by Cyndy
Cole, Sun Staff Reporter
Arizona Daily Sun
09 March 2010
A federal agency is pressing the city of
Flagstaff to offer potable water for snowmaking at Arizona
Snowbowl that does not come directly from reclaimed wastewater.
In addition, Snowbowl could get government aid
to cover the $11 million in higher costs for the water over 20
winters.
Arizona's two U.S. senators are blasting the
plan as a waste of taxpayer money and a violation of court
decisions in favor of making snow at Snowbowl with treated
effluent.
The proposal comes in response to tribal
concerns that making snow with reclaimed wastewater desecrates the
San Francisco Peaks, which they hold sacred.
Instead of making snow entirely with processed
wastewater taken from the Rio de Flag Water Reclamation plant,
Snowbowl would be tapping so-called "stored water."
That's water located underground and downstream
of the Rio de Flag plant, mixed with natural surface and
groundwater from rain and snow.
This "stored water" is already tapped by four
1,500-foot-deep city wells in the vicinity of Foxglenn. But
instead of going to the city's water treatment plant for final
processing, up to 1.5 million gallons a day would be diverted to
Snowbowl for three months each winter.
NO EARMARKS FOR SNOWMAKING SUBSIDIES
The negotiations, revealed Monday, involve city
officials and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has
withheld permission for Snowbowl to build while holding private
negotiations with regional tribes since July in attempts to forge
a compromise.
The Navajo Nation, along with other tribes,
declined an option to purchase the ski area last fall, according
to Snowbowl's owner.
U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl blasted the
U.S. Department of Agriculture in a letter Monday, though they
each support snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl. They called for
Agriculture to grant Snowbowl permission to build "immediately."
"We oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to
subsidize snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl, and we will object to
any attempt to secure an earmark or congressional approval of this
project," they wrote.
They also asked whether the tribes that
litigated to prevent snowmaking with reclaimed water would be
content with this source of water.
"Have the tribes officially taken a position
that they support 'stored water' but not A+ reclaimed water; and
if so, on what basis?" they asked.
ATTEMPT TO STRIKE A BALANCE
Among the litigants opposed to the project was
the Hopi tribe, which feared snowmaking with any kind of water
could interfere with the home of spiritual beings and ancestors
responsible for creating snow on the San Francisco Peaks and the
rain on Hopi farmlands.
Hopi Chairman Le Roy Shingoitewa had heard
nothing of the new proposal as of Monday.
The city of Flagstaff secretly proposed this
"stored" water to the Agriculture Department in January in an
apparent attempt to strike a balance between the use of water that
was formerly in sewer systems and kitchen sinks -- an offensive
idea to some tribal members -- and potential Flagstaff resident
opposition to using fresh groundwater.
"This has been done for local political and
legal reasons, as some segments of the general public would be
very much opposed to using drinking-quality water or potable water
for snowmaking ..." a Jan. 13 letter from the city to the
Agriculture Department reads.
Using such a water source would also nullify an
ongoing lawsuit that calls into question the safety of using
purely reclaimed wastewater for snowmaking.
City of Flagstaff officials, who are bound by
confidentiality rules in the negotiations, declined comment early
Monday evening.
HIGHER COSTS VS. MORE JOBS
Negotiations on Snowbowl reach very high in the
executive branch -- to the chief of staff and at least the deputy
director at the Agriculture Department, if not Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack, to whom the senators' letter is addressed.
Snowbowl last year proposed to take legal
action to force the Agriculture Department to allow construction
of snowmaking infrastructure this spring following Snowbowl's
legal victory in the courts, according to federal records obtained
by the Arizona Daily Sun under the Freedom of Information Act.
But it set those legal tactics aside out of
concern the resolution of the dispute would take longer.
"We are striving to come up with a solution
that the tribes are satisfied with," Eric Borowsky, a Snowbowl
owner, told the Daily Sun Monday. "We all know that those
mountains are sacred to the tribes of northern Arizona."
He said there were many other options discussed
that he would not disclose, and that Snowbowl was willing to split
the cost of the more-expensive water with the Agriculture
Department or the city of Flagstaff, citing the additional jobs it
would provide for Flagstaff.
"Hopefully, we will be under construction
within weeks," he said.
Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.
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