Consideration and Approval of Joint Funding Agreement:  between the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey and the City of Flagstaff for  Monitoring the C Aquifer of the Middle and Lower Little Colorado River Basins.

 The authorization of this agreement allows the City to continue as a partner with the U.S. Geological Survey and Navajo Nation in collecting regional C-aquifer water level and baseflow information. The City has relied upon groundwater within the regional C-aquifer dating back to the 1950's. This water resource has been a critical component of the City's ability to provide its citizens with a reliable, high quality water supply over the past 60 years and continues to do so. Additionally, in 2005 the City purchased Red Gap Ranch east of the City with the intention of pumping groundwater within the C-aquifer as a long-term water supply in the future. Partnering with the U.S. Geological Survey in the hydrologic monitoring of this valuable resource facilitates documentation of current baseline conditions prior to significant additional groundwater development and climate related impacts.

The City of Flagstaff's annual cost is $16,700 with the option to support the project at $16,700 a year for 2 additional years should Council elect to do so. $20,000 annually is budgeted within 202-08-304-1061-0-4290 Other Misc. Services.

COUNCIL GOALS: Water Conservation: Develop a sustainable water budget; Secure long-term water resources. REGIONAL PLAN: Goal WR.1. Maintain a sustainable water budget incorporating regional hydrology, ecosystem needs, and social and economic well-being. Goal WR.3. Satisfy current and future human water demands and the needs of the natural environment through sustainable and renewable water resources and strategic conservation measures.

Yes. Council approved a similar three-year agreement on July 3, 2012, and May 19, 2015, for $10,000 annually. Council has provided on-going financial support of the project starting in FY13. The additional $6,700 per year in FY18, FY19, and FY20 will go towards the cost for the US Geological Survey to produce a final report based on findings of the 2012 to 2018 water years.

 

• Authorize the signing of the agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey and maintain a collaborative partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Navajo Nation in monitoring the C-aquifer.
• Do not authorize the signing of the agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey.
   

The current C-aquifer monitoring program was established in 2005 as an agreement between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to evaluate baseflow within Chevelon Creek, Clear Creek, and part of the Little Colorado River. The current program extends across the region and includes Wupatki, Flagstaff, Leupp, Chevelon Creek and springs on the Navajo Reservation north of Holbrook. Data and results from this project are relevant to the City such that the City has and will continually be asked to demonstrate what impact the City may have had over the past several decades, and what, if any, proposed pumping at RGR will have on the surrounding resources that rely on water from the C-aquifer. Proper baseline hydrologic information is important to understand existing C-aquifer conditions prior to any pumping by the City at Red Gap Ranch. Additionally, many surrounding communities pump groundwater from the C-aquifer, including Doney Park, Mountainaire, Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, Flagstaff Ranch. Lastly, regional aquifer systems respond much more slowly to significant shifts in climate. This information will greatly benefit studies of how climate change may already be impacting the regional aquifer.

The purpose of the current monitoring program is to establish baseline information for the C-aquifer before significant groundwater development occurs between Flagstaff and Winslow. Groundwater resources between Flagstaff and Winslow are already being affected by current withdrawals for municipal, agriculture, and industrial water uses, and also possibly by changing climate conditions over the past century. Staff recognizes the importance of monitoring the C-aquifer in the areas of Flagstaff, Red Gap Ranch, and Winslow and is proposing to continue funding this U.S. Geological Survey monitoring program. The objectives of the project are to: 1) establish baseline conditions in the C-aquifer prior to significant additional groundwater development, 2) evaluate baseflow in the Little Colorado River, Clear and Chevelon Creeks, 3) document changes in flow and water quality of the C-aquifer, 4) inventory and characterize spring resources, and 5) begin report development of data collected from water year 2012 to 2018 and publish a report during FY20.

The work covered under this agreement will also satisfy Provision No. 3 written in the 2011 Stipulation between the City and the Navajo Nation (Superior Court of the State of Arizona, Civil No. 6417), part of which states: "The Parties agree to work cooperatively and in good faith to evaluate environmental impacts, if any, from both the City's pumping of Underground Water at Red Gap Ranch and the Navajo Nation's pumping of Underground Water along the south-western portion of the Navajo Nation." 

The Navajo Nation has been a financial contributor to this data collection effort since 2005 and City staff recognized this collaborative opportunity to support monitoring of the C-Aquifer within a groundwater basin that both parties share. Data from this collection effort was necessary baseline information for the first public groundwater flow model developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5180, 2011). This model, the Northern Arizona Regional Groundwater Flow Model, was the base model for an evaluation of proposed groundwater pumping by both parties, in the December, 2015 publication "Red Gap Ranch - Leupp Groundwater Flow Model" conducted by Southwest Ground-water Consultants. The collaborative study was funded through a $300,000 grant to the City from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The total program cost in FY18 is $124,200. These costs are shared by the BIA Navajo Area Office ($50,000), City of Flagstaff ($16,600), and the USGS ($7,500), with $50,000 carried over by the Navajo Nation from FY17.

There is a greater benefit to the community, to universities, and to agencies by Flagstaff continuing to fund this project. Research agencies and universities depend on quality time-series data for scientific studies. Because the information collected under this agreement is derived from remote areas of northern Arizona, it can be used to evaluate a response less influenced by local groundwater pumping, and more so of long-term trends in the greater groundwater system related to aquifer and resource sustainability and changing climate conditions.