New talks change ski resort’s snowmaking source

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – A new proposal for artificial snow at an Arizona ski resort swaps reclaimed wastewater for more expensive potable water and comes with a pledge from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help offset the cost.

Under the proposal, the city of Flagstaff would allow reclaimed wastewater to percolate into the ground and be pumped for use at the Arizona Snowbowl instead of shipping the wastewater directly to the resort just outside Flagstaff.

The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff first reported the development on Tuesday.

The proposal has the support of the resort’s owner and American Indian tribes who contend spraying the San Francisco peaks with snow made from reclaimed wastewater would desecrate the mountain they hold sacred. But Arizona’s two U.S. senators called the proposal inappropriate and a waste of taxpayer money.

In a news release Tuesday, Flagstaff officials said the proposal would not affect drinking water supplies during the months that the Snowbowl receives the water and would have no financial impact to the city or its water customers.

The city council would have to vote on the proposal in a public meeting before it could move forward. The current contract provides for 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed wastewater per day to be delivered directly to the Snowbowl from November through February.

Snowbowl owner Eric Borowsky estimated the additional costs of using groundwater versus reclaimed wastewater at $4,000 a year in pumping that the resort would pay. The USDA would help offset the cost of the project by committing its own resources or seek other federal funds.

U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week that they will object to any attempt to secure an earmark or congressional approval of the proposal they believe disregards Arizona’s water management challenges and violates court decisions.

The Navajo Nation and other tribes lost a yearslong battle last year when the U.S. Supreme Court turned down their final appeal against using treated wastewater to make snow. The USDA withheld permits for the construction of snowmaking equipment while trying to forge a compromise among the parties.

Vilsack told Flagstaff Mayor Sarah Presler in a January letter that he believes the latest proposal satisfies the primary needs of all the diverse interests and also a need to create jobs.

Among other proposals was that the Navajo Nation purchase the Snowbowl for an estimated $50 million, but that never came to fruition. The Arizona Snowbowl Limited Partnership purchased the ski resort in 1992 for $4 million.

Snowbowl officials have maintained that man-made snow is necessary to ensure the survival of the ski resort, which opened in 1937 on Forest Service land and has struggled with short seasons because of a lack of snow.

Navajo lawmaker Raymond Maxx said tribal officials stressed the idea in talks with city officials that selling reclaimed wastewater to the Snowbowl would jeopardize their relationship. The proposal to switch to groundwater is a sign of respect, he said. “At least groundwater would be natural water.”

A pending lawsuit in federal court in Arizona contends the Forest Service failed to consider the human health risks of ingesting artificial snow made with reclaimed wastewater. But an attorney for the plaintiffs, Howard Shanker, said using groundwater would eliminate some of those concerns.

AP-WS-03-09-10 2054EST