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Bill sanctions illegal Williams well
A House panel approved a controversial bill to let Williams continue to pump water from a well that city was not legally entitled to drill.
The unanimous vote on HB2772 came after a plea from Mayor Ken Edes who told members of the House Committee on Water and Agriculture that the error in where the well was drilled more than a dozen years ago was not discovered until last year. He said abandoning the well is not an option because his community needs the water.
Thursday's vote came over the objections of Sandy Bahr, lobbyist for the Sierra Club, who said HB2772 would set a dangerous precedent by carving an exception to state laws which prohibit transferring water from one underground aquifer to another. It also came despite concerns by officials in the Verde Valley - where the Williams well is located.
But unlike Bahr, they did not ask lawmakers to kill the measure. Instead, they want the bill altered before it becomes law to ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.
Beyond that, Clarkdale Mayor Doug Von Gausig wants the state to monitor the effect of the illegal Williams well to ensure the water withdrawn doesn't harm his area's water supply.
Central to the problem is the fact Williams has a limited water supply.
Edes said the community, incorporated at the beginning of the 20th century, began a search for more water about 14 years ago. The town spent about $13 million drilling six wells, only two of which ultimately produced water.
But one of them, it turned out, is not within the community's own water basin.
Herb Guenther, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said the town and the drilling company are not entirely at fault. Guenther said his own agency gave the go-ahead, based on a not entirely precise location.
He said that problem is being fixed and future drillers will be required to provide exact GPS locations. But that still leaves the problem of the well.
Edes said the water will be drawn from the well only when other supplies are inadequate. And he promised to cap withdrawal at no more than 700 acre feet a year - about 228 million gallons.
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