Ground Party Papers - First Sunday of August

Author

Mr. Sawyer
August 04, 2024

In this issue…

1. Lifestyle – Sun-kissed thermal water storage
2. Alternative Building – SWABC videos are online
3. Water News – Local water prices could go up (a lot)
4. Willcox Lithium Mine – Did the city of Willcox outsmart MAXPower?
5. Local News – Give it up for the girls and gals of Cochise County
— Ground Party Pulse — 
6. Local Politics – Primary Election Results
7. Water News – My lawsuit with ADWR: An overview
8. Builder Inspo – The desert architecture of… Minecraft
9. Events – SteamFEST; Groundwater film screening
10. Special Event for Paid Subscribers

Sun-kissed thermal water storage

If you’ve ever turned on a garden hose that’s been baking in the relentless Arizona sun, you know to let it run a bit — unless you enjoy scalding your hands. But we typically rely on electricity or propane gas to heat our domestic water, not that celestial furnace in the sky.

These passive heaters are more common in other countries. We’ll catch up soon.

In my wanderings around Cochise County, I’ve only laid eyes on two passive solar collectors — the kind with those fancy vacuum tubes — though I suspect there are more tucked away. At my last haunt, the owners crafted their own passive solar heater: a metal water tank in a wooden box with some mirrors to focus the sunlight, sometimes dubbed a “breadbox” solar water heater. It takes a few hours to get going in the morning but does the job.

More frequently, I see the DIY darling of the moment: the PEX coil. My first encounter with PEX heating was on an Andean farmstead in Ecuador. They tossed a bunch of PEX across the roof in loose coils — low-tech, lower-effort — yielding enough hot water for about a five minute shower. A 300-foot coil of ¾” PEX can deliver roughly five and a half gallons of blisteringly hot water. For the resourceful among us, you can assemble one of these rigs for $200-$400. Add more coils to suit your hot water demands, and you’re set.

Until, of course, the sun takes a day off.

What then? You could drop over a grand on a 40-gallon heat exchanger storage tank and cross your fingers the hot water holds out. Or, you could tap into the DIY spirit that haunts Cochise County and build a 230-gallon heat exchanger storage tank for the same price, courtesy of DIY solar guru David Posluszny. That should keep you in hot water for a few days, even when the sun goes into hiding.

Not in the mood for another DIY challenge? A full passive-active-split solar water system will set you back about $3,000.

David Posluszny poses in front of his DIY solar-heated water tank.

Cochēz, our mascot, not worried about coyotes and scorpions.

I hope this newsletter is like a little digital campfire in the vast open desert of the internet, a place to hear stories and learn about the world.
We’ve jumped up to 27 paid supporters, and 132 total subscribers.
Help us get to 50 paid supporters this November by spreading the word, subscribing, or becoming a paid supporter. $5 for two of these digital campfires every month. Not bad a deal.

I just got word from Penni Parrish, organizer of the Southwest Alternative Building Conference, that all the presentations from this year’s conference are online.  Be sure to subscribe to the SWABC YouTube channel and contact Penni if you’re looking for an agent or property in Cochise County.  For your convenience, the table of video contents:

Check out dwell’s profile on Rod Rylander and his “$50,000 sustainable home” project to address the housing crisis.

Local water prices could go up (a lot)

A few months back a friend brought my attention to a public notice published by Hearthstone water, a West Virginia-based utilities company that owns water utilities in Arizona, Michigan, and Texas.  They’re requesting approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission (perhaps the most powerful government agency in Arizona, all things considered) to adjust customer rates for the four water utilities they own in Cochise County: 

Clear Springs Utility Co (Pearce)
Water: 15.5% increase
Wastewater: 220.2% increase

Naco Water Co (Naco)
Water: 106.3% increase

Mescal Lakes Water Systems (Mescal)
Water: 44.3% increase

East Slope Water Co (Sierra Vista)
Water: 118.2% increase
Wastewater: 15.5% increase

Why are companies in other states and countries interested in owning Arizona’s water utilities?  Because “water is the new oil/gold.”  Few resources are more important, and investors are banking on prices rising along with demand and scarcity.  (If you’re thinking maybe we should try to balance our water budget and avoid future scarcity, don’t tell that to the Farm Bureau or Senator Kerr, because they’ll claim you’re trying to push a “radical agenda” for “special interests.”  Perhaps they see everyday citizens and our future generations as “special interests,” while corporations are “normal interests”?)

