BALKING AT ASSIMILATION

For Your Consideration . . . ?
Verde Partnership balks at assimilation idea… Wednesday, July 09, 2008…By Joanna Dodder Nellans … The Daily Courier …Clarkdale, Az … excerpted … Three members of the Verde River Basin Partnership suggested Wednesday that a memorandum of understanding with other water groups might be preferable to dissolving the partnership. But that was about as close as the partnership members came to any kind of consensus during the meeting to discuss whether the partnership should "assimilate or coordinate" with the Yavapai County Water Advisory Committee and Upper Verde River Watershed Protection Coalition, as the agenda stated. An ad-hoc group with two members from each of the three water groups met Tuesday to talk about the same issue. It leaned toward dissolving the partnership and having the county water committee take over its work.
Over the last 30 years these headlines dominate our thinking about – water – in all of its aspects in Arizona. Tragically, we repeatedly have not been able to set aside our proprietary, parochial, provincial attitudes about water and enter a discussion wherein water is seen as part of the – commons. And I most assuredly must include myself in this category, especially years ago. I would like to believe my views have been filtered by time and experience and begun to reflect an honest view of water as part of the “commons.”
What I find interesting is that as long as we are unable to unite under an umbrella capable of actually assimilating all of us and our ideas in an atmosphere where we can each be granted the courtesy and be allowed to speak and give voice to our concerns the safety and quantity of water available to us diminishes with the passing of each day.
Anyone who has been a part of any process attempting to attain – consensus – appreciates how “messy” and time consuming an endeavor this truly is. I was part of such a process in the late 90’s when an Ad-Hoc group formed to “re-write” those rules and regulations governing all residential onsite wastewater treatment and effluent disposal systems installed in Arizona. For more than 2 years, individuals from all parts of our state met honestly attempting to obtain “grudging-consent” on the many truly divisive issues separating the “stakeholders.” We got part way there, but allowed our process to be politicized leading to its demise. We were not able to obtain the closure so many honestly sought.
Perhaps we ought to consider a different tact and clearly state that – water – is owned and utilized as determined by who is stronger in any situation. Winner takes all…! From my perspective, this more honestly represents how water issues are decided in Arizona. Yes, we have instituted artificial agencies reputedly assigned to serve and to protect the public domain. As any prudent individual knows these agencies are merely parts of the old parlor “shell games” played with stacked decks and altered roulette wheels. The evidence of same we read about almost daily in many newspapers or on the internet.
This “winner takes all” mentality strongly suggests to me that until we choose to be that “winner” nothing will change respecting how our – water – is allocated to begin with. Water in Arizona is not considered as part of the “commons” as clearly evidenced by the rather strident legal positions taken by SRP to champion its rights to all the waters in the Verde and Salt River basins.
Achieving consensus on any topic is exceedingly challenging and the topic of – water – elicits an upwelling of emotions and beliefs we have held close for years, possibly since very early childhood. Developing an atmosphere where each of us feels safe enough to honestly give voice to his/her concerns about water without fear of judgment or condemnations for revealing one’s inner truth is goal worthy of pursuing but not for the faint of heart. I have been privileged to on several occasions to have been allowed to participate in such an environment and the outcomes were akin to an epiphany. Structuring such an environment is possible it requires resolute commitment in its development and presentation.
Are we in Arizona willing to commit to such an endeavor..?