We can't have that

In this issue…

_{Water News}
ADWR pays a visit to the Willcox basin
_{Cochise Civics}
District 3 county supervisor race

Note from the editor

Because this September has five Sundays instead of four, and because next month I’ll start issuing the Papers on the second and fourth Sundays and instead of the first and third, there’s a huge four-week gap between editions. And we can’t have that. So I’m throwing together a quick bonus edition of the Papers just to let y’all know I’m still here, and catch you up on some goings on.

ADWR pays a visit to the Willcox basin

In 2022, ahead of the AMA elections, the Department of Water Resources came down to Willcox to give a presentation on groundwater. Except that they didn’t. Apparently there was a last-second decision to ditch a hydrological presentation and instead just go over some basics of Arizona’s groundwater laws. And many locals were not happy about that.

Last Thursday, two years later, Willcox finally got the presentation they wanted. A huge entourage of ADWR staff members, including multiple hydrologists, lawyers, and managers, came down and gave a nearly two-hour presentation on the hydrological conditions of the basin, rates of groundwater depletion, land subsidence, earth fissures, and current regulatory options.

And they even made time for some Q&A.

Of course, many people gave comments rather than asking questions.

Many locals told stories of wells going dry, insisting on an AMA designation for the Willcox basin as soon as possible.

Representative Gail Griffin and Cochise Farm Bureau Vice President Sonia Gasho made sure everyone still knows where they stand: They don’t like AMAs. And despite what anyone says, their SB1221 bill — which couldn’t even get full support from Republicans — was great and everyone likes it.

Pearce resident Cheryl Knott, one of the Arizona Water Defenders who helped get AMAs on the ballot in 2022, called for immediate 50% cuts to Riverview’s water use. After she finished her comment, the fellow sitting in front of me said “I’ve had enough of this” and left.

Another resident originally from Russia compared groundwater regulations to the historic government tyranny of his home country, saying that we should let businesses have unfettered access to groundwater while residents switch to harvesting rainwater like he does. (Which sounds like corporate tyranny to me — and fails to account for the 4,000 city residents of Willcox will get their water.)

Farmer Ed Curry delivered opening remarks at the meeting, explaining that ADWR was “not here to take our water, our life — they’re here to help us find a way to do this, with wisdom.”

Another resident made comment about how District 2 Supervisor candidate Frank Antenori was one of the legislators who signed a 2014 law allowing land permits for dairies to handled by the state instead of the county, paving the way for Riverview’s arrival that year.

And speaking of county supervisor candidates…

District 3 county supervisor race

It’s an interesting year for Cochise County’s District 3. Supervisor Peggy Judd’s chair will be taken by one of four candidates after the November elections. And last week I helped moderate a forum where all four candidates showed up to answer questions about water, the lithium mine, and the new Tombstone MOA military aircraft training proposal.

Republican Frank Antenori beat out three other Republicans in the July primaries. Joy Banks ran unopposed as a Democrat. Jacob Kartchner and Patsy Nyberg are running as Independents.

Cochise County voter registrations show 18,028 Democrats, 29,602 Republicans, and 26,577 Independents. And because District 3 is the most rural (Sierra Vista is District 1, Bisbee and Douglas are District 2), it has an even higher ratio of Republicans. So you’d rightfully guess that Antenori has the election in the bag.

But Kartchner presents an unusual challenge. First of all, he’s got name recognition as a fifth generation county resident whose family is the namesake of the Katchner Caverns. Unsurprisingly, this former deputy sheriff has won the endorsement of Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, and more than that, he’s got the endorsements of all three Republican candidates whom Antenori beat in the primaries, Katie Miller, Nancy Olmstead, and Sonia Gasho — something local Republican party officials aren’t happy about.

At the recent forum, each candidate did their best to answer difficult questions about a contentious topic — groundwater regulations — something that county supervisors have almost no authority over anyway. But in their responses, they revealed something of who they are and how they think. My moderator role was to ask follow-up questions if I thought the candidates were beating around the bush. I limited myself to one difficult, lengthy, such question: Enough with the rhetoric — should we try to stabilize the water tables or not, and should the state be involved?

Banks was optimistic about the Douglas AMA and felt Willcox should go the same route. Most of all, she said, we need to understand the science and data. Kartchner said we should try to stabilize the water tables, and that while he distrusts state intervention, Arizona law requires it. Patsy Nyberg said she was against any AMA or INA designations and thought we should address groundwater problems with voluntary incentive programs for irrigators. Frank Antenori said the only way to fix our issues is by getting new water supplies piped in from the Mississippi River or Pacific Ocean — somehow.

Except for Antenori, all the candidates were against the Tombstone MOA proposal. Antenori said he was “torn” about it as a veteran with wartime experiences where he counted on military jets for life-saving rescue missions.

The event organizers sent out the questions ahead of time, so most of the candidate responses were ready-made. But the candidates still revealed their personalities in subtle ways throughout the afternoon.

During Nyberg’s introductory remarks, she made sure everyone knew they were on her home turf by extending a “welcome” the other candidates in her measured contralto voice, lilting with self-esteem. Later, when another candidate questioned something she had said, she froze up a bit, and was then annoyed when she was refused an opportunity for extra time to respond to the comment.

Antenori was the most energetic, never had to search for his words, and seemed to go inside himself rather than listening to other candidates’ answers. One got the impression that he’d rather be pacing around instead of confined to a chair. After the forum, he enthusiastically introduced himself to anyone he could, and was happy to speak at length and with speed.

Banks was all smiles, with a gentle and almost child-like lightness of spirit. She seemed to be the most nerdy of the bunch, for lack of a better word. Even though she lives far on the other side of the district in Huachuca City, she was the most intimately familiar with ADWR’s hydrological report on the Willcox basin, and apologetic that she didn’t have an even more comprehensive understanding of the region’s hydrology.

Kartchner seemed a little less comfortable in front of a crowd than the others, but still had confidence and humor. Like Nyberg, he was keyed in to the subtler power dynamics on stage, and attuned himself to the audience. He played up his rural identity and took small moments of silence to collect his thoughts before giving slow and careful answers.

So how will it go in November? Another Republican, as usual? An upset from the popular Independent cowboy? Or maybe Nyberg, the retired teacher, has some ninth inning campaign strategies up her sleeve. And heck — with the possibility of a split Republican vote, maybe even a Democrat could win the district.

While I have some disagreements with all of the candidates, regarding both their attitudes and beliefs about how we might fix groundwater — I got the sense that they all really cared about the area and hoped to a good job. And I hope I’m right about that, because I have zero idea who’s going to win…

Haven’t you ever been sitting around and thinking, Gee, I wish there was a version of the classic board game RISK for my own county, where the territories are grouped by their groundwater basins? I’m sure you have. But I thought about it so much that I went ahead and made it.

I found an old historical map of Cochise County, which a friend printed out for me on 30×30 inch paper, and I mapped out the county’s six groundwater basins in different colors. Another friend bought an actual RISK game so we could steal the game pieces from it, and I repurposed some abandoned flash cards as territory cards.

And it is fun. And it has helped everyone get a better understanding of the county’s geography. And maybe it helps us all get a better sense of how corporate investors would see our land: a battleground for capturing territory and natural resources.

Of course, when we mass-produce this bootleg game of aquifer domination, Ground Party Papers supporters will get first dibs and a discount to boot.

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