The recent decision by the Bureau of Reclamation to allow the CAP canal to be extended to the Green Valley area drew lots of news media attention today. Front page story in the Arizona Daily Star today by environmental writer Tony Davis offers a summary of the issues that has split the community. I also heard it on public radio on the drive home tonight as a lead story.
Rosemont Copper is paying for the extension and would get the water it needs for mining for the expected life of the mine. Community Water Co. gets a pipeline they cannot currently afford but the water would not recharge the downdropping water table caused by current water use by existing residents, farms, and other mines for the next 20 years or so. [right, regional groundwater level increase from recharge. Credit, Bureau of Reclamation]
The debate over the canal extension is complicated by its use for the copper mine.