"The city would buy the 5,500 acres for $13.5 million to pump between 8,000 and 10,000 acre-feet of drinking water per year but would be partially reimbursed with $3 million in rent over 25 years for allowing 27 wind turbines to operate there in the Sunshine Wind Energy Park."
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Huge water, conservation deal linked
© Arizona Daily Sun
5/11/2005
By Cyndy Cole, Arizona Daily Sun Staff Reporter
Flagstaff would have a reliable source of water beyond 2015 and northern Arizona could see a huge tract of private and public land conserved as ranchland and open space if the City Council moves on plans to buy 5,500 acres of the Bar T Bar Ranch 35 miles east of Flagstaff, stakeholders said Monday.
Up to 100,000 acres of private and state land -- 156 square miles -- would become unattractive to developers, including 45,000 acres put entirely off limits to new houses southeast of the Navajo Nation's proposed casino. State land that checkerboards Judy and Bob Prosser's Bar T Bar Ranch would be surrounded by conservation land, effectively putting tens of thousands of acres out of reach for development for the next 20 years.
Fifty-five people turned out Monday night for an explanation of the costs, benefits and details involved with land, water and wind power deal on the ranch surrounding Meteor Crater.
The city would buy the 5,500 acres for $13.5 million to pump between 8,000 and 10,000 acre-feet of drinking water per year but would be partially reimbursed with $3 million in rent over 25 years for allowing 27 wind turbines to operate there in the Sunshine Wind Energy Park.
An acre-foot is enough water for one or two families for one year. Wells could be drilled near the wind turbines.
A 20-year conservation easement would give the city exclusive rights to the water on 50,000 acres and give future Prosser generations the option of continuing ranching the land or getting out of the biz.
"Our challenge has been to find a way to keep ranching out there," Bob Prosser said.
The Bar T Bar and Flying M typically receive at least one offer from a developer per month, Diablo Trust Director Mandy Metzger said, and other counties have seen rapid development where ranches used to be as subdivision becomes more lucrative than cattle.
Apache County's five largest ranches, for example, have all been sold.
Diablo Trust is a nonprofit dedicated to keeping the space from being used for homes. They oversee 426,000 acres between Mormon Lake and Winslow.
The land comes with a $9 million guarantee of water. The city would forfeit $4.7 million in development costs if it bought the land and there were no water. Diablo trust would receive interest off $4.5 million for 20 years under the deal, at which point the money would revert back to the Prosser family.
A regional water study is proving to be the sticking point for the Flagstaff.
The water commission tabled the issue in March, at the request of the Diablo Trust and Flagstaff Utilities Director Ron Doba.
Both Peabody's mining operation at Black Mesa and the city could be drawing water from the same section of the Coconino Aquifer if the coal-burning Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev., remains open beyond this year.
Studies thus far haven't definitively proven that creeks with endangered species, including Clear Creek, wouldn't be impacted by the pumping, Doba said. Agreements have yet to be made with the tribes.
"We don't want to buy ourselves into a lawsuit out there," Doba said.
The city doesn't need the water at this point, but could as Flagstaff grows.
The segment of the aquifer in question absorbs 173,000 acre-feet of water per year, consultants for Bar T Bar said Monday. By comparison, Flagstaff and Peabody combined are proposing using less than 20,000 acre-feet a year.
By Arizona law, anyone who owns the land there can pump the groundwater. If Flagstaff doesn't, some other agency or business probably will, Bar T Bar lawyer and Apache County Supervisor David Brown said.
The Bureau of Reclamation is conducting pumping tests for Southern California Edison, which buys coal from Peabody's mine at Black Mesa. Results of the tests and a larger analysis of water resources in northern Arizona have yet to be released.
Water quality at the Bar T Bar site is less pure, or has at least twice as many dissolved solids, at Flagstaff's wells at Lake Mary and Woody Mountain, Doba said, but would be treated accordingly.
This site is one of the better sources on the aquifer because the water is fairly easily accessible, 450 feet down, and has fewer dissolved solids than much of the rest of the aquifer, according to previous studies.
Cyndy Cole can be reached at ccole@azdailysun.com or at 913-8607.
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