Tucson Rally on Renzi rider is face-off of views;... (EnviroNUTS vs. Real-Americans)

Rally on rider is face-off of views; Sides press McCain to support their stance

TUCSON -- The issue of the San Pedro River brought out rudeness, politeness and points of view Friday from people who want Fort Huachuca held accountable for water use off the installation and those who believe the installation is not responsible for water reduction in civilian communities.

At issue was the amendment by U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi Jr., R-Ariz., that eliminates the fort's responsibility for water pumped off the post. The amendment was passed by the House in its Defense Appropriations Bill for 2004.

On Friday, nearly 60 amendment opponents and 25 amendment supporters gathered outside U.S. Sen. John McCain's Tucson office.

McCain, R-Ariz., was not present during the event. Individuals for and against the amendment were allowed to enter McCain's office two at a time to present written comments or make verbal statements to the senator's staff.

Amendment opponents see McCain as a hope in stopping the rider from being accepted by the Senate as part of conference committee negotiations on the defense bill.

The Senate's proposal does not have a similar amendment. If the conference committee does not add the amendment language to both bills, it will not be adopted.

According to press reports, McCain does not support Renzi's proposal and is looking for language that he can he support that will require the fort to be responsible for only a part of water needs off the installation, as post officials now do after signing a biological agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

During Friday's event, supporters and opponents of the amendment discussed their viewpoints.

One time, an amendment opponent stepped in front of Sierra Vista Mayor Tom Hessler as he was being interviewed by a television crew. In response, two people from Sierra Vista stepped in front of an environmentalist being interviewed for a TV news segment.

Environmentalists claim growth in the Sierra Vista area is caused by the fort's existence. One sign carried by a save-the-river proponent said, "The river is a living thing. Thou shalt not kill."

The amendment supporters from Sierra Vista, many who were members of the Fort Huachuca 50, countered that the opponents are unaware of the work being done by the civilian and military communities to save water.

None of the supporters from Sierra Vista carried signs, but they were willing to discuss the issues with the amendment opponents, usually one-on-one.

Sierra Vista Councilwoman Carol Dockter said the best way to save the river is to ensure the fort is not closed and "we are being more responsible through the partnership."

She was referring to the Upper San Pedro Partnership, a consortium of federal, state and local agencies, environmental groups and businesses. The fort and city of Sierra Vista are partnership members.

Casey Jones, a former Sierra Vista councilman and mayor pro tem, and Shane Jimerfield, a program manager for the Center for Biological Diversity, had a long conversation during the event.

The center, along with other environmental groups in Arizona, called for Friday's anti-Renzi Rider Rally. Some who attended the event came from Phoenix. Other rider opponents were from the Sierra Vista area.

As Jones and Jimerfield spoke, people on both sides would occasionally interject. The discussion between the two men could be described as caustically polite.

Jones said he doubts that people such as Jimerfield even know the off-post communities "right now are within 1,000 acre-feet of balance."

The balance he referred to is the amount needed to replace the water being withdrawn from the aquifer and what is being recharge through treated effluent and natural means. An acre-foot consists of nearly 326,000 gallons of water.

Jones responded that there is plenty of information available, including in the biological assessment and biological opinion that are being used to require the fort to be responsible for 54 percent of the water use off the installation.

Jimerfield later made a comment against Jones, and Jones responded that Jimerfield should not make his statements become personal.

Jones said that what people such as Jimerfield have to do is to become more aware of what the city of Sierra Vista and Cochise County are doing through a number of projects that will put more water back into the aquifer. Jones valued the projects in excess of $15 million.

Jimerfield said that because of Sierra Vista's past history, he can't give the city the benefit. He said Sierra Vista is doing nothing to control growth. When growth is coupled with the possibility the fort will have to accept more people if it remains open after the next Base Realignment and Closure process, more water will be pumped to the detriment of the river.

