"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer
Carefree Truth
Issue #843, July 24, 2020
Issue #843, July 24, 2020
Tony Geiger
Photo by Herbert Hitchon
Photo by Herbert Hitchon
Recently there has been inaccurate information circulated and dubious claims made in the community regarding the water dispute between Carefree and Cave Creek. To try and put things in proper perspective it is worth remembering that this whole process started back in 2007 when Carefree agreed to help Cave Creek condemn the Cave Creek Water Company that was privately owned at the time. Without Carefree’s help, Cave Creek could not have proceeded in acquiring the water company. In order to protect their citizens, Carefree was granted the right to take over the 526 accounts in Carefree serviced by the Cave Creek Water Company (representing approximately 1,000 of their citizens). If and when Carefree decided to exercise their rights, it was to be an amicable split. Cave Creek has always known this was a possibility and could have and should have planned accordingly.
Fast forward to today, and we have been embroiled in long drawn out legal action lasting over 2 years that was never supposed to have happened. There would have been no need to pay any attorneys if Cave Creek had been willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith. The leadership of Cave Creek has never been willing to do so and chose the path we are on. The unfortunate fact is they chose to ignore the agreement they made in 2007.
Fortunately, the end is in sight and we will have resolution at the end of arbitration, which begins in October. Contrary to some claims made about a conflict of interest between Cave Creek candidate Wright and Carefree Town Counsel Wright, the arbitrator’s decision will be made PRIOR to the seating of any new mayor in Cave Creek. This claim of conflict of interest is a smoke screen and nasty politics.
One of the driving forces behind this dispute is Carefree wanting to ensure all their citizens have representation regarding their water resources. Cave Creek’s shortfalls in managing the water system have been well documented and they face a long list of challenges that won’t be as easy to fix as some of the claims being made. The goals of upgrading the CAP pump stations, a backup interconnect with Phoenix, upgraded SCADA systems and upgrades to the water treatment plant are all worthy and necessary upgrades. It is worth noting that these were all recommendations made in 2014 by the Water Advisory Committee. Furthermore, these improvements are years away from being implemented.
A recent Water Advisory Committee meeting provided some details on completion dates being pushed out or not known. There are issues securing land for the pump stations. The tie in with Phoenix requires that Phoenix do certain things to make it happen and it may not be a priority for them. During the last recession in 2008, Phoenix cut half a billion dollars from their budgets for utility improvements. They have a huge backlog of projects to complete for their own citizens. Where do you think the Cave Creek interconnect sits on their priority list? Another big issue not talked about is what is Cave Creek going to do about their water treatment plant. They spent $2 million plus on the membrane filters to remedy the problem with water quality but that is a temporary solution and only covers 2/3 of the water they produce. Cave Creek is going to need to spend huge dollars in the future to set up their treatment plant for the long term. That’s why they have budgeted money for an engineering evaluation of their water plant. How much is the solution going to cost? Have the new filters fixed the problem with the water quality? Has anyone seen new water quality reports? What is Cave Creek going to do about the ever-increasing amount of their fixed CAP allocation they are sending over to the Desert Hills system, up to almost 450 acre-feet in the past year? What happens if Home Rule does not pass in Cave Creek and the budget is capped? Bottom line is that planning to make these necessary improvements is a step in the right direction but only a start, with lots of execution risk.
There have also been claims made as to what Carefree’s water system will look like once the process of integrating the 526 accounts is complete. Contrary to the claims made, it is a huge positive that Carefree does not have a CAP pipeline and water treatment plant. Just look at the challenges Cave Creek is dealing with. It is well known in the utility business that scale is critical. Infrastructure is expensive, especially water treatment plants, transmission pipelines and pump stations. All the things Cave Creek is struggling with. A well-run small system that avoids these challenges does its rate payers a huge service. After all the effort and expense, Cave Creek only has one pipeline for CAP water.
When the integration of the 526 Carefree accounts is completed, Carefree will have 3 separate connections to the Scottsdale system. All will utilize Scottsdale’s world class treatment plant, transmission pipelines and pump stations. It will be the equivalent of having 3 separate connections to the CAP canal and Carefree won’t have to worry about the massive cost of maintaining expensive infrastructure. The Carefree Water Company will pay a few pennies per 1000 gallons over what Cave Creek charges, but they already have cut off all use of Cave Creek Water for their current water accounts after the issues with water quality that Cave Creek has suffered. This marginal extra cost is already baked into their water company finances and rates. Is Carefree better off having one connection to Cave Creek’s system to serve 1000 of their citizens and a portion of the current Carefree Water Company or having 3 connections to Scottsdale’s water system to serve their entire community? As far as the claim of Carefree needing massive amounts of additional storage, pump stations etc.., it’s just not true. A small amount of additional storage will be required to maintain maximum fire flows.
