2010-08-10 Mitigation plan should come first

In the Citizens Water Advocacy Group's last column, our vice president, Leslie Hoy, discussed the recent agreement among the Salt River Project (SRP), Prescott and Prescott Valley concerning the municipalities' intention to import water from the neighboring Big Chino aquifer. She noted that although the agreement called for a mitigation plan to protect the upper Verde River, it appears the public will not see a plan until unspecified monitoring "triggers" are observed. CWAG and many other parties concerned with protecting the river have called for a mitigation plan before construction of the Big Chino pipeline. View document.