. (Robin) Silver closely cannot stand that the river will be saved and the fort can continue to operate," Strain said.
With diligence, the post and civilian communities can grow, he added.
The problem with some environmentalists is they "stand on the banks (of the river) and get hysterical about what growth is doing to the river," Strain said.
Silver is a longtime critic of growth in the area, claiming it is destroying the flow of the river. He is the conservation chairman of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The center, along with other environmental groups, including the Huachuca Audubon Society, sent a letter to Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano Monday asking her to help convince U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to defeat the rider in the House and Senate conference meetings.
The governor hasn't given her commitment.
Gerrodette said House members are hard-nosed in their support of the Renzi rider. She said she does not see them doing away with that portion of the House-approved bill.
"We know Sen. McCain is a a fighter, and he can be hard-nosed, too. We are counting on him," she said.
McCain was not available for response on what stand he will take.
Strain said McCain recently asked for assurances that the civilian communities will continue to support water mitigation, and that pledge was given.
Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Portouw also sought strong indications of support from the civilian communities.
On Aug. 18, Portouw sent letters to a number of civilian community leaders asking for a formal letter committing them to continue support of the fort's and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2002 Biological Opinion. In the opinion, the post accepted a portion of the nearly 7,000 acre-foot deficit, and the civilian communities agreed to mitigate water use for about 3,600 acre-feet of the deficit by 2011. An acre-foot consists of about 326,000 gallons of water.
The partnership consists of nearly 20 members and includes officials from Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Fort Huachuca and The Nature Conservancy.
In his letter to some partnership members, Portouw said, "Fort Huachuca recognizes that when the USSP recently approved the draft working plan, this commitment has already been made by many communities and agencies. However, to ensure compliance with the commitment made in the Biological Opinion, Fort Huachuca requests this commitment be made in writing. Fort Huachuca plans to use your response and send it to the US Fish and Wildlife Services as part of our annual reporting process."
Strain said that although not addressed in the colonel's letter, the additional commitment in writing can be used to ensure the Renzi rider is approved because congressional leaders will see the area -- on and off the post -- is serious about protecting the river and properly growing.
To Gerrodette, the partnership has been talking for five years about doing things, putting ideas down on paper and, except for the fort, not following through.
"No action of the partnership has saved a single gallon (of water)," she said. "There's just a lot of words on paper."
The civilian communities have to provide quantifiable and verifiable water savings, Gerrodette said.
Sierra Vista spokeswoman Marie Hansen said the city has been working to conserve water and developed plans that will mitigate water use.
The city also adopted a resolution for its water management strategy this year that is part of ensuring the city helps the fort with its Biological Opinion with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she said.
Strain said some of the more strident environmental groups are attacking The Nature Conservancy, an environmental organization that works with groups to seek solutions.
Holly Richter, The Nature Conservancy's Upper San Pedro manager, said the partnership is involved in a collaborative effort to save the river and reduce water use in the area.
"I think the partnership has increased its ability to do it and they have a high level of commitment," she said.
Bisbee resident Jan Munsey said she has concerns that the commitment, other than from the fort, is not present.
She was one of about 25 people who attended the combination press conference and save-the-river rally.
While the fort is doing a good job in conserving water, Munsey said she is concerned the post may have to accept large numbers of people if it remains open after the next Base Realignment and Closure process.
There have been reports the fort may have to accept up to 10,000 more people, not including family members. If family members are added to the total, the number could grow to as much as 30,000 people.
"I don't agree with more people being moved to the fort," Munsey said. "The desert is a fragile ecosystem."
Gerrodette said Army officials have expressed concerns about what she called "this wonderful desert jewel."
The river is a globally recognized as a major migratory bird corridor and an important path for mammals. As Gerrodette spoke, birds chirped in a large cottonwood tree and from under the eaves of the San Pedro House, where barn swallows had built mud nests.
On April 1, 2002, an Army Corps of Engineers hydrologic engineer wrote a memorandum in which he stated, "The effect of the long-term groundwater development in the Sierra Vista/Fort Huachuca region on the flow of the San Pedro River can potentially be significant."
The memo by Jon P. Fenske stated there is a clear trend in declining water levels at fort wells between 1995 and 2002.
According to an information paper by Col. Craig Teller, chief of environmental law division at Army headquarters, "Development over the last decade has overburdened water resources. The region is now facing an escalating groundwater deficit, with the underlying aquifer being drained beyond its capacity for recharge."
His May 12 paper addressed the fort's Biological Opinion and stated as another fact: "While Fort Huachuca has undertaken aggressive conservation measures, steadily reducing its water consumption since 1988, unrestrained growth in the civilian community has continued to aggravate the water deficit situation."
The colonel added that Renzi's rider limits off-post water pumping from being a fort responsibility in future consultations as far as cumulative effects and "continues to be a major problem for Fort Huachuca."
Gerrodette said the Renzi amendment is another attempt to do what U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe did last year when he tried to have a similar proposal added to a congressional bill allowing military installations, including the fort, not to be responsible for off-post water use.
That attempt failed in the House and Senate conference in 2003, but this year's rider supported by Kolbe, whose district includes the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which he helped create more than a decade ago, will succeed, Kolbe said.
"The protesters are well off the mark," he said. "The Renzi amendment will not harm the San Pedro water source; the Renzi amendment simply places the responsibility for water use where it belongs -- with the (civilian) community."
SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 458-9440 Ext. 115 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Ezai I. Martinez wrote on Jun 24, 2009 7:58 PM: