PHOENIX — The Gila River Indian Community is threatening to blow up the drought contingency plan because of efforts it says will undermine its claim to water rights.
House Speaker Rusty Bowers is proposing changes to state laws in a way he said will protect the rights of farmers in the Safford Valley who have been "scratching it out” to water from the Gila River.
"If this bill were to be considered and enacted into law the community will withdraw its prior approval (of the drought contingency plan) and, more importantly, its water.”
” Pongrace, however, said the community doesn’t see it that way.
He said on one hand the state is seeking the tribe’s cooperation and its water for the drought contingency plan.
"You cannot take actions like this without consequences,” he said of the Bower legislation.
"There is no way the drought contingency plan can be done without the consent of the Gila River Indian Community,” Pongrace said, what with the amount of water needed to replace what the state can no longer withdraw from the Colorado River.
"We’ll go looking for water somewhere else” if that becomes necessary, he said.
And he said there’s no way the tribe could use all that water anyway.
Bowers said he doesn’t want the farmers to lose their rights in the interim simply because they are unable to take the water for some period.