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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/20/2007 Special Council Meeting MinutesMINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MARANA MUNICIPAL COMPLEX DATE: JUNE 20, 2007 PLACE AND DATE Council Chambers, Marana Municipal Complex, June 20, 2007 A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL By Mayor Honea at 6:00 p.m. COUNCIL Ed Honea Mayor Present Herb Kai Vice Mayor Present Russell Clanagan Council Member Present Patti Comerford Council Member Present Tim Escobedo Council Member Present Carol McGorray Council Member Present Roxanne Ziegler Council Member Present STAFF Mike Reuwsaat Town Manager Present Gilbert Davidson Deputy Town Manager Present Jim DeGrood Assistant Town Manager Present Frank Cassidy Town Attorney Present Jocelyn Bronson Town Clerk Present B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE Led by Mayor Honea. C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion: Approve, Moved by Council Member Escobedo, Seconded by Council Member McGorray. Motion carried, 7-0. D. CALL TO THE PUBLIC David Morales addressed Council on the issue of the Consent Agenda. Mr. Morales stated that no items on the Consent Agenda should cause a Council Member to have a conflict of interest. He went on to say that only items. that deal with house keeping issues should be put on the Consent Agenda. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS E. PRESENTATIONS 1. "Water 101": General legal and historical overview of water rights and resource considerations affecting the Town of Marana 1 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MARANA MUNICIPAL COMPLEX DATE: JUNE 20, 2007 Michael Reuwsaat gave an overview of topics that will be discussed during this presentation. The presentation will cover years of work since the incorporation of the Town and the Town being incorporated for water. Since that time there have been 30 years of relationships--contractual relationships, law, statutes, and practice that have affected water and its use and the Town's access to it. He also noted that the Town has a contractual relationship with a Federal Agency to provide us the renewable resource that we need through 2015. There are some options that Town staff wants to explore in order to provide. some of that control so we can count on good planned growth within our community. Frank Cassidy addressed Council and explained "Water 101 ". In Arizona it is not possible to own water. You can only own the beneficial use of water. Arizona water law is divided into :two entirely separate areas of law. One being surface water law and the other being ground water law. Surface water law states that the first person to make beneficial use of the surface water has the highest priority rights to that water. Another critical element of the surface water law is the water (subflow) doesn't have to be on the surface to be determined surface water under Arizona law. When water is pumped from a well within the saturated floodplain Holocene alluvium it is considered to be surface water. Water rights 'are determined by lawsuits referred to as "adjudications." The Little Colorado River Adjudication and the Gila River Adjudication cover approximately two-thirds of the water rights in the state of Arizona. Groundwater-law shows that Marana is in the Tucson Active Management Area (TAMA). Within the TAMA all new subdivisions are required to show a 100-year assured water supply. Most satisfy this requirement by connecting to a water company that has an assured water supply designation by the .Arizona Department of Water Resources. A private developer can connect with a water company that doesn't have this distinction and buy the water rights by entering into a contract with the Central Arizona Ground Water Replenishment District. A water company gets an assured water supply determination from the Department of Water Resources by showing that it has physically available water, the legal right to that water, and the ability to replenish the water one-for-one, for all the water it is drawing out it will recharge. Water companies have a couple of recharge options. There is a "managed" recharge project which credits 50% (to the owner) of the water that is recharged. Recovery wells can then pump the amount of water credits accumulated. Effluent percolation is reduced due to the schmutzdeck. This is a film that gets deposited by effluent on the channel invert. Another option is a "constructed" recharge project. This refers to constructed water percolation basins that are flooded at different times and permitted to dry out. The owner gets 100% credit for effluent and 95% credit for CAP water. In 1926 the Arizona State Supreme Court ruled on Pima Farms Co. v. Proctor. Proctor and Pima Farms Company were competing for Santa Cruz River surface water appropriators. The court ruling required Pima Farms Company to provide Proctor water for what it cost Proctor before Pima Farms' appropriation. The court ruling acknowledged the appropriative right of the Pima Farms Company to 29,100 acre-feet of subsurface water. In 2 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MARANA MUNICIPAL COMPLEX DATE: JUNE 20, 2007 1943 Pima Farms Company was given a certificate of surface water right to 29,100 acre- feet of surface water. This right is tied to specific identified lands and allows withdrawal from specified wells known as diversion points. In 1946 Cortaro Farms Company was issued a deed to the Cortaro Water Users Association (CWUA). This deed transferred "all subterranean percolating waters contained within, underlying and which can or may be produced from" the land within the surface water certificate served by CWUA. It also reserved 50-gallons per minute for domestic and other purposes, also known as the deed restriction. This refers to a 50-gallon per minute limitation on pumping if you're not acquiring water from CWUA. Cortaro-Marana Irrigation Water District (CMID) now delivers to the landowners the surface water formally delivered by the Pima Farms Company; CWUA is the agent for CMID. How does all of this affect Marana? In 1997 the Town of Marana and CMID entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). This gives the Town access to CMID's historic surface water rights. But the surface water rights continue to be held by CMID. The IGA also creates a trust. CMID is the trustee of the trust. It holds five CMID wells that were formally used for