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Forum for citizens to contribute information, share observations, and express their views. |
On this page you may post your views about an issue you feel should be examined and discussed by this community. You may include information and links to other resources. You may also respond to another's posting. Keep it clean and civil, but feel free to be controversial. Pretend you are educating your child about how to influence public opinion and productive action through respectful and reasoned discourse. To contribute, click on "contact" below. Don't forget to read the "feedback"s. They are an important element of the exchange.
01/05/09
Categories: Water
By Nancy Freeman
Published: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 7:57 PM MST in the Green Valley News.
STRIKE ONE: At the time of the passage of the 1980 Groundwater Code, the annual deficit of groundwater pumping in central Arizona was 2.5 million acre-feet a year (afy). Although the majority of the water use was for subsidized cotton payments, the Legislature grandfathered the entire use and mandated that urban areas would have to find “renewable supplies.” In the legislators’ view, this legislation enabled federal funds for the expensive CAP project to bring water to Phoenix and Tucson. Needless to mention, the AZ legislators were all aglow at their success of bringing approximately 1.5 million afy of Colorado River water to the cities at no initial cost to AZ taxpayers. In other words, nothing was done to fix the situation that was causing the deficit, so it has continued. Then, after giving the groundwater away, the legislators told the cities that they had to have an assured, or renewable, water supply—meaning surface water, wastewater, etc. While it’s true that Phoenix does have a viable surface water supply from the Salt River, by 1980, Tucson’s Santa Cruz River was bone dry.
Even though the legislators effectively mandated that CAP water be had to be used in the Phoenix and Tucson regions, they did not provide any funds for the infrastructure to connect to the main CAP pipeline. Therefore, small water companies that were not near the pipeline still have not been able to hook up to the mandated water supply.
In addition, the legislators overlooked a gaping leak in their betrayal. Since the federal government put up the money for the CAP project, they considered they had the right to manage its waters. In 2004, the Department of Interior awarded 50% of the CAP allocation, 750,000 afy of water, to Indian tribes without any discussion Arizona authorities. The same good ole boys, who ignored the urban citizens’ water rights, surely had ignored Native Americans’ water rights too -— highlighting the flaw of putting the management of water on federal public lands in the hands of the States. So a 30-year legal battle in Arizona ended when the Native Americans, in a well-deserved triumph, were compensated for the pumping dry of their traditional water supplies by white men—it all went to cotton and alfalfa. Now, three tribes are growing subsidized cotton and alfalfa, following in the footsteps of their white neighbors, who still pump up to one-half of the groundwater in the state. [It’s impossible to get the exact number from our water agency!] Read more »
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01/03/09
Categories: Government
Below is a link to the Agenda for the next Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisor's meeting on January 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am at the County Complex.
I will try to send this out on a regular basis. I would encourage everyone to attend the weekly board meetings whenever possible. We need to let our county officials know that we are interested in everything that goes on at the county level, not just when it personally concerns us.
The makeup of the board has changed with Rudy "Bugs" Molera replacing Bob Damon, representing District 2. He has stated that he will be appreciative of the public's attendance at the meetings. A new Chairman will most likely be chosen at this next meeting.
Sherry hull
Agenda
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12/03/08
Categories: Energy
Several months ago, when there was a 4 hour 20 minute outage in Nogales, I wrote a letter to this paper saying there is NO excuse for losing power throughout the UNS Electric service area more than fifteen (15) minutes for at least 16,000 customers.
This time, the night before Thanksgiving, it was out for up to 5 hours and 45 minutes. Why can’t this company restore outages in the 15 minutes in the Outage Restoration Plan approved by the Corporation Commission?
Let me explain again.
There are three sources of power for UNS Electric customers:
(1) A primary 115 kV line from Tucson,
(2) Four local generators in Nogales, and,
(3) During outages, a backup 46 kV line from Green Valley.
Power is distributed to customers from four locations:
(1) Amado (Kantor),
(2) North Rio Rico (Canez),
(3) South Rio Rico (Sonoita), and
(4) Nogales (Valencia).
