County declares sewage plant area a park

By Erica Meltzer
Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.25.2007

Pima County moved Tuesday to prevent Marana from taking over its sewage treatment plant to get access to the effluent. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to declare the area around the plant a county park to prevent the town from annexing the facility, and said the county would oppose any attempt to divide the regional wastewater system.

"In 1979, I don't think we cared about wastewater," said Supervisor Ann Day, referring to the year of Pima County's sewer agreement with Marana. "That this fight is about effluent shows how precious water is. This is ground zero for a critical water future for all of Southern Arizona. We're talking about regional benefit versus individual jurisdictions."

In a letter to county officials and in comments to the supervisors before the vote, Marana officials pleaded with the county not to declare the plant a park, even though they have stated they don't think such a designation would hold up in court. They said the board's action would cut off negotiations before they even started.

"This forces us into litigation," Marana Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat said after the vote. Later Tuesday, the Marana Town Council voted to proceed with the annexation of the facility.

Earlier this month, the Town Council severed its sewer agreement with the county, meaning that in six months the sewer lines revert to town ownership. Town officials interpret the agreement to mean the treatment plant, which lies just beyond town limits near North Luckett and West Trico-Marana roads, also would become theirs.

The fast-growing town wants the effluent to offset groundwater pumping. The town has just 1,528 acre feet of renewable supply for current use, and the cost of buying water is expected to rise.

In a letter sent to county officials late Monday, Reuwsaat said the town needed to control its own future, including water and wastewater resources, and laid out the town's plans. He called the park designation a "transparent attempt to circumvent Marana's exercise of its contractual rights," and he called on the county to continue work to expand the Marana treatment plant to keep up with growth.

A planned expansion of the plant is on hold because the county does not want to put more money into the facility while Marana attempts to take it over. Marana also is investigating the feasibility of building its own plant.

The area Marana wants to control includes Continental Ranch, where the county has a pumping station that takes sewage to the larger Ina Road treatment plant and where Tucson Water is the water provider. That sewage would be diverted to a new Marana plant.

Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky said Marana had not talked to the city about diverting sewage from Continental Ranch. "It would be of a concern to us if that effluent were not available to us," he said. "Effluent belongs to the entity that provides the source water."

Reuwsaat said Marana would give Tucson Water credit for its share of the effluent. "We would treat them as we would want to be treated," he said. The Board of Supervisors repeated the county's offer to give Marana 90 percent of the effluent from the treatment plant, after Marana contributes to a regional settlement with Indian tribes.Marana contends the settlement does not apply to them.

Ned Norris Jr., chairman of the Tohono O'Odham Nation, sent the county a letter opposing Marana's attempt to create its own wastewater system. "The Nation has found that this action would have adverse impacts," the letter said.

Town Mayor Ed Honea said Marana has meetings planned with all the jurisdictions and tribes to explain the town's position. County supervisors said they remain open to negotiations with Marana on meeting the town's water needs, but Marana's actions have not set the right tone.

"They want a two-way street, but we have not seen a two-way street," Supervisor Ramon Valadez said. "We have to look out for a whole county that helped pay for those facilities."

Contact reporter Erica Meltzer at 807-7790 or emeltzer@azstarnet.com

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