Thursday, July 19, 2007

From the comments...

I wanted to respond to a comment left on an earlier post. Because the subject manner in that post doesn't necessarily match up with the comment, I figured I'd start a whole new post.

Here is the comment...

Todd
What's your call on the ACC reopening the hearings on Jim Rhodes' Perkins Water Co. Will it happen? Would they shut Rhodes down at this point? Please respond if your able. Thank you.


First thanks for reading Dominic. This subject is a real doozy around these parts, one that I've tried to stay away from because I'm not sure I have a clear opinion on all the issues.

To answer though... I first want to take all the names out of the equation. The developer, the local developer that has filed suit against the developer, the players at the city, and others. No names, no favorites.

With this in mind, as a Realtor myself living in Kingman when I found out that a master planned development was in the offing in the Golden Valley area I was very excited. Why not?? 30,000 planned rooftops, commercial property, parks, entertainment and recreation, schools, and maybe even a four year university all would benefit the region -- let alone Golden Valley.

What an incredible vision.

Then we find out the developer gets the required water issue from ADWR, even better. Having another local user of our own water resources slims the chance for say Maricopa County playing political games with Mohave County to set up an AMA in an effort to tap in to our local resources for an area a three hour drive away. Especially since the city of Kingman sold our water rights to the Colorado River some time ago leaving us with 'only' the water we can find under our collective feet.

Now I'll stop to say that water resources for this area equals a political firestorm of its own. I do not know how much water is underground in the aquifers, nor do I pretend like I do. Many say that we are running out of water and many others say that there is more water underground in perhaps the largest set of aquifers in the country. The truth is somewhere in the middle -- I'm guessing.

The position I'm taking is that we've seen the Phoenix area manage to try and set up AMA's in other parts of the state for their own use. If they have their eyes on our water sources, it must mean there is plenty of water down there in the ground. There is no way they would want access to our water to help support millions of people in the Phoenix area if there isn't enough for maybe 100,000 people in Mohave County that use it.

In other words... there is more than one 800lb gorilla in the room. I believe that no matter what, no matter how much water there actually is, no matter who eventually gets to draw the water, the water will be drawn. I'd rather see the water stay here in Mohave County than go to another part of the state. If we use the water here, it likely means that opportunities for prosperity are local. If the state sets up an AMA and sends the water to Phoenix, the locals lose out on chances of prosperity.

This brings me to the ACC and the developer. Again, I do respect the job of the ACC and I believe they are doing their job and after two years are real close to coming to a decision. There are a couple of commissioners that I feel are playing politics over all this. They've checked over the applicant (in this case the developer) over and over again with a fine tooth comb and apparently haven't found anything to officially reject the application... after two years.

As local citizens of Mohave County we should be on our County Supervisors to push the ACC for a decision, either up or down, after all this time. We should be on the ACC ourselves for a decision. Write them, call them, email them.

As far as the ACC shutting down the applicant, I suppose they could by simply voting in favor of denying the applicant, but I doubt that spells doom for the entire project. The developer could simply hire a utility company that already has the blessing of the ACC in Arizona, for one. The developer could ask (again) to be annexed into Kingman's city limit's to use water. So there are options for the developer. And with the current housing market I can see the developer taking his time and exploring all options.

This is how I'm seeing the situation with all names removed. I won't comment on any of the players involved. I don't know how the ACC comes down here, I just hope they come up with a decision... finally.

Of course if there is something I'm missing or facts that I'm not aware of, besides involving names, please feel free to point them out to me. For example, I don't care to comment on who is a crook or an alleged crook. I'm letting the courts figure that one out.

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