Any failure on the lines between these substations causes a wide-area outage.
If an outage occurs north of Amado, then that line segment is opened and we become an “island” using the 68 MW of power from the Nogales Turbines to supply this “island.” Unannounced tests proved these turbines can start restoring power in less than 12 minutes. This is why power should be back on within 15 minutes.
During a few days in summer, power demand exceeds 68 MW, so an emergency 46 kV line with over 20 MW can be used to meet needs for the Amado and North Rio Rico. All this takes is closing a few remote switches, say 1 to 2 minutes, to “island” these substations from the lower two that use the Nogales turbines.
If there is an outage between any of the other substations, then power remains on from the North, that segment where the outage occurs is opened, and the rest receive power from the Nogales turbines, within 15 minutes.
There is NO EXCUSE for any wide-spread outage over 15 minutes! The utility should pay damages when this is exceeded.
The proposed “upgraded” 138 kV line does NOT reduce or change the time required to recover from transmission line failure, still 15 minutes.
Over 99% of outages are between substations and customers on distribution feeder lines where one to hundreds of customer lose power and not all 16,000 customers.
When is our electric company going to get their act together, the “world wonders”?
Marshall Magruder
PO Box 1267
Tubac, AZ 85646
marshall@magruder.org
520.389.8587
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Categories: Public Affairs, Politics
Take heart in the victory of light over darkness. It’s been a long, eight years of lies, incompetence and corruption and disgrace. Your elders were misled. Finally, they rejected our government leadership when the price of oil skyrocketed and the economy tanked. For you, the young, it was new and scary. We, who are over 60 tears old, have lived through other dark times in U.S. history.
Turn off the Fox News. Don’t accept the scary, entertainment news of CNN. Continue to seek education and elect responsible, accountable leadership on all levels of community. Continue to ask questions. Make wise decisions based on facts. Take responsibility for your actions. Be accountable. Use the computer wisely. Don’t blindly trust the Internet. Find good, reliable websites. Here’s an example: TEENWIRE.COM for medical facts on sex and health. It is honest and non-religious and non-partisan and non-judgmental.
Take a look beyond the borders of the U.S. population, which is merely 5% of the world’s population. We are among the most fortunate people in the world but we are not the most superior. We must become more tolerant and more “educated”. Did you know the very word means “leading into the light”? Blessings on your journey! And thank you for your courage and votes for change. Nothing is impossible.
Rita Freeland A.B., M.Ed
Tubac, AZ
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11/15/08
Categories: Public Affairs, Comprhensive Plan
By Robert E. Kimball
Published Tuesday, November 11, 2008 8:38 AM MST in the Nogales International.
More than 70 percent of voters voted no on Propositions 400 and 401 in the Nov. 4 election. The measures were defeated in all 24 precincts. The percentage of no votes ranged from 59 percent in Nogales 4 to 100 percent in Patagonia 14.
This is a victory for the Santa Cruz County Comprehensive Plan approved by the supervisors in 2004, which does not allow the massive building densities proposed by two developers in the Tubac and Amado areas.
This is not only a defeat for the developers but for the Santa Cruz County supervisors who voted to override the Comprehensive Plan in support of the developments. Based on the vote it would seem that the supervisors, with the exception of John Maynard who voted against overriding the plan, are out of touch with the wishes of a large majority of the electorate.
Some years ago I attended and reported on dozens of meetings in northeast Santa Cruz County structured to receive community input on the Comprehensive Plan. The final plan reflected most of the input from those and other meetings held in the county.
But when the supervisors voted to override the plan in support of two housing developments there was concern the plan had no teeth, that there was no way to enforce its provisions.
The defeat of Props 400 and 401 shows that a grassroots effort by the community can override the supervisors, but this does not in and of itself put teeth into the plan. That would require a revision of the plan that would in turn have to be approved by the Sspervisors.
