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9/18/2006 10:12:00 AM
©Kingman Daily
Miner
Board to hear water
rights presentation
Jennifer Bartlett
Miner Staff Writer
KINGMAN - The Mohave
County Board of Supervisors will discuss an
application filed with the Arizona
Department of Water Resources for the
potential diversion of 14,000 acre feet of
water per year from the Beaver Dam Wash to
Mesquite, Nev., at their meeting Monday.
Placed on the agenda by Chairman of the
Board Pete Byers, the Board will listen to
the presentation by Jack Riley, of Beaver
Dam Wash, regarding the transfer of the
water rights to Nevada. They will also
determine whether or not to direct staff to
investigate the application.
"This is a serious application to take most
of the water from our ground water supply
and transfer it to the Virgin River Water
District in Mesquite, Nev., with no benefit
of the citizens and owners of property in
the Arizona Strip at Beaver Dam and
Littlefield, Ariz. Since the annual fees
paid to the applicant under the proposed
contract with Virgin Valley Water District
approach $5 million per year, and since some
of the water transfer may go to the Las
Vegas area, there is a big financial benefit
for some people in Nevada at the expense of
property owners in Arizona," Riley said in a
letter to Byers.
After the discovery of the application,
residents in the area called a meeting to
discuss the possible ramifications. Many of
the residents in the Beaver Dam/Littlefield
area are strongly opposed to the project.
Bob Frisby, president of the Beaver Dam
Water Company, also sent a letter to Byers.
In it, he details alleged errors and
falsehoods in the applications. He said the
applicants are giving areas served by Nevada
that are, in fact, served by the BDWC.
Frisby said they were concerned that the
applicant was able to have 18 months to
develop approximately 1,800 pages of
documents, yet Arizona law only gives them
three weeks to respond.
"We would request the Mohave County (Board
of Supervisors) pass a resolution giving the
citizens of Arizona at least six months to
review the massive amount of information
that has been submitted to the ADWR over the
last 18 months," Frisby said.
The Board will discuss this item, among
several others, at their meeting at 9:30
a.m. Monday morning. The meeting will be
held at the Bullhead City Council Chambers
at 1255 Marina Blvd., in Bullhead City. |