This process of bringing the 1,000 Carefree residents currently served by the Cave Creek Water Company into the Carefree Water Company has been needlessly difficult. I know there is frustration with either information voids or misinformation circulating. It is unfortunate this problem has been dealt with the way it has, but that was a choice made by the leadership of Cave Creek. Once the arbitrators render their decision, all the facts will come out, the impacts to both water systems will be known and people can decide for themselves what the real story is.
Tony Geiger
Fast forward to today, and we have been embroiled in long drawn out legal action lasting over 2 years that was never supposed to have happened. There would have been no need to pay any attorneys if Cave Creek had been willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith. The leadership of Cave Creek has never been willing to do so and chose the path we are on. The unfortunate fact is they chose to ignore the agreement they made in 2007.
Fortunately, the end is in sight and we will have resolution at the end of arbitration, which begins in October. Contrary to some claims made about a conflict of interest between Cave Creek candidate Wright and Carefree Town Counsel Wright, the arbitrator’s decision will be made PRIOR to the seating of any new mayor in Cave Creek. This claim of conflict of interest is a smoke screen and nasty politics.
One of the driving forces behind this dispute is Carefree wanting to ensure all their citizens have representation regarding their water resources. Cave Creek’s shortfalls in managing the water system have been well documented and they face a long list of challenges that won’t be as easy to fix as some of the claims being made. The goals of upgrading the CAP pump stations, a backup interconnect with Phoenix, upgraded SCADA systems and upgrades to the water treatment plant are all worthy and necessary upgrades. It is worth noting that these were all recommendations made in 2014 by the Water Advisory Committee. Furthermore, these improvements are years away from being implemented.
A recent Water Advisory Committee meeting provided some details on completion dates being pushed out or not known. There are issues securing land for the pump stations. The tie in with Phoenix requires that Phoenix do certain things to make it happen and it may not be a priority for them. During the last recession in 2008, Phoenix cut half a billion dollars from their budgets for utility improvements. They have a huge backlog of projects to complete for their own citizens. Where do you think the Cave Creek interconnect sits on their priority list? Another big issue not talked about is what is Cave Creek going to do about their water treatment plant. They spent $2 million plus on the membrane filters to remedy the problem with water quality but that is a temporary solution and only covers 2/3 of the water they produce. Cave Creek is going to need to spend huge dollars in the future to set up their treatment plant for the long term. That’s why they have budgeted money for an engineering evaluation of their water plant. How much is the solution going to cost? Have the new filters fixed the problem with the water quality? Has anyone seen new water quality reports? What is Cave Creek going to do about the ever-increasing amount of their fixed CAP allocation they are sending over to the Desert Hills system, up to almost 450 acre-feet in the past year? What happens if Home Rule does not pass in Cave Creek and the budget is capped? Bottom line is that planning to make these necessary improvements is a step in the right direction but only a start, with lots of execution risk.
There have also been claims made as to what Carefree’s water system will look like once the process of integrating the 526 accounts is complete. Contrary to the claims made, it is a huge positive that Carefree does not have a CAP pipeline and water treatment plant. Just look at the challenges Cave Creek is dealing with. It is well known in the utility business that scale is critical. Infrastructure is expensive, especially water treatment plants, transmission pipelines and pump stations. All the things Cave Creek is struggling with. A well-run small system that avoids these challenges does its rate payers a huge service. After all the effort and expense, Cave Creek only has one pipeline for CAP water.
When the integration of the 526 Carefree accounts is completed, Carefree will have 3 separate connections to the Scottsdale system. All will utilize Scottsdale’s world class treatment plant, transmission pipelines and pump stations. It will be the equivalent of having 3 separate connections to the CAP canal and Carefree won’t have to worry about the massive cost of maintaining expensive infrastructure. The Carefree Water Company will pay a few pennies per 1000 gallons over what Cave Creek charges, but they already have cut off all use of Cave Creek Water for their current water accounts after the issues with water quality that Cave Creek has suffered. This marginal extra cost is already baked into their water company finances and rates. Is Carefree better off having one connection to Cave Creek’s system to serve 1000 of their citizens and a portion of the current Carefree Water Company or having 3 connections to Scottsdale’s water system to serve their entire community? As far as the claim of Carefree needing massive amounts of additional storage, pump stations etc.., it’s just not true. A small amount of additional storage will be required to maintain maximum fire flows.
This process of bringing the 1,000 Carefree residents currently served by the Cave Creek Water Company into the Carefree Water Company has been needlessly difficult. I know there is frustration with either information voids or misinformation circulating. It is unfortunate this problem has been dealt with the way it has, but that was a choice made by the leadership of Cave Creek. Once the arbitrators render their decision, all the facts will come out, the impacts to both water systems will be known and people can decide for themselves what the real story is.
Tony Geiger