The Town of Taylor was in negotiations until last week for a designation from the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) for an adequate water supply for the next 100 years. The result was a designation of 4,897 acre feet per year (AFY), which was then approved by the council.
“Water is gold for everybody,” said Town Manager Eric Duthie. “What we decided to do and pursue was to receive a guaranteed adequacy of water for the Town of Taylor, to guarantee the ability to serve water and to grow.”
He said that some entities have paid upwards of $60,000 for this, but Taylor spent time.
“The goal was to be able to guarantee through our plan enough water to be able to last 100 years for the Town of Taylor and a growth area of three miles around our current limits, excluding to the north,” Duthie explained.
Based on that growth area, the current zoning of that growth area and through a formula, a plan was submitted, which represents an average annual growth rate of 96 percent, or an addition of 1,441 new residential units every year of the designation term.
“Quite frankly, we didn’t expect to receive this, but we can show when fully built that the numbers are there,” said Duthie. He also noted that during this period, ADWR Executive Director Herb Gunther was replaced by Sandra Fabritz-Whitney, with whom they had been working.
Based on findings that the ADWR could reasonably designate for Taylor based on the highest growth rate of 55.1 percent, as stated in the study, the results of the projected demand for the year 2030 would be 3,590 AFY, plus the current demand of 975 AFY, plus the committed demand of 332 AFY, for a designation total of 4,897 AFY.
Duthie said they were hoping to gain 6,000 AFY, but ADWR gave the town half of that.
Staff members worked vigorously to defend the town’s position, according to Duthie. He asked council members if they were satisfied with what was projected, because they could request it be higher, but there was no guarantee it would go up and it could possibly decrease.
Councilmen Mark Reed and Jay Whipple agreed the town should be satisfied with what was negotiated and in 20 years the town might revisit the issue.
Councilman Robin Palmer agreed, but encouraged staff to keep their eyes and ears open to what is going on.
“I feel the same way,” said Mayor Debbie Tuckfield. “Citizens need to know that it was quick action by our staff,” including Duthie, Solomon and Jeff Johnson of Planning and Zoning, Finance Director Gus Lundberg and Town Engineer Stu Spaulding. Those five men were on the committee, which is otherwise made up of larger communities.
“If they had not seen it, we would have been at the same place as everybody else,” said Tuckfield. “We are the only ones in the northern part of our area that had members placed on the committee.
“I feel it’s vital that people know we have a staff that stays on top of vital issues. I appreciate all the work that they did to guarantee water for our area. My vote is you did a great job and we need a watchful eye,” said the mayor.
A motion to approve the ADWR designation of adequate water supply for the Town of Taylor at 4,897 acre feet per year passed unanimously.