"More growth is not going to protect the river. What I see is Sierra Vista wants to become a Tucson, like Tucson wants to be a Phoenix and Phoenix wants to be a LA (Los Angeles)," Jimerfield said.

Jones countered, saying Sierra Vista, the county and other communities in the Sierra Vista subwatershed are working on today's problem and looking at the future growth in the area. He said the groups will continue to address the water issue.

Even though Jones said he wished the Army and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not agreed the post was responsible for more than half of the water pumping off the installation, he said it is a done deal and the communities outside the military gates will continue to step up to address the problem.

Bob Strain, Sierra Vista's mayor pro tem and chairman of the partnership, has said the partnership was asked by McCain's staff for a commitment from the civilian communities that would ensure the water deficit in the subwatershed would be addressed if a version of the Renzi rider is adopted. Strain was not at Friday's event.

Jones told Jimerfield that he had his personal assurance the commitment will be honored.

"I don't want your assurance, I want the military's assurance," Jimerfield responded.

After the discussion ended, Jimerfield said the Center for Biological Diversity has no interest in negotiating with a group like the partnership because 95 percent of the rivers in the southwest have already dried up. The San Pedro, he added, is one of the few left and its importance as a major bird flyway and riparian habitat area for birds and other species cannot be allowed to die.

If the Renzi amendment is passed by Congress, the river will die, Jimerfield said.

Jones does not believe that will happen. He said the amendment says the post is not responsible for what happens off the fort and that the leaders of the civilian communities will continue to address the issue.

If there was any consensus between the two sides, it was that the fort is a good environmental steward and the river must be saved.

The two sides disagree about how the fort will not face closing in the next BRAC round and how the river will not be dried up.

Both sides also see McCain as the key person in deciding if the Renzi amendment or a re-written version of it will be in the House and Senate versions of the 2004 Defense Appropriations Bill.

Both sides are calling on their supporters to call McCain and let him know how they feel.

U.S Rep. Raœl Grijalva, D-Ariz., sent a letter to McCain on Friday calling the Renzi Rider destructive, noting the Department of Defense did not ask for the amendment but it is similar to one introduced last year by U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., whose district includes Fort Huachuca, that failed in conference committee. It was Kolbe who was instrumental in establishing the nation's first federally protected region, now called the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area more than a decade ago.

Saying McCain, as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has the power to kill the proposed rider during the conference committee, Grijalva's letter stated: "Please, Senator McCain, kill the Renzi Rider before it kills our river."

Susan Tegmeyer, executive director of the Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce, sent out an e-mail Friday asking supporters of the Renzi amendment to call McCain or write him to vote for any action that will take Fort Huachuca off the hook for being responsible for water pumping off the installation.

"The Renzi Rider simply gives Fort Huachuca relief from the responsibility of off-post water usage. The city and the Upper San Pedro Partnership are working hard to no only mitigate the balance of the biological opinion's water numbers, but to go far beyond to allow for growth," her e-mail said.

Remember that the Center for BioDUMBA**** is headqaurtered in Tucson (after they were forced to leave NewMexico and they still haven't told how they did that). The River, the community, and the Fort are over an 1 hour 15 minutes expressway drive time (and our expressways travel at 75mph constantly - no backups/traffic jams).

The center, along with other environmental groups in Arizona, and they are outsiders.

Environmentalists claim growth in the Sierra Vista area is caused by the fort's existence.The enviroNUT-Cases want the post closed.

One sign carried by a save-the-river proponent said, "The river is a living thing. Thou shalt not kill."Now the Ten Commandments are tried to be used MISUSED.

Other rider opponents were from the Sierra Vista area. Read that as Bisbee, AZ Hippiedom's last Resort. Go there and in many ways its still the '60s there.

Jimerfield said the Center for Biological Diversity has no interest in negotiating See what the enviroNUT-CASES are and how they think, only they are the anointed ones.

In the end McCainusRINO will probably side with his newest MeChA amigo don Raul Grijalva de Aztlan but the push must go on.

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