Important factor

Editor:

It appears to me that the most important factor in the CAP pipeline debacle has been overlooked with the environmentalist and Ray Carroll brigade crashing meeting to preclude the discussion of sensible science.

Of course, it is ideal that the Augusta Resource have a CAP pipeline to a recharge basin to replace the groundwater they will be pumping should the mine get permitted.

Although we prefer that they use CAP water directly, in either case a CAP pipeline is ideal.

The area that merits contention, which is never separated out, is that we members of Community Water will be giving our CAP allocations that we have paid for through the years—several millions of dollars—to a mining company.

Unfortunately, the water company only sees it as a business deal. We get $15 million dollars of pipeline for some $4 million dollars of water.

Therefore, they think it is a good deal. If the mine is not permitted and the pipeline is not completed—then we get as much as is completed.

Others appear not to understand that the recent meeting conducted by Bureau of Reclamation was a scoping meeting for the NEPA process for the pipeline. So the Rosemont pipeline has already under the NEPA process.

Threats to hold the pipeline up by insisting it comes under the NEPA process just do not compute. Neither does having a new water user of some 15,000 homes instead of a mine when there are only limited allocations for CAP.

FICO turned down their CAP allocation of 1.39 per cent of the CAP water allocated for agriculture.(See www.cap-az.com, then click on “Allocations,” then “Sub-contract status report).

They have applied for a groundwater saving facility which has no CAP water allocation with it. FICO can contact with someone to pump groundwater (Mission Peaks can’t; there’s no water to pump up there) and they will receive an equal amount of water in CAP allocations.

Again the facts and figures are essential to our making the best decision possible—and all decisions have consequences.

Nancy Freeman, Groundwater Awareness League