The Verde Natural Resource Conservation District hosted a local work group meeting on the status of Arizona’s water adjudication process on Friday, April 19, at the Camp Verde Community Library.
Sharma Torrens of the Central Arizona Land Trust, a nonprofit that works to protect agricultural lands, wildlife habitat and open space, said that the primary tools they use are conservation easements, which allow landowners to retain ownership of agricultural land while preventing it from being developed or subdivided. Torrens said that the biggest reason people get conservation easements is to preserve farms. Easement terms are negotiable and the easements can also be sold or donated for a federal tax incentive. The land trust is the holder of these easements, making the trust responsible for monitoring and enforcing them.
Jodi Norris, Director of Land and Water Protection for The Nature Conservancy, discussed conservation easements on the Verde River. TNC’s goals in the Verde River watershed are to protect the ecosystem as a water source and for recreation.
Norris said that benefits of conservation easements on the river include freshwater protection, habitat preservation and wildlife connectivity, while benefits for conservation easements for agriculture include protecting the traditional use of the land, water security and improving economic stability.
Paul Groseta of Headquarters West, Ltd. discussed the relationship between conservation easements and property values and said that from 1999 to 2023, only 47 property sales in the state were encumbered by a conservation easement.
“It was a benefit to everyone and everything involved: The town, the river, my family and the animals,” Claudia Hauser of Hauser and Hauser Farms said of the conservation easement she obtained for her property, and added that the thought of her land being subdivided for houses was hard to imagine.
Matt Halldorson, director of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension for Yavapai County, talked about the extension’s water irrigation efficiency program, which helps growers replace inefficient flood irrigation systems with a more efficient drip or sprinkler system.
TNC representative John Ford then touched on the topic of decreasing base flows and shrinking habitats in the Verde River watershed, which Ford said was being caused by development rather than agricultural uses. TNC has been working on different water efficiency projects in the Verde River watershed focusing on diversion, improved piping and irrigation replacement.
The Natural Resource Conservation Service was represented by soil conservationist Sierra Frydenlund, who described how NRCS provides technical assistance such as soil surveys and financial assistance programs to other projects, such as installing a pipeline with alfalfa valves at Bent River Ranch to reduce water loss. They also converted a flood irrigation system to a half-circle pivot irrigation system at Hauser and Hauser Farms.
Chip Norton, chairman of the Verde NRCD, discussed projects the organization will be working on with TNC, including a soil moisture sensor project that will start in early June with the aim of encouraging local water users to irrigate more efficiently. Another effort will involve installing a pipeline from the Verde Ditch.
Carter Benton of the Salt River Project talked about the role of SRP as a stakeholder in the state’s water adjudication process. The Verde River watershed falls under the Gila River adjudication, which currently has around 90,000 claims. All surface water users in the watershed are a part of the process.
The Verde de minimis trial to determine if summary adjudication is warranted has been rescheduled to Aug. 5 through 8. The lower Verde Valley subwatershed hydrographic survey report is due in September 2027, and Benton said that the pace of the process will speed up once that report has been submitted.
