SIERRA VISTA HERALD: Mon., Nov. 13, 2006
USPP tweaks water ordinance
By Bill Hess
SIERRA VISTA — The Upper San Pedro Partnership is fine-tuning a model water conservation ordinance to send to every political subdivision in the Upper San Pedro Subwatershed.
The ordinance will not be directive in nature but “a menu of ideas” for incorporated areas and the county government to consider, picking what a city or town may need to help conserve water. It will not be a one-size-fits-all approach, some members of the partnership promised.
Bob Strain, the group's advisory commission chairman, said action on some kind of an ordinance for the subwatershed must be done. But, he said, what Sierra Vista needs could be different than the county's desires, as it would be for other government entities responsible for controlling planning and zoning within the town or city limits.
In the retail arena are projects in which gallons are the main measurement tool, she said. Wholesale equals acre-feet and retail gallons, the executive director said. Whatever is involved, the issue the members of the partnership have to consider is reducing groundwater pumping through conservation, Sanger said.
When it comes to larger projects, Holly Richter, of The Nature Conservancy, said there is a potential project in the Palominas area that may be a good one for the partnership to pursue.
Called the Palominas Recharge Project, it is a 285 acres near the San Pedro River, which she said “is a key location” to help the waterway by keeping rainwater flow heading into the river. There is support from many residents near the property to have the land purchased so no development will happen, or to establish a water easement program that will limit the number of homes that could be built on the property, Richter said.
The partnerships members voted to allow an exploration of the property to see if arrangements could be made to made the land part of a water conservation project.