Meeting was called to order by chairman Jay Wilkinson at 7:03pm.
All in attendance introduced themselves.
Minutes from the July meeting in Chino Valley were approved as printed in the Confluence.
The Treasurers gave the monthly report. VWA has a current balance in the account of $1133.50 and has collected $3250.00 in dues for 1997.
John Parsons, VWA Coordinator, introduced John Crane, of the Camp Verde Sanitary District who spoke about the work and plans of the Sanitary District. The district was formed in 1971 as a Special District under Arizona Revised Statutes. The service area for the district is the Main part of town and is extending out toward the I-17 interchange area. The district is a profitable and successful district mainly because it takes septage at the treatment plant which is a good revenue generator. This septage comes from all over the Verde Valley. The use rates for the district are low because the plant operation is fairly low tech, but this takes a lot of ground. One of the District's main business operation principles is that expansions pay for their own sewer lines and connections so that it does not burden existing customers. The system runs well and the ponds are used a lot by wildlife and waterfowl. The present capacity of the system is about 1 275 thousand gallons per day and could go to over a million gallons per day since a lot of the capacity is not used yet. The District is not involved with the sewage treatment plans for the Casino.
An American Heritage Rivers Initiative update was given by VWA coordinator, John Parsons. There is no new activity and the whole program is hung up in Washington DC. The comment period closes on August 19. Chairman Wilkinson stated that the whole effort by VWA is on hold.
Dan Salzler reported on the Revised Articles of Association and the Long Range Plan. Some requests for changes in the way the revision was written were made and we are at a point where we need to come to closure and accept the revised articles.
Chairman Wilkinson explained how he was trying to get a consensus on the articles and a vote on them within each community on adoption of the revised articles and the long range plan.
Jack Young asked question about the affiliation of the VWA with the Verde NRCD and Jay explained that the two are not one organization but VWA depends on the Verde NRCD for advise just as it depends on many Federal and State agencies for advise. Jay asked for a show of hands for all members who had not seen a copy of the revised articles and long range plan and these people were asked to indicate on the sign in sheet that they had not seen a copy. Copies will be printed and mailed to all those who indicated on the sign in sheet that they had not seen a copy of them.
John Parsons gave an update on activities of the VWA Coordinator. He gave a presentation on VWA at the statewide meeting of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. He has been working with Chip Davis, Yavapai County Supervisor, in setting up a monitoring program for the wells in the Bridgeport area. The Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies are assisting by training people to monitor their own wells. John reported that the Summer Intern is now in Italy. She helped out a lot this year.
Bob Williams asked about the Navigability Issue along the Verde River and got a short history of the issue from the perspective of Secretary /Treasurer, Bonomo.
Chairman Wilkinson explained that VWA is not taking a position on the Willow Flycatcher and has not been asked to facilitate or assist in the resolution of these issues.
Andy Groseta mentioned that Sam Spiller had stated that a mistake had been made in the Federal Register printing of the designated Critical Habitat and that instead of the 100 year flood plain, it should read 100 meters from the edge of the channel or area conducive to growth of willow flycatcher habitat.
Lisa Hayes with the Arizona State Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts was asked to speak. She commended VWA on their efforts and supported efforts to work together to make things happen and resolve issues. She commented that hearing all sides of the issue was very important.
There was a question about being able to stop the Critical Habitat Designation from happening, and Jay responded that we should ask that good scientific data be used in the resolution of the issues. There was some discussion about the impacts of the Designation on private landowners.
Dan Salzler of ADEQ reported that Verde River Days will be on September 27th and that the Verde Watershed Watch, a school program of area schools, will have a display on water quality in the Verde River, at Verde River Days. The kids have done a lot of good work and we should take a look at their display. ADEQ has named Ed Sadler as the head of the Division of Water Quality and suggested that he be invited to an upcoming VWA meeting to meet and interact with the folks in the watershed. The Safford and Duncan Watershed Group would still like to meet with some people from VWA to share information about watershed groups even though the grant to hold a conference on watershed organizations to have been sponsored by the two watershed organizations was not funded. Dan encouraged everyone present to sign up to serve on a committee and do some work for the Association. The Safford Duncan Watershed Group has been successful in getting grants to do some work.
Ed McGavock asked Dan Salzler about the status of the ASU study on sediments in the Verde River. Dan said that he is sure that he could get the grad student to make a presentation on the results of the study at a future VWA meeting.
There was some discussion about the Critical Habitat maps worked up by Yavapai County Flood Control District based on the 100 year flood plain designation in the current Federal Register publication. There was further discussion about the Critical Habitat designation and the impacts on private lands. Charlie Ester made a motion and it was seconded that we invite USFWS to a future VWA meeting and the motion was carried. This will either be a regular monthly meeting or a special meeting depending on the schedule of USFWS personnel.
Bob Williams, author of "A Floaters Guide to the Verde River" talked a little about his book and voiced his concerns about the navigability issue on the Verde River.
The Meeting was adjourned at 8:43pm. By Tom Bonomo, Secretary- Treasurer.