In an e-mail, Stephen Strom president of the Sonoita Crossroads Community Forum said, “in order for the County to grow in a rational way, it will be critical to form alliances with all segments of the County, from the Sonoita Valley through Nogales/Rio Rico to Amado/Tubac. We, here in Sonoita, not only need to continue our efforts to work with the county and potential developers to ensure that growth is sensible, but we need as well to find ways to support initiatives that are important to Nogales and Rio Rico. That's the only way for the citizens of the county as a whole to achieve their aspirations/dreams.
“I think that the vote resulted from a citizens-based effort aimed at supporting a citizen-based Comprehensive Plan. The Coalition for Responsible Growth [CRG] (led by Lynn Carey, Rich and Nancy Bohman, all of Tubac) did a masterful job in organizing the effort.”
In an e-mail to supporters of No on Prop 400 and 401 Strom said, “While all of you deserve credit for the time, effort, and money you put into the effort to ensure a "no" vote, I'd like to say a big "Thanks" to Morris Farr and Molly Anderson, who were indefatigable in their commitment to the cause.”
It was a David and Goliath battle. The CRG raised $15,768 while the YES on 400, 401 campaign had a war chest of $139,142.
It just goes to show what a well-organized grassroots campaign can accomplish on a David-size budget.
(E-mail Kimball at bob.kimball@hughes.net.)
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10/08/08
Categories: Growth, Government, Elections, Comprhensive Plan
This post is a compilation of news reports and and comments regarding the referendums to overturn the decision of the Supervisors to amend the Comprehensive Plan to make it possible for developers to submit proposals to change the land use and zoning regulations in the north county area. A YES vote on Propositions 400 and 401 leaves the decision alone, while a NO vote rejects the Plan amendment.
Opinions for and against the propositions can be found in separate posts. A copy of the Comprehensive Plan can be read here. (large file)
Read more »
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Categories: Growth, Government, Elections, Comprhensive Plan
This post is a compilation of previous posts and letters in support of the developments which are the subject of Propositions 400 and 401. A YES vote on Propositions 400 and 401 leaves the decision alone, while a NO vote rejects the Plan amendment.
Opinions against the propositions and backgound information on this issue can be found in separate posts.
Read more »
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Categories: Growth, Government, Elections, Comprhensive Plan
This post is a compilation of previous posts and letters in opposition to the developments which are the subject of Propositions 400 and 401. A YES vote on Propositions 400 and 401 leaves the decision alone, while a NO vote rejects the Plan amendment.
Opinions for the propositions and backgound information on this issue can be found in separate posts.
Read more »
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10/06/08
09/24/08
Categories: Government, Taxes
Congress is seriously considering spending 700 billion taxpayer dollars to bail out the financial institutions which have shown they were not worthy of the trust implicit in the increasing deregulation of that industry. They rose with the cry of "let market forces manage the economy." Let them fall the same way.
Obviously something needs to be done to stabilize the lending market and loosen up the money supply for middle class home owners. However, the government need not take on the mess the banks and brokerages have made of their companies, including the bloated salaries of their obviously incompetent executives. Why should we reward their foolishness, greed, and dishonesty?
The federal government is already a major lender through the FHA and other agencies. Why not authorize it to temporarily loosen up its rules and eligibility criteria to allow homeowners in danger of foreclosure to refinance or renegotiate with them, on a case by case basis. The SBA can provide funds to those businesses which, because of the tight lending market, may have to close or lay off workers. With a managed approach to this crisis, by agencies accountable to the public through its elected representatives, the risk to taxpayers is decreased; and no corrupt and/or greedy financiers will profit from their misdeeds.
My understanding of the exact workings of the federal lending agencies is incomplete, and I hope that someone will weigh in to correct any of my errors. However, you get my point. Even a bureaucracy-ridden government which is supposed to be on our side is better than profit-driven companies motivated by nothing but their own self interest.
For those of you who detest government involvement in these matters, wake up and smell the sewage. Your precious market has done a lousy, if not criminal, job of guiding this nation's economy.
Mike Susinski
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©2007-08 Mike Susinski
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