As water levels fall, concerns rise.
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
- Geoff Oldfather, (520) 586-5465, C: (520) 444-3473, email Geoff Oldfather
- J.D. Wallace, (520) 586-5157, C: (520) 235-4203, email J.D. Wallace
Willcox and Sunsites, ARIZONA – Arizona G&T Cooperatives has participated in a series of three workshops sponsored by the Willcox Water Project. The sessions are designed to educate the public and seek policy solutions to declining ground water levels in the Sulphur Springs Valley.
“The seminars help people understand the basics of water, and how our lives revolve around water even though we’re in the middle of the desert,” said Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd, who coordinated the workshops.
The workshops were repeated in Willcox and Sunsites. The first covered the prehistory and history of the valley, with a presentation by Eric Kaldahl, president and CEO of the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, on indigenous people who lived in the area thousands of years ago. Howard Bethel, retired general manager of Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC), covered more recent valley history, along with proposed spacecraft landings for the Willcox Playa in the future. SSVEC is a Member of Arizona G&Ts, which owns and operates Apache Generating Station near Dragoon.
The second seminars discussed area aquifers and private and public wells that serve residents, businesses and the irrigation-based agricultural industry in the Sulphur Springs Valley. The third reviewed research by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, water availability and modeling, conservation, and recharge projects along the Upper San Pedro River.
As Judd explained, participants represented agriculture, tourism, government and other stakeholders concerned about water. Ultimately, participants may propose policy to take to the Arizona state legislature. Learn more at willcoxwaterproject.org.
About Arizona G&T Cooperatives
Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) and Sierra Southwest (Sierra) together comprise Arizona G&T Cooperatives. AEPCO owns and operates the 625-megawatt (MW) (combined gross) Apache Generating Station, located at Cochise, east of Benson. AEPCO also owns, operates and maintains 866 miles of electric power transmission line—including line owned in part with other utilities—and 36 substations to provide wholesale electric power from Apache to 6 Member distribution cooperatives in southern Arizona, western New Mexico, northwestern Arizona and California.
Sierra is the vehicle to develop new ways to serve the renewable energy needs of AzGT Member cooperatives and customers, and helps maximize solar and other renewable tax credits. Sierra has initiated 2 utility-scale solar projects. AEPCO’s 20 MW Apache Solar project is located on AEPCO property adjacent to and northeast of Apache Generating Station. The second project includes SunAnza Phase I, a 2 MW solar array, as well as SunAnza Phase II, which includes an additional 1.4 MW solar array and a battery storage system, all on property owned by Anza Electric Cooperative adjacent to its headquarters in Anza, California.
Combined, the distribution cooperatives that receive AEPCO’s wholesale power serve more than 161,000 meters representing more than 420,000 individual residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial member/consumers.
The Class A Member cooperatives that receive wholesale power from AEPCO include Duncan Valley Electric Cooperative, Duncan; Graham County Electric Cooperative, Pima; Mohave Electric Cooperative, Bullhead City; Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, Willcox; Trico Electric Cooperative, Marana; and a California member, Anza Electric Cooperative, Anza.
These Member cooperatives own AzGT and, by extension, AzGT’s Member distribution cooperatives are owned by their members—the people at the end of the line who use the power.
AEPCO also serves 5 Class D energy services Members which are scheduling and trading customers and which include the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, Phoenix, AZ; Lincoln County Power District #1, Pioche, NV; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Southwest Public Power Agency, Maricopa, AZ; and Valley Electric Association, Pahrump, NV.
AEPCO is also a Member/owner of ACES, a nationwide energy management company that helps its Members and customers buy, sell, and manage energy more efficiently and with less risk. The AEPCO/AzGT Benson campus hosts the ACES West Regional Trading Center (WRTC), which benefits AEPCO/AzGT Members and customers.