MEMO
TO: MAYOR KENNY EVANS AND THE PAYSON TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: JIM KEYWORTH AND CITIZENS OF THE RIM COUNTRY
In case you weren't paying attention, the Western Governors' Association is currently holding its second of four Drought Forums in Tempe.
In case you hadn't noticed, the drought affecting Arizona and the Southwest has been going on for almost two decades. The last time Arizona's reservoirs were full: 2010.
In case you get your water news from the Payson Roundup, here's how Arizona Republic reporter Brenna Goth summarized what Charlie Ester, manager of water resource operations for Salt River Project, had to say at the gathering:
"Smart (water) management means acting like the drought is never over."
In case you ever want to come to your senses, here's a question that needs answering: In light of the above, considering the reality of living in the arid Southwest, how can you justify selling potable water to gated communities to use on their private golf courses?
And please don't tell us that water is not potable or that you're going to pump it back out of the ground and sell it again once the golf courses are watered. We're not as gullible as your average Roundup reader. We get our information from other sources - sources that ask the tough questions.
Some of you squeaked by in this election thanks to your best friend - the local newspaper. But frankly, the vote was pretty close. And it delivers a message - Rim Country residents are starting to wake up to what's going on.
It's wrong, it's immoral, it's unjustifiable.
It's our water, it's our future, and we don't want it dumped on private golf courses in gated communities.
3 comments:
So it's your water and you should decide what to do with it? Even if you are in the minority?
I don't live in the gated community I but want the water to go back into the ground here to replenish our aquifers, not to run downstream to the valley.
How was this election a squeaker? When Obama won by a lesser percentage it was a MANDATE.
1. What minority am I in? We outside of gated communities are the majority, my friend. It is "our water," not the domain of the privileged.
2. But it doesn't. Kenny is full of it when he says watering golf courses replenishes aquifers (or that the water can be pumped back out of the ground and resold). That's voodoo science (like denying climate change).
3. I didn't say Obama's election margin constituted a mandate. But I do think a 200-vote margin is relatively close in a small community like ours, especially given the fact that the opposition did not run a particularly strong candidate. I expected the realtors/developers/elitists/LDS coalition to do much better.
So what do you suggest they do with the water? It's not just going to sit in the lake. It is leaving.
Every year they open the pipes and let the water flow downstream. It ends up in the valley, far from our aquifers, far away from us. And it may even fill a pool down there.
If it's used here, poured on the ground, the gulch or back into the wells, it can/may help replenish our aquifers.
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