Prescott 2050

Comments

1. #1 Jon Vick wrote on Apr 13, 2008 at 11:16 am

   Dear Fellow Citizens,

   The ecological concepts of “carrying capacity” and “tragedy of the commons” should be central when thinking about and planning for the future of the tri-city area.  Our great climate and, for now, quality of life has attracted many new residents.  As a result, new construction has become a significant part of our economic lifeblood, to the point that the pro-construction faction has warned us to “grow or die.” But the issue is the key limiting factor—water.  So special interest groups have pressured municipalities to bend to their will with permits an zoning, and to implement a multi-million dollar scheme to take someone else’s water using laws from the last century that never considered the tragedy of the commons or carrying capacity.  Anyone with honest vision must see that grow or die represents a short-term boom and a long-term dead end for our community.
   Some years back, a friend and I decided to explore the Upper Verde in inflatable kayaks.  We put in a few miles down from where the crystal clear waters magically begin downstream from a muddy tract of water just east of Sullivan Lake near Paulden.
   Imagine a channel ten feet wide and two feet deep, widening and narrowing at times, flowing steadily through a riparian wonderland of cool green canopy full of wildlife.  The only time we had to get out of our boats was when we had to hoist them over beaver dams.  But now, people with the singular vision of their annual bottom line, heretofore reliant on the over-drafting of the tri-city aquifer, now want this rare gem for themselves.  “What is mine is mine and what is yours is mine too.”
   Developers and their back pocket hydrologists will naturally argue otherwise, but the facts of the matter, according to objective government geologists, are that the Big Chino aquifer works like an overflowing bathtub, supplying at least 85% of the base flow of the Verde, one of Arizona’s last wild and scenic rivers.  Much like how the City of Los Angeles destroyed natural and human communities years ago by usurping their water supplies, a tri-city government cooperative has undertaken a boondoggle of a project to mine the Big Chino aquifer to the tune of one hundred and sixty some million taxpayer dollars and ever rising.  C’mon guys!  We have to be more realistic and creative than this.
   Prescott mayor Jack Wilson has asked citizens to write him about Prescott’s future in his Prescott 2050 Looking Forward project.  Instead of the lack of vision “grow or die” mentality that would ultimately leave our communities in perpetual degradation with continuous water shortage, severely devalued home prices, and a skeleton construction economy, how about some twenty first century and beyond vision for future generations that utilizes innovation and conservation? 
   In my vision, I see a vibrant, dynamic community based on a sustainable economy supported by manufacturing and exports, educational institutions, tourism and the arts, and most centrally, retirees and the steady supply of cash they pump into our economy.  My community of the future would put an accurate price tag on our limited water supply.  Code would allow gray water and rainwater collection systems.  Xeriscaping would be encouraged.  Treated wastewater, instead of being recharged back into the aquifer, would be purified, perhaps through distillation, at large-scale municipal facilities and reused.  Energy to do this could be provided in part with an investment in abundant solar and wind power.  And the cost?  Why not?  We’ll spend hundreds of millions on the pump and pipe pipedream otherwise.
   To all the good people in the construction industry I say this:  grow inward, not outward.  Renovate structures with existing water hook-ups.  Revitalize or rebuild existing eyesore properties.  Build affordable multi-resident housing for the working class.  In other words, be a partner that cares about the long-term future of all.
   In nature, supply is finite.  Aquifers and rivers and ecosystems cannot conform to laws and property lines and near sighted pursuit of the all mighty dollar.  They can only be protected or destroyed by humans.  Practically and morally, we have a vital interest to be good stewards of the land, for the natural world, for our children, and for all future generations.  My mind is with the welfare of my community and the claim of the Salt River Project.  My heart is with the activists who will make their way from Granite Creek Park to the Verde headwaters this Saturday.  My spirit is with The River.

   Jon Vick,
   Prescott Valley

2. #2 Marc Darr wrote on Apr 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm

   Couldn’t agree more, Jon.  We should consider an urban growth boundary, like Portland or a limit on building new foundations, like Boulder, CO.  There are plenty of properties that could be refurbished or in-fill developments that could be created.  Property values would remain high and rampant growth would be controlled. 

   Water is a huge issue in this arid land and will only become more so.  We need to use it responsibly and make sure there is enough for future generations.  Also, we live somewhere the sun shines almost every day and the wind blows most days.  We need to look into more solar energy and wind farms for sources of clean, quiet, renewable energy.

3. #3 Debra Kaukol wrote on May 13, 2008 at 2:44 pm

   This is a wonderful way for the citizens to gather and make the “right” changes. We need to stop developers from ruining our cities and now countryside, this has been going on since the 60’s. This is a great website, we need to get involved, and stay involved. We do not own this earth, we are only using it. Lets preserve our rivers now before we have no more to preserve. This affects everyone, just as what happens to Prescott and how the hills are being stripped by developers affects everyone. We need to speak, but we need to unify.
   “Water flows over these hands. May I use them skillfully to preserve our precious planet”. by Thich Nhat Hanh

4. #4 Gayle Hebb wrote on May 15, 2008 at 9:14 am

   Hopefully Mayor Wilson will pay attention to the above remarks that are much better than his meaningless survey

5. #5 Elisabeth Ruffner wrote on May 19, 2008 at 12:48 pm

   Please note that state law does not connect water nor roads with the number of building permits a jurisdiction may issue!  Plan all you want but get state law changed so we can effectively carry out the self-determination we seek for the Central Arizona Highlands.