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Developer wins vote in Arizona; gets approval to use groundwater for new golf course

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:29 am

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Las Vegas developer Jim Rhodes’ effort to build a master planned community in northwest Arizona cleared a significant hurdle late Friday night. The Arizona Corporation Commission, by a 4-1 vote shortly before 11 p.m., approved a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity for the Perkins Mountain Utility and Perkins Mountain Water Company to serve the 25,000 home and golf course development called Pravada.

Commissioner Kristin Mayes cast the dissenting vote after failing to pass an amendment that would have stalled construction of the golf course until enough homes were occupied to generate effluent to water the course. She said it would be “immoral” for Rhodes to waste groundwater on a golf course in the parched desert. “Anybody who drives through Golden Valley knows this is the area where we need aggressive conservation,” Mayes said. “Unfortunately, what we did today is we blessed off on the use of 900 million gallons of groundwater in Mohave County for a golf course.”

Chairman Mike Gleason and Commissioner Jeff Hatch-Miller said there is nothing wrong with using groundwater for the course. Both said Rhodes and his staff had proved a sufficient water supply and that he is legally entitled to use the resource to build an upscale development unrivaled in the area. “Mohave County generally hasn’t had that luxury, a large master-planned community with a golf course and other amenities that people really want,” Hatch-Miller said. “This (Pravada) affords that opportunity.”

Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal by clicking here.

December 21, 2008 · Filed Under Groundwater, Southwest Water Issues

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