By Tony Davis | Arizona Daily Star
When deciding if a development should be blocked, Arizona water regulators lack the power to consider whether groundwater pumping for the project could lower the neighboring San Pedro River.
That’s the new ruling by an administrative law judge, who upheld a decision by the Arizona Department of Water Resources that a proposed 7,000-home project in Sierra Vista has enough water for 100 years as required. That determination of adequate water supply is needed for new Cochise County developments.
Opponents of what’s known as the Tribute housing project failed to prove that the agency should have considered the pumping’s effects on the river, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Shedden ruled this week.
Norm Fain, a Phoenix water consultant representing Pueblo del Sol, the water company for the Tribute development, said the ruling was appropriate because analyses showed the utility has enough water for 100 years without damaging other groundwater uses.
While opponents cited studies showing the pumping affects the river, Pueblo del Sol’s consultants questioned them at the hearing on this case.
