WHETSTONE — A commercial well recently completed along Oak Street west of Highway 90 on property overseen by a former governor is a sign there could be more to come.

And that has some area residents concerned.

The well is the property of a corporation, BBA Foresight, with Bruce Babbitt, former governor of Arizona and interior secretary during the Clinton administration, named as manager.

In a recent phone interview, Babbitt said he is representing a group of investors who purchased Rain Valley Ranch, a working cattle ranch, with acreage in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties. The investors are planning a low-density development that will be completed in multiple stages.

A view of Rain Valley Ranch, which is in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties and could be a the site of a residential development. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review)

The well, Babbitt said, “was drilled in order to get the water certificate to do low-density development on the ranch.”

The development will be following guidelines set by Cochise County’s Conservation Subdivision Ordinance, which means that 50 percent of the subdivision will be dedicated to open space, with a density of about one unit per three acres.

“The purchase was a time-sale, with a number of provisions written into it,” Babbitt said. “The deeded land on the ranch is about 5,000 acres, and the investors purchased all of that property.”

Babbitt, who says he has “a very small sweat-equity investment in this (development),” said he is primarily working on the project’s water rights.

Arizona Beeman Drilling, a company from the Phoenix area, drilled the well on the 36-acre site. During its construction, Lucinda Earven, a local veterinarian whose property is directly across from the well, watched its progress and documented several phone conversations with a number of officials involved on the project. Earven is concerned about the potential impact a commercial well that size could have on smaller, private wells in the Whetstone area.

On a fact-finding quest, Earven was told by the Arizona Department of Water Resources that the well is about 700 feet deep and should be capable of pumping a substantial amount of water, between 700 and 1,000 gallons per minute.

In addition to the potential impact on private wells, Earven and other Whetstone residents question the long-term impact a well that size could have on the Upper San Pedro Water Basin.

Congress established the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in 1988, directing that the river water should flow so its fragile ecosystem would continue to flourish. During a visit to this area on April 28, 2000, while Babbitt was secretary of the interior, he issued a stern warning, stating that if something isn’t done to reduce development in the Upper San Pedro River Basin, a federal court may dictate growth limits and decide the area’s future.

“If development begins to affect the San Pedro River, as it will, there will be litigation, I’m sure of it,” Babbitt stated during that visit. “Ensuring the river flows is a legally enforceable right.”

Babbitt also said growth will happen, but it must be with constraints, along with a plan to conserve water. He reiterated there must be controlled growth, “or the river will die and the scenic vistas will be replaced with rooftops.”

So how much impact will this commercial well have on the area’s private wells and the Upper San Pedro River Basin?

“We hired a hydrologist to help us with the project. We’ve gone deep enough so as not to impact local wells,” Babbitt said.

When questioned about potential impact to the river, he said, “I’m not concerned about that because the well is far enough from the river.”

Mike Hayhurst, who owns Brookline Ranch, a working cattle ranch in the lower Babocomari area, said he has “serious concerns about the area’s river basin and the private wells in Whetstone.”

He does not share Babbitt’s outlook regarding the well’s benign impact on the area’s private wells and has deep reservations about its potential affect on the Upper San Pedro River Basin.

“I’ve ranched the Babocomari area for 20 years now, and I’ve seen unbelievable changes in the Babocomari River,” Hayhurst said. “Sections of the river that once had fish are completely dry now, and it gets worse every year.”

Changes in the Babocomari River, Hayhurst warned, directly impact the San Pedro, as the Babocomari drains into the San Pedro. Hayhurst is a representative of the Hereford National Resource Conservation District and involved in the Upper San Pedro Partnership. The partnership, he explained, is designed to preserve the river while supporting economic development. It’s a delicate balancing act, one that he believes is leaning toward developers.

Earven agrees.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re not part of an Active Management Area,” she said. “I was told by Monica Ortiz who works in compliance at ADWR that, because we’re not in an AMA, once the well permit is signed and approved, they don’t offer any more oversight.”

Tom Whitmer, manager of regional water planning with the Department of Water Resources, explained the agency’s regulatory role.

“There are different regulations, depending on whether the well is in an Active Management Area,” he said, which Cochise County is not. “An impact analysis is done to determine if there could be an impact on wells in the area. Outside Active Management Areas, there are no statutory requirements to conduct an impact study on surrounding wells.”

Whitmer said all proposed subdivisions in Cochise County must go through the state water agency and demonstrate adequate water supply for 100 years, based on statutory criteria that was recently established by a vote of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors.

“If they can’t demonstrate that, then the subdivision cannot be built,” Whitmer added.

The developer could go back to the drawing board and opt to build a smaller development, one that meets the 100-year supply.

Judy Anderson, director of Cochise County Planning Department, has been in communication with Babbitt regarding the development, but it was about a year ago. About two-thirds of the development will be in Cochise County, with the rest in Santa Cruz County, she said.

Anderson did not have much information about the commercial well.

“I knew they were digging the well as a water source for the development,” she said.

The county, she added, does not oversee wells. All wells, commercial or domestic, must go through the state Department of Water Resources.

One thing is certain: Some Whetstone residents will be watching the development once it’s under way, along with the well’s impact.

“It will definitely affect the Babocomari River,” Hayhurst said. “And if it affects the Babo, it will affect the San Pedro. I’m afraid it’s going to suck the smaller wells in the area dry.”

HERALD/REVIEW reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or dana.cole@svherald.com.