The Herald/Review’s Shar Porier provides details on how to submit public comment on the matter: 

“Hearings on the requests begin on Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. at the offices at 1200 W. Washington St., Phoenix. The public comment portion will be held at the beginning of the first day of the hearings and comments may be provided in person or telephonically.

To provide telephonic public comments, call 877-309-3457 and enter passcode 801972877##.

Written public comments referencing Docket No. WS-01678A-24-0007 et al. to the Arizona Corporation Commission should be mailed to Consumer Services Section, 1200 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007, or by submitting comments on the commission's website at www.azcc.gov using "Cases and Open Meetings" and "Make a Public Comment in a Docket."

People can contact the Consumer Services Section at 602-542–4251 or 800–222–7000 with questions.”

You may remember that Willcox recently had a municipal well go dry, rumored to be a consequence of a local commercial water user selling tons of water for the construction of the SunZia transmission line which is meant to connect energy generation in New Mexico to Central Arizona and Southern California transmission lines and grids. This transmission line is planned to span the southern side of the Willcox Playa.

I think I recognize this artist.

Gila Valley Central reports on the Department of Energy’s Transmission Siting and Economic Development program recently awarding $10.7 million to the city of Willcox for the development of the Willcox Playa as an “Open Space and Riparian Conservation Area.”  The grant was matched by a $500,000 donation from the Southline Transmission project, another New Mexico-Arizona transmission project which might share some of the Right of Way permits attained by the SunZia project.

Mayor Mike Laws of Willcox seems to have an impressive ability to win grants from government agencies.  It could be a coincidence, but protecting the playa as a conservation and wildlife area could greatly impact the unpopular proposal for a new lithium mine in the playa.  Canadian company MAXPower recently acquired leases and permits to explore the development of lithium resources in the playa and has reported promising results as they continue exploratory drilling.  The project’s eventual permitting and environmental impact survey process would presumably have to account for potential impacts on Willcox’s new conservation project. 

One of the most-cited concerns about the lithium project has been its future water consumption in an area that is already suffering intense groundwater declines.  Moving toward wildlife and wetland conservation would seem to set a very different tone for the future of the landmark area.

I reached out to Willcox native Homer Hansen, an environmental scientist and founder of the annual Wings Over Willcox birding festival, to get his comment on the conservation project. He supported the city’s application for the funding and looks forward to the design of the project including diverse public perspectives. He’s also responsible for the playa receiving its current official name of “Lake Cochise.”

The Willcox Little League softball team.

The Willcox Little League softball team recently swept the West Region Tournament and just arrived in Greenville, North Carolina to compete in the Little League World Series.

“Just don’t suck, to be honest.” 

Hattie Macumber, the team’s star pitcher, describing her mindset in the pitcher’s circle to the Arizona Daily Star.

21-year-old Tombstone firefighter Lt. Morena Dixon-Montijo just became the town’s first female paramedic, following in the footsteps of her older sister and mother, the Herald/Review reports.

Earlier this year Judy Gignac died at the age 84 and is remembered for being the first female county supervisor in Cochise County.

“Of course, everyone knows that she was a Republican at the time and I was a Democrat. But it seemed as though in those times, we were able to discuss, look for ways to compromise and just keep the county moving forward." 

Current county supervisor Ann English to AZPM about her time serving alongside Gignac as supervisors.

Looking further back in time, Jan Cleere, writing for the Arizona Daily Star, tells the story of Nellie Hayward who represented Cochise County as one of Arizona’s first female legislators.  Hayward chaired legislative committees, chose Arizona’s official state song, pushed hard to help get the 19th amendment passed, got caught homebrewing alcohol during the prohibition, and continued her career as a civil servant for 40 years.

In today’s edition of the Pulse, we cover the county primary election winners, take a closer look at my lawsuit with ADWR, appreciate some virtual desert homes, and share details about upcoming local events. I’m also organizing a special event in Cochise Stronghold with native flora wizard Randy Redhawk, which paid supporters are invited to join us for, at no cost.

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