Carefree Truth
Issue #670, July 21, 2018
Issue #670, July 21, 2018
Mayor Les Peterson introduced former Vice Mayor Lloyd Meyer, noting that Mr. Meyer was Vice Mayor when each of the two systems were acquired by the respective Towns.
Mr. Meyer said he first wanted to commend Mayor Peterson for the leadership role he brought to this very complex issue. Mr. Meyer was there at the beginning so he knows what's involved. He stated that the Mayor has assembled a very good team, and that no one knows more about water than Tony Geiger.
Mr. Meyer first met Les Peterson while he was still on the Town Council and Mr. Peterson was the president of the Boulders HOA. There was a huge problem over there with the waste treatment plant owned by the Boulders. Everyone was involved. The resort used the effluent to water their golf courses. The Town and the neighbors were involved. It seemed insolvable and everyone gave up. But in his role as HOA president, Mr. Peterson took the lead and spent years. The issue went all the way up to the Arizona Supreme Court. It was finally accomplished, and the plant is closing this November 30th. "He gets things done."
Moving the Carefree customers who are serviced by Cave Creek Water (CCW) over to Carefree Water (CFW) will be very good for the town of Carefree, but the Mayor, Council, and his team on the Water Committee will need citizen support. When the two towns were developed, both had privately owned water companies that were draining the aquifer until it ran dry. At one point, there was a certainty date when it would run out of water. As Carefree grew, the company in Carefree couldn't supply anymore water. At that time, the one in Cave Creek could, so it supplied the developments in the red areas of the slide.
Mr. Meyer said he first wanted to commend Mayor Peterson for the leadership role he brought to this very complex issue. Mr. Meyer was there at the beginning so he knows what's involved. He stated that the Mayor has assembled a very good team, and that no one knows more about water than Tony Geiger.
Mr. Meyer first met Les Peterson while he was still on the Town Council and Mr. Peterson was the president of the Boulders HOA. There was a huge problem over there with the waste treatment plant owned by the Boulders. Everyone was involved. The resort used the effluent to water their golf courses. The Town and the neighbors were involved. It seemed insolvable and everyone gave up. But in his role as HOA president, Mr. Peterson took the lead and spent years. The issue went all the way up to the Arizona Supreme Court. It was finally accomplished, and the plant is closing this November 30th. "He gets things done."
Moving the Carefree customers who are serviced by Cave Creek Water (CCW) over to Carefree Water (CFW) will be very good for the town of Carefree, but the Mayor, Council, and his team on the Water Committee will need citizen support. When the two towns were developed, both had privately owned water companies that were draining the aquifer until it ran dry. At one point, there was a certainty date when it would run out of water. As Carefree grew, the company in Carefree couldn't supply anymore water. At that time, the one in Cave Creek could, so it supplied the developments in the red areas of the slide.
After Carefree incorporated in 1984, it realized it needed to get on top of the water situation. Without water, you control nothing in your town. This meant purchasing the water company, negotiating for a Central Arizona Project (CAP) allocation, and solving a myriad of other problems from scratch. Carefree was originally developed in the 1950s and 60s, and Cave Creek was developed much earlier than that. The easy solution would have been to get water from Scottsdale but then Scottsdale would have owned Carefree. Carefree incorporated to prevent that. When Herb Drinkwater was Mayor of Scottsdale, Scottsdale was annexing all the little towns. Carefree didn't want to become another subdivision of Scottsdale, so that wasn't an option.
In an effort to resolve this, Carefree approached Cave Creek and suggested joining together for a regional approach to water, waste, everything. The people running Cave Creek at that time said no. Carefree offered to buy both water companies and give Cave Creek a huge equity position if they would work with us. The answer was no.
At the time, Carefree residents were the highest per capita water users in the entire Valley. Carefree would have to charge more for water than had been charged previously, and substantially more than Cave Creek and Scottsdale charged. Fortunately, the citizens said, "We'll do that; we'll pay that", which provided the money to do all the things Carefree was able to do. Carefree has an excellent, well run water company. It has its own CAP allocation. Storage tanks have been put all over the place, providing a 3-5 day emergency water supply. At the time CFW was purchased, Carefree's aquifer was fast being depleted, and Cave Creek's had been depleted. The successful recharge effort has raised Carefree aquifer level 80-100', which is incredible.
If a terrorist attack occurred or something happened to CAP, there are all these states drawing from the Colorado River. Carefree has another source of water. We have probably a 100 year water supply. Unfortunately, the Carefree residents serviced by CCW are not benefiting from that. If CAP goes out, CCW is out of water immediately.
