Our View

It's said that whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over. It's easy to forget that when water is at our fingertips every time we turn on the tap.

The Central Arizona Project, which provides water to 80 percent of the state's population in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties, has water needs planned out 50 years and has 25 years worth of recharge water that it can draw in emergencies.

Even so, it's in our best interests to stay informed of water and delivery issues. The precious resource makes living in the desert possible, a critical point our cities and towns make time and again to prospective businesses that want the best quality of life for their employees.

That's why the Chandler Chamber of Commerce had CAP board President Pamela Pickard speak at an economic forum last week. Pickard told the crowd of businesspeople that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to impose further emission controls at the Navajo Generating Station.

The coal-fired plant, near Page in northern Arizona, supplies energy to pump water from the Colorado River to the Valley through canals and fulfills water-rights settlement obligations to tribes, such as the Gila River Indian Community.

Pickard says the plant's owners recently completed a voluntary $45 million upgrade to clear up the haze, under the federal Clean Air Act, and want time for the upgrade to work. The newer control system could cost millions more.

The plant, like the EPA, has its opponents and its supporters. Environmentalists see the Navajo Generating Station as a health and aesthetic hazard. Emissions affect visibility at the Grand Canyon. If the plant were shuttered, it would affect the local economies of Page, the Navajo Nation and the Hopi tribe, and send ripple effects to the Valley. The more expensive technology could cause water and energy rates to go up.

First, the EPA has to consult with area tribes. That may buy time to help us wade through the issue here. Is this about a heavy-handed EPA whose rules will loosen up if a new administration is seated in 2013? Or is this about a desire for cheap water at the cost of bad air? Coal plants are big polluters.

Water should not be caught in the middle of politics. It makes sense to see how much air-quality improvement comes from the $45 million already invested. Valley municipalities and businesspeople should not hesitate to speak up, letting the EPA know their views in the environmental balancing act at play here.

Whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting. Start swinging.