Arizona has seen its share of wars over water. They are invariably long and costly legal affairs that pit community against community or state against state.

The latest fight over water is erupting in the rugged northwestern corner of the state. It's a dispute that could have enormous consequences for the tiny communities of Littlefield, Scenic and Beaver Dam as well as unsettling ramifications for the rest of Arizona.

On Friday, a three-day hearing got under way in Beaver Dam on a proposal by a company to pump up to 14,000 acre-feet a year from the Mormon Wells area along Beaver Dam Wash - the first attempt to take Arizona groundwater out of state. Two Nevada investors have purchased 55 acres to tap the high-quality Arizona water, the equivalent of about 4.5 billion gallons.

The investors envision moving the water by pipeline about 10 miles to the Virgin Valley Water District to serve the fast-growing town of Mesquite, Nev. The projected cost of the water is $200 to $400 per acre-foot, enough to serve one to two homes a year.

Plans call for blending the Arizona water with Nevada water (which has high concentrations of arsenic) to meet federal arsenic standards. Some of the blended water would then be delivered back to Arizona, according to the application by Wind River Resources.

The Wind River proposal is an audacious assault on Arizona's precious groundwater. A chorus of Arizona opponents warn the plan could imperil the aquifer, cause land subsidence and put a clamp on economic growth in the area if not turn the nearby small communities into ghost towns.

Pete Byers, chairman of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors, says, "It appears to be solely a profit-making venture without any regard to the short- or long-term detriment of the local Arizona citizens, some of whom go back four generations or more."

Thomas Shedden, the administrative law judge hearing the case, will forward his recommendation to Herb Guenther, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, for a decision on the application. The Department of Water Resources has filed a legal brief opposing the transfer on several grounds. Among them:


• Wind River has failed to demonstrate that there would not be adverse impacts on water quality and quantity, wildlife and riparian areas and the economic viability of the Beaver Dam Wash area.


• Wind River has failed to show that it could not use alternative sources of water in Nevada. In fact, the Virgin Valley Water District informed the Department of Water Resources that use of Arizona water for blending was neither necessary nor part of the water company's long-term plan and that it was building arsenic-treatment plants. In addition, water may be available from other basins in Nevada.


• Wind River also has failed to show that the water district's supplies are insufficient to meet the demand. It has groundwater rights to 11,500 acre-feet per year, which is enough to serve 55,000 people, and Mesquite is not expected to grow that large until 2025.


• There also is no agreement that would require the water company to make water deliveries to Arizona.

Since the decision will rest with Guenther, the odds favor a rejection of Wind River's application.

But decisions can be appealed, and it is this probability that poses a worrisome outcome for opponents of the Wind River water-transfer application.

Courts have ruled that groundwater is an article of interstate commerce and can be moved across state lines in certain situations. El Paso was given the green light to tap groundwater in New Mexico. And a Texas water district has gone to court after Oklahoma groundwater, claiming that Oklahoma doesn't use the water that Texas needs.

There's an adage that water follows money, and some wonder if the Nevada investors won't turn around and find a way to sell their bounty to water-starved Las Vegas, where rights to an acre-foot could fetch $25,000 or more. Or might another group of investors from Nevada attempt to drop a straw into Arizona's groundwater? Or might California or Utah or New Mexico interests purchase land in Arizona and siphon off groundwater?

But first things first. The proposed transfer of Arizona groundwater to Nevada is a bad idea that would set a terrible precedent. The Department of Water Resources should reject the application.