The Carefree Council at the time was concerned about that when they purchased CFW. They were spending all this money on developing this, but what about the 526 homes on CCW? What are we doing for them? Mr. Meyer said they decided to do many things. A water storage tank was placed high up in The Highlands with lines running down which could provide a gravity feed for The Crossings. They spent another $500,000 moving water lines to the west of Tom Darlington Drive all the way to the south of Black Mountain on the west side. This provided fire service, which had not previously existed, to that area. In case of an emergency, it would allow CFW to provide water to all the Carefree citizens for a time.
But the most important reason for doing this was that the Council knew the time would come when they had to bring the other 526 homes into the Carefree system. This way, a significant amount of the infrastructure would already be in place. It looks like that time has come. Mr. Meyer reiterated that the meeting would supply important information, and he hoped the citizens will support this effort.
He handed the floor back to Mayor Peterson, who explained that CFW has 6 wells that go down into the aquifer. The Desert Forest Golf Club (DFGC) is one of the few golf courses that is grandfathered to draw water from the aquifer. The water from 1 of CFW's 6 wells contains a high level of arsenic. CFW trades that well water with DFGC, whose well produces good water. If there is an electrical outage, Carefree has 3-5 days of water stored in tanks, and has generators and the diesel fuel to run them to keep the wells going. The wells contain sufficient amounts of water to keep pumping. "Carefree tends to be worry warts. If we are going to do something, we do it right."
Mayor Peterson said the purpose of this is not to bash Cave Creek. But Carefree has tried to work with them. If an accurate picture is negative, so be it. At the point where we are now, the risk is too big. He then introduced Tony Geiger, the next speaker, noting that Mr. Geiger is one of the top water experts in the country.
https://vimeo.com/279512681
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.
In an effort to resolve this, Carefree approached Cave Creek and suggested joining together for a regional approach to water, waste, everything. The people running Cave Creek at that time said no. Carefree offered to buy both water companies and give Cave Creek a huge equity position if they would work with us. The answer was no.
At the time, Carefree residents were the highest per capita water users in the entire Valley. Carefree would have to charge more for water than had been charged previously, and substantially more than Cave Creek and Scottsdale charged. Fortunately, the citizens said, "We'll do that; we'll pay that", which provided the money to do all the things Carefree was able to do. Carefree has an excellent, well run water company. It has its own CAP allocation. Storage tanks have been put all over the place, providing a 3-5 day emergency water supply. At the time CFW was purchased, Carefree's aquifer was fast being depleted, and Cave Creek's had been depleted. The successful recharge effort has raised Carefree aquifer level 80-100', which is incredible.
If a terrorist attack occurred or something happened to CAP, there are all these states drawing from the Colorado River. Carefree has another source of water. We have probably a 100 year water supply. Unfortunately, the Carefree residents serviced by CCW are not benefiting from that. If CAP goes out, CCW is out of water immediately.
The Carefree Council at the time was concerned about that when they purchased CFW. They were spending all this money on developing this, but what about the 526 homes on CCW? What are we doing for them? Mr. Meyer said they decided to do many things. A water storage tank was placed high up in The Highlands with lines running down which could provide a gravity feed for The Crossings. They spent another $500,000 moving water lines to the west of Tom Darlington Drive all the way to the south of Black Mountain on the west side. This provided fire service, which had not previously existed, to that area. In case of an emergency, it would allow CFW to provide water to all the Carefree citizens for a time.
But the most important reason for doing this was that the Council knew the time would come when they had to bring the other 526 homes into the Carefree system. This way, a significant amount of the infrastructure would already be in place. It looks like that time has come. Mr. Meyer reiterated that the meeting would supply important information, and he hoped the citizens will support this effort.
He handed the floor back to Mayor Peterson, who explained that CFW has 6 wells that go down into the aquifer. The Desert Forest Golf Club (DFGC) is one of the few golf courses that is grandfathered to draw water from the aquifer. The water from 1 of CFW's 6 wells contains a high level of arsenic. CFW trades that well water with DFGC, whose well produces good water. If there is an electrical outage, Carefree has 3-5 days of water stored in tanks, and has generators and the diesel fuel to run them to keep the wells going. The wells contain sufficient amounts of water to keep pumping. "Carefree tends to be worry warts. If we are going to do something, we do it right."
Mayor Peterson said the purpose of this is not to bash Cave Creek. But Carefree has tried to work with them. If an accurate picture is negative, so be it. At the point where we are now, the risk is too big. He then introduced Tony Geiger, the next speaker, noting that Mr. Geiger is one of the top water experts in the country.
https://vimeo.com/279512681
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.