Here's Hector's letter from the July 30 Explorer. We agree with Hector's assessment.
No good from Arroyo Grande development
The annexation of state land known as “Arroyo Grande” (Big Wash) would bring water depletion, transportation and environmental problems.
A while ago, an Oro Valley citizen’s committee on renewable water came to the conclusion that CAP water had to be recharged before it is pumped for regular use, to protect the aquifer. Arizona is the leading state in subsidence in the U.S. But the town is not recharging the aquifer, even if the statutes require it (ARS 32-271). Further depletion of the aquifer is only going to exacerbate the problem.
When it comes to transportation, an analysis paid by the State Land Department shows that the increase in population would require a six-lane road to Tucson in addition to Oracle Road. If the 30 extra square miles of state land in Pinal County are annexed, it would generate the need of two eight-lane roads at a cost in excess of a billion dollars for a sale that benefits the state probably less than 500 million. That would not be a good financial transaction for taxpayers.
Pinal County has also given permits in excess of 54,760 houses not yet built that will use Oracle Road.
What bothers me the most is: what is going to happen to the wildlife and native plants in the region? Dr. Lisa Harris, a biologist with experience in conservation, told us of pygmy owls in the Tortolita Mountains. Now, there are no more of that endangered species anywhere in the Northwest.
The biological corridor in the area is designed to provide for safe passage of wildlife between the mountains. The animals will have to migrate through an underpass constructed beneath Oracle Road. Building a La Cholla extension would then need more underpasses for wildlife, making the success of the project unlikely.
On the 16th, the council voted 7-0 to reject the La Cholla extension. Good for them.
I have not been able to imagine any satisfactory solution to the many problems brought by the Arroyo Grande project and the existing projects in Pinal County that affect us. If the State Land Department would fade away from here, that may ease our problems.
Hector Conde
Oro Valley
• This letter was shortened. - Ed.
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