By Brandon Messick | Parker Pioneer
Officials from the town of Queen Creek gathered Wednesday morning to celebrate the first installment in a controversial Colorado River water transfer agreement – By using it to water grass at the town’s Desert Mountain Park.
But even as the transfer of those water rights seems to have been finalized this week, attorneys for communities on the Colorado River are still pursuing efforts to halt the transfer.
After four years of legal challenges from Mohave, La Paz and Yuma Counties, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation approved the transfer of 2,033 annual acre-feet of fourth-priority Colorado River water this week from La Paz County to Queen Creek under a $24 million agreement. The grass may be greener on the other side for now, according to Mohave County Board Chairman Travis Lingenfelter, but whether the Colorado River will continue to grow that grass could still be decided in U.S. District Court.
