OCEAN WARMING DISCUSSED--El Niño who?
LAWSUIT AFFECTS GRAZING--A 1996 lawsuit by environmentalists produced a May 1997 injunction which is impacting the local grazing industry. While lawyers argue the various aspects of the lawsuit, U.S. Forest Service officials have begun a process to change management practices on many Verde watershed livestock operations on public lands. A total of 148 "non-conforming allotments" on the watershed’s four National Forests have been identified. Managers assigned 82 allotments high priority because they did not conform with the standards of amended Forest Plans. Modifications to conform the grazing permits with new standards and guidelines will get underway soon. Cattle industry observers say they have received reports some permittees face major changes in their operations. The initial lawsuit brought by Forest Guardians, S.W. Center for Biological Diversity and Dr. Robin Silver alleged improper procedures when Forest Plans were amended to provide additional endangered species protection. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Art Morrison @ 1-505-842-3298
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WATER YEAR ENDS--The Verde watershed produced 242,000 acre-feet of runoff from October 1, 1996, to September 30. The total is 57-percent of the mean but far more than the prior year’s 163,900. Record low runoff was logged in 1956 at 136,800 and 1993’s record high of 1,613,700 is expected to stand for some time. September’s water yield was 22,462 ac.-ft., an above normal figure due to remnant precipitation from two hurricanes. Nora produced a flow at Camp Verde which rose in two hours from 352 cubic feet per second (cfs) to peak at 2758 cfs about 10 p.m. September 26th. Linda notched a flow peak of 1218 cfs on September 14. Normal flows are about 120 cfs. On October 1, Horseshoe Reservoir was 14-percent full with 18,700 ac.-ft. and Bartlett held two-thirds of capacity at 117,400. Precipitation averaged 1.59 over the watershed but varied widely. Cottonwood exceeded the Sept. normal of 1.37 inches by an additional 2.22 inches. Normal Cottonwood area precipitation for October is about an inch. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Charlie Ester @ 1-602-236-2587
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NEW FACES APPEAR--Prompted in part by local concerns about endangered species issues, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has designated Jackie Record to coordinate conservation efforts for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. Although wildlife biologist Record will be based out of the Phoenix FWS office, she will spend much of her time in the Verde Valley. She will serve as a contact person to answer private property owners’ questions about critical habitat and other endangered species concerns. Ms. Record comes to Arizona after serving as Deputy Refuse Manager for the Great Swamp Nat’l Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey.(602-640-2720) Water issues have moved to the front burner for Yavapai County Supervisor Chip Davis. He has created a half-time District Assistant position staffed by Tom O’Halleran to assist in coordinating local, county, state and federal water-related efforts. Village of Oak Creek resident O’Halleran is a former Chicago policeman and bond trader at the Chicago Board of Trade.(520-639-8110)
Wildlife management in the Verde Valley area is administered by the Kingman Regional Office of Arizona Game & Fish Department. Eric Gardner has replaced Mike Senn as Field Supervisor for six districts including the Verde zone. He has stated plans to attend VWA meetings to become more involved in the basin’s water and natural resource issues.(520-692-7700)
The Nature Conservancy has assigned Lori Faeth to work half-time on Verde watershed wildlife habitat and resource conservation areas. Ms. Faeth comes to the area from Washington D.C. where she was a legislative liaison. (602-264-4665)
In other people news, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation staffer Warren Greenwell will now be spending more time in the local area. He recently took up part-time residence in Cottonwood and will be working out of a local office soon. He is currently assisting local communities as they consider whether and how to learn more about the region’s water resources.(602-395-5718)
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BOYS RANCH CONTRIBUTES--Arizona Boys Ranch makes it’s presence felt in the Verde Valley. Anywhere from 12 to 25 young men and staff of the Civic Conservation Corp., a program of the Arizona Boys Ranch have worked in the Verde Valley for the last 18 months doing labor intensive projects for the various governmental entities located in the valley. During the summer months about 12 members of the crew move up to a camp near Whitehorse Lake southeast of Williams to do projects for the Forest Service, and the City of Williams in that area. After finally getting their facilities moved in and septic system constructed, Arizona Boys Ranch started working in the Verde Valley late in the spring of 1996. Since then the Arizona Boys Ranch has accomplished a lot of work. They have constructed and reconstructed many miles of hiking trails on the National Forests in the Verde Valley and Sedona area, done work in town, city, and state parks, constructed livestock control fences on the National Forests, cleaned up recreation areas, and many other very beneficial projects. One of their projects was the planting of cottonwood cuttings at various areas along the Verde River. The Yavapai County Flood Control District used the Boys Ranch crewmen to plant cottonwood cuttings on private lands where the cottonwoods would benefit flood control efforts for private landowners. The Forest Service, in partnership with Salt River Project and the Verde Natural Resource Conservation District, has used them to plant cuttings which will help in the protection of a recreation area and an irrigation ditch along the Verde River.
In addition the Arizona Boys Ranch has agreed to be the labor pool to enable the Verde Natural Resource Conservation District to continue their tree farm for riparian trees at Deadhorse State Park. Without this free labor pool to maintain the tree farm, there is a good chance that the Conservation District would not be able to continue this project due to the low margin of profit on sales of the cuttings. This work by the Arizona Boys Ranch will enable the Verde Natural Resource Conservation District to continue to offer the cuttings at bargain basement prices which encourages the continued planting of riparian trees by private landowners and public agencies. The Arizona Boys Ranch work crews have accomplished over 18 thousand man hours of conservation, construction and maintenance work in the Verde Valley since they started work. Many of the managers who have used the crews are very excited about how much the Arizona Boys Ranch work crews will contribute to the protection and enhancement of the natural resources of the Verde Valley in the years to come. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tom Bonomo @ 1-520-567-4121
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WELL STUDY RELEASED--Flow from Montezuma Well and water levels in eight wells that are measured annually do not indicate that the ground-water system at the popular National Monument has been affected by development. The conclusion was reached from data which was collected in 1991and analyzed in a report recently released by the U.S. Geological Survey. The hydrogeological and water chemistry investigation also suggests additional flow gaging, installation of monitoring wells and more water sampling to indicate potential flow changes at Montezuma Well. A continuous recording gaging station measured Montezuma Well’s outflow from 1977-1992 but no regular measurements have been taken since then. Chemical and isotope readings indicate Montezuma Well’s 1.5-million gallon/day outflow is probably coming from fissures linking the regional aquifer in the geologic Supai formation, better known as the 300-million-year-old red rocks of Sedona. A series of fault zones place the Supai under Montezuma Well. The study also suggests a fault zone near Montezuma Well effects the flow’s source. Some inflow is also apparently coming from the much-younger Verde Formation. Neither is subject to local recharge. The study process included development of an interpretive ground-water flow model which could be used to develop an improved understanding of the ground-water system in the Verde Valley. FOR MORE INFORMATION: A.D. Konieczki @ 1-520-670-6671
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OCEAN WARMING DISCUSSED--Yavapai County emergency officials are preparing for potential winter flooding due to the much-ballyhooed El Niño. Flood insurance purchase and other precautions are advised. A public informational workshop on El Niño will be held soon in Camp Verde. The last big El Niño year in 1982-83 produced Verde River flows about twice the normal but only one-half of 1993’s record flows. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Harvey Emery @ 1-520-771-3321
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