Posted on 03/18/2005 3:47:01 PM PST by SandRat
Say post's growth threatens San Pedro
Environmentalists worried about the fate of the San Pedro River filed papers Thursday in anticipation of another lawsuit against Fort Huachuca.
The fort's "incremental, piecemeal expansion" - and Sierra Vista's accompanying growth - are threatening one of the continent's hot spots for species diversity, according to activists' notice of intent to sue the military and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
If the fort doesn't do something about the area's declining water table, the post must downsize so the river and its endangered species can survive, says the 83-page notice filed by the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.
"Nearly every mission that's done at Fort Huachuca can be done elsewhere without affecting national security," said the center's Robin Silver, a Phoenix physician who wrote the notice.
The fort is Southern Arizona's top employer, according to the Star 200. It had the equivalent of 12,250 full-time employees in 2005 and a payroll of $369 million in 2004.
A fort spokeswoman said she couldn't comment on the center's notice, which gives federal officials 60 days to respond before a lawsuit can be filed.
"We're strong stewards of the environment here. We're a leader not only in the Army, but in the Department of Defense," spokeswoman Tanja Linton said.
"We have a pretty aggressive program to address water use on the installation - everything from waterless urinals to training newcomers about living in a desert environment to 1.5-gallon-per-minute shower heads."
The San Pedro begins in Sonora, Mexico, and runs 140 miles north to the Gila River at Winkelman. Its cottonwood and willow forests provide habitat for hundreds of bird species.
Scientists say flows in the San Pedro have shrunk in recent decades as groundwater pumping has increased around Sierra Vista and snatched subsurface water before it reaches the river. That's prompted a string of lawsuits from activists who fear the San Pedro will dry up like the Santa Cruz River.
Silver said it's true the fort has become more water-wise, but that's been overshadowed by the post's overall growth.
"They're expanding their activity in excess of their progress," he said. "The result is increasing peril to the river."
The notice, with 624 footnotes, argues the San Pedro's flow during the driest times of the year has further shriveled since Fish and Wildlife wrote a biological opinion in 2002.
The opinion said 54 percent of the 64,655 people living in the watershed were tied to Fort Huachuca, so the facility was responsible for 54 percent of the area's water use, including consumption by private contractors, military families and others who live or work off-post.
According to the notice, the Defense Department promised in 2002 the fort would expand by no more than 500 people through 2011, but in reality it has added or committed to adding 2,851 people.
Since the biological opinion, the notice says, the deficit between what wells pump and what nature replenishes with rain and snowmelt has grown by 63 to 134 percent, depending on which agency is counting.
The looming suit seeks to force Fish and Wildlife to do another biological opinion. If the agency found the fort was jeopardizing federally protected species, it could force the military to alter its operations.
Steve Spangle, Fish and Wildlife's Arizona Field Office supervisor, said he couldn't comment on the notice's merits. The agency will work with the fort to determine if another so-called consultation is necessary due to new data or a change in the fort's operations, he said.
Last Wednesday, the Arizona Department of Water Resources said conditions in the Upper San Pedro basin didn't warrant labeling it an "active management area," which would have imposed restrictions on groundwater pumping. Agency Director Herb Guenther said the area around Benson and Sierra Vista has enough groundwater to meet future municipal, agricultural and industrial needs.
There are 20 million to 26 million acre-feet of groundwater stored in the basin, the state said, but every year wells are pulling out 9,500 acre-feet more than nature returns. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.
The state said a "cone of depression" that lowers the water table continues to deepen around Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca, but there has been very little change in groundwater adjacent to the river.
The Enviro-Taleban are at it again!
Warning!
Inmates in control of asylum.
Give or take several trillionth of a percent.
As a science advocate, I'm pulling for a good case of melanoma.
The thing I liked most about living in the desert is that I didn't have to mow the lawn; just rake the grass.
Now in the desert city it's use a leaf blower to blow od bits of leaves and paper out of the rocks in the yard.
Thanks for the ping!
Anyone else hoping Huachuca is shut down? I am supporting any of the options, water/enviro concerns or BRAC. Life down here would be a lot nicer with a lot less people. Can you imagine, sane housing prices and less traffic? I guess it is easy when your job doesn't rely one whit on the post.
Thank you for sharing your views!
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