The new district, which officials are referring to as the Upper San Pedro Water District, would put water issues at the forefront and into local hands.

Voters living in Fort Huachuca, Huachuca City, Sierra Vista, Tombstone, the Warren and San Jose suburbs of Bisbee, and unincorporated rural areas will have to decide in November whether or not they believe the district, which will be run by a governing board, is necessary.

The long-term goal of the district is to balance the amount of water local residents are taking out of local aquifers and replenishing them, according to Mike Rutherford, chairman of the Upper San Pedro Water District Organizing Board, the group in charge of creating the district proposal.

This would protect the San Pedro River and its wildlife.

Rutherford said water well studies indicate the aquifers are not affecting the levels of water in the San Pedro River currently, but will in coming years.

A combination of water conservation as well as water reuse, recharge and augmentation plans can help to meet both the river's water needs as well as the needs of the community, said vice chair of the organizing board, Holly Richter.

Like the rest of the country, financing the project is the barrier to their success, which would offer its surrounding cities what it's never had before: a centralized entity to address water issues including funding.

Currently, there is no central entity for funding, Rutherford said. He suggested that the proposed district could fill the gap between local governments in order to finance and operate the entity.

A water district would be one common place to direct money that may come from the federal government, state, county or different cities in the future, he said.

If passed later this year, voters will then select a seven-member board to run the district.

Those in favor are already seeing the benefits of the new district.

Richter said a regional entity would help to establish water reuse and recharge programs in the community regardless of jurisdictional boundaries.

An example of one of these programs would be installing storm drains onto local roads to transport more water into the local aquifers through recharge efforts, Rutherford said.

Though members speak of countless benefits, the source of funding needed to run the proposed district remains uncertain due to the ailing economy.

Once the district is in full swing with office space and full-time employees, including salaries for an executive director, administrative and technical staff, it is estimated to cost about $400,000 a year, according to plans on the Arizona Department of Water Resources website.

The funding will come from a combination of sources including public and private entities, Richter said. The organizing board listed some possible sources as federal funding, state funding, local municipalities within the district, private foundations and grants, and user fees that are agreed upon by residents.

No one source will be adequate, but having a program that has the ability to bring all of these funding sources together will be important, Richter said.

If elected, the board's first focus will be on fundraising efforts.

"The board wants to bring a variety of sources together to get the job done," Richter said.

Plans show that a $250,000 grant has already been allocated to the organizing board for the proposal stage and election process.

The potential board members will not be paid and will likely start work with a $1,000 computer and borrowed office space, Rutherford said.

Residents seem to be more concerned about funding sources than the purpose of the district.
"It's hard for me to imagine anyone willing to vote to establish a board when they have absolutely no idea where that funding is coming from," said Ted Mouras, Hereford resident.

Joanne Daley, also of Hereford, is skeptical of future funding sources because of the current financial struggle.

"The whole plan is nothing but an empty hole of a lot of money that we don't need to be spending," she said.

Currently the organizing board is holding informational meetings for residents living in the area to receive feedback on its plans for the district. These meetings begin with a presentation of the district plans and then the group splits up into smaller discussion groups where the community can ask questions and voice their opinion regarding the plans.

The organizing board will host another set of public meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the Huachuca Community Center in Huachuca City. The last public meeting is scheduled for March 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Palominas Elementary School.

For more information on Upper San Pedro Water District, go to www.azwater.gov.