governor exactly what do you know

Governor wants state to help resolve Big Chino issues …By Joanna Dodder Nellans, The Daily Courier … Saturday, February 16, 2008 … Gov. Janet Napolitano has directed the Arizona Department of Water Resources to try to help resolve conflicts relating to Prescott-area plans to use Big Chino Sub-basin groundwater. Department of Water Resources Director Herb Guenther said this week that his department and the governor's office have been closely watching the Verde River Basin and Big Chino controversies for about a year. The governor was thinking this was kind of a local issue," and "we did not want to get involved in a political fracas," Guenther related However, escalating anxieties have prompted state officials to change their minds, he said. The issue could escalate to a statewide problem and protracted lawsuits, he said. Salt River Project and the Center for Biological Diversity both have threatened court action against Prescott-area communities. So Guenther and his agency want to try to help the stakeholders come up with a regional solution, he said. Verde Valley officials have long expressed concerns that Prescott-area plans to use the Big Chino Sub-basin groundwater under a special state law could hurt the Verde River, which is home to endangered species. Scientists generally agree that the Big Chino supplies about 80 percent of the baseflow for the first 24 miles of the river above Clarkdale, before several tributaries enlarge the flow. In recent months, Salt River Project has sent a series of letters to the state and Prescott-area municipalities that express concerns about the Big Chino plans and related state rulemaking procedures. Officials at SRP, which supplies the majority of the Phoenix area with its water, say SRP gets about 40 percent of its surface water supplies from the Verde River and the Big Chino portion is important to their users. The recent SRP letters are part of the reason that the Department of Water Resources is getting involved in the issue, Guenther said. Dave Roberts, manager of water rights and contracts for the Salt River Project, said he heard about the governor's request for Guenther. "Being a regulator and trying to be I guess a mediator, that's going to be hard to fill both roles," Roberts said. "You work things out by communicating, and that's what we haven't had the last 1.5-2 years," Roberts said, ever since Prescott stopped its stakeholder mitigation meetings. Roberts said SRP hasn't heard from Prescott or Prescott Valley officials about SRP's latest letter that challenges the constitutionality of the state law that allows Prescott to pump as much as 14,000 acre-feet annually from the Big Chino.
“ Governor Janet Napolitano was thinking this - SRP lawsuit over the Verde River - was kind of a local issue," and "we did not want to get involved in a political fracas”…?

Excuse me Governor but exactly what planet are you on…? Are you really telling us you are so out of touch with the realities in the state you swore to serve and protect that you were not aware of the ramifications and turmoil surrounding the Verde River…?

Governor, SRP’s rights to this water body are paramount for you to continue to promote your “unsustainable” economic growth mantra for “metro” Phoenix.

Were I a resident in any area outside “metro” Phoenix or Tucson, I’d be very attentive to whom I chose to vote for in this upcoming election in November as their life depends on it.

Interestingly SRP notes … "You work things out by communicating, and that's what we haven't had the last 2 years”... however SRP sees no problem excluding John Q Public (YOU) from the negotiating table.
You really think your Governor wants to hear from you or have you at the negotiating table…