domestic production. CMID itself and not the trust own any irrigation wells. Any wells solely used for irrigation are owned solely by CMID with the Town having right of first of refusal to purchase those wells. The trust holds all current and future Town wells that are within the district boundaries. The trust pays for trust well operations and maintenance costs but the Town is responsible for operation and maintenance costs of everything other than the wells and anything directly associated equipment. The IGA also has various water purchase provisions that require Marana to buy from CMID the first 20,000 acre-feet of water that is used within the District and also gives both CMID and the Town the right to provide non-potable, non-irrigation water service within the District. There is also a provision covering deed restrictions. In 1979 the Town of Marana and Pima County entered into an IGA. The agreement authorized Pima County to provide, administer, and manage the sewer service within Town limits. The IGA had a provision for termination upon six months' notice and upon termination all sewer facilities located within the Town limits are to become owned by the Town. The exception to that is any flow-through facility or any facility relating to flow- through shall remain vested with Pima County. Aflow-through sewer is a sewer for transmission of sewerage from the upstream property traversing the subject property (Town of Marana) to connect with downstream facilitates. The City of Tucson and Pima County entered into an IGA, also in 1979. This IGA transferred ownership of all Tucson sewer assets to Pima County. The IGA acknowledged Tucson's ownership of all water assets including all of effluent from Pima County's waste water treatment plants. The. City of Tucson was given ownership and unilateral control of metropolitan waste water treatment plant effluent, with the exception of 10% that is to be used by Pima County Parks and Recreation. The IGA also authorized the City of Tucson to use any and all effluent from all Pima County wastewater treatment plants to settle the then pending litigation with the Indian tribes. The Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act of 1982 settled the Indian water rights ligation with the City of Tucson. 3 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MARANA MUNICIPAL COMPLEX DATE: JUNE 20, 2007 The settlement made 28,200 acre-feet of effluent per year available to the tribes but does not identify which wastewater treatment plant this is to be taken from. In 2000 there was an amendment to the 1979 City of Tucson/Pima County IGA. The IGA set aside 10,000 acre-feet of effluent per year for conservation purposes (known as the conservation effluent pool). As with the Settlement Act of 1982, the IGA does not mention which wastewater treatment plant the 10,000 acre-feet would be taken from. The IGA states that the City of Tucson relinquishes unilateral control of non-metropolitan waste- water treatment plant effluent and established a "water in/water out" concept. In 2000 the Town of Marana entered into an IGA with the City of Tucson. This IGA gives Tucson Water the right to serve customers east of Interstate 10 that are within town limits. In turn the Town transfers to Tucson the water resources used to serve these customers. The Town acquired 47 acre-feet from CMID in a 1997 IGA. Fourteen hundred eighty-one acre-feet was acquired from the Flowing Wells Irrigation District but this is still pending approval from the Central Arizona Water Conservation District and final approval from the Secretary of the Interior. The Town has a member service area agreement with the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD). The CAWCD charges members, based on usage, for recharging water. Water projects that affect the Town of Marana are: the Santa Cruz Managed Recharge Project (effluent only), the High Plains Constructed Recharge Project (effluent only), the Avra Valley Constructed Recharge Project (CAP only), and the Lower Santa Cruz Replenishment Project (CAP only). The Santa Cruz Project recharged 18,591 acre-feet of effluent in 2005 with 50% of that being credited back. The High Plains Project has a maximum restriction of 600 acre-feet per year of recharged effluent. The Avra Valley Project recharges approximately 10,000 acre-feet of CAP water per year. The Lower Santa Cruz Project is permitted for 60,000 acre-feet per year of recharged CAP water. The outlook for the Town is a service area that would need about 30,000 acre-feet per year. The current demand, as of December 2006, is about 16,000 acre-feet. Mayor Honea and Vice Mayor Kai thanked Frank Cassidy for great job on the presentation. The PowerPoint presentation is available for viewing at the Office of the Town Clerk. F. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion: Adjourn to Executive Session, Moved by Council Member Escobedo, Seconded by Council Member Comerfora~ Motion carried, 7-0. Council left the dais at 7:03 P.M. Council returned to the dais at 8:22 P.M. 4 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MARANA MUNICIPAL COMPLEX DATE: JUNE 20, 2007 Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(3), (4), (6) and (7) for legal advice with the Town Attorney concerning water rights issues and to consult with and instruct the Town Attorney and the Town Manager concerning (i) the Town's position regarding various pending contract and property acquisition negotiations with the goal of securing additional Town water resources, (ii) the 1979 intergovernmental agreement between the Town of Marana and Pima County relating to sewer service within the Marana town limits and to direct the Town Manager and Town Attorney with respect to that agreement, and (iii) Town legal issues arising out of the 1979 intergovernmental agreement between the City of Tucson and Pima County relating to wastewater management and effluent ownership. Frank Cassidy asked staff for a motion authorizing the Town Manager and the Town Attorney to proceed with respect to sewer matters and water acquisition matters as discussed in Executive Session. Motion: Approved by Council Member Clanagan, Seconded by Council Member Escobedo. Motion passed 7-0. G. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Adjourn, Moved by Council Member Escobedo, Seconded by Council Member McGorray. Motion carried, 7-0. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on June 20, 2007. I further certify that a quorum was present. 5