On its website, Greenstone describes itself as a “water company” and a “developer and owner of reliable and sustainable water supplies.” The company’s CEO, Mike Schlehuber, previously worked at Vidler Water Company, another water intermediary company, and Summit Global Management, which invests in water suppliers and water rights. Ta. Mike Marano, Greenstone’s managing director and vice president, is a Phoenix-based former real estate agent who remains “active in the Arizona development community,” according to his company profile. was elected to the board of directors of the Sub-Cibola Valley Irrigation and Drainage District. -Government agency that oversees regional agricultural water distribution.
Erwin was horrified. She felt that a company with ties to big banks and real estate developers had invaded her small town under the guise of a farm and sold off her most valuable resource.
The agreement does not immediately affect Cibola residents. Municipal water supply is not affected. But she worries this move will be the first of many. And what will happen to rural towns along rivers as more and more farmland is left fallow to supply water to cities?
“It’s going to be like Owens Valley,” she said, referring to the water rights that inspired the movie “Chinatown.” In the early 20th century, Los Angeles city employees posing as farmers and ranchers bought up valley land, diverted its water, and left behind trash cans to maintain the city.
“I think we opened Pandora’s box” by allowing the deal with Greenstone to go through, she said.
The Colorado River, which flows from the Rocky Mountains to Mexico, has declined by about 20 percent since the turn of the century as the Western world suffered the worst drought in 1,200 years. After painstaking negotiations, Arizona, Nevada and California have agreed to cuts. Experts warn that even deeper water cuts will be needed over the next decade, but states are currently at an impasse over long-term conservation plans.
“Colorado River water will become extremely valuable as the river continues to become scarce due to climate change,” said Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University. “Anyone who understands this dynamic would think, ‘If I could buy the Colorado River water rights, that would be worth more than owning the oil in this country at this point.'”
The price Queen Creek paid for its water was a staggering $11,500 per acre-foot, but Arizona lawyers and water experts told the Guardian that the price today would probably be even higher. He said he thought it would sell well.
However, the process of selling and transferring water can be bureaucratic and complex. In most cases, companies like Greenstone first persuade fellow landowners in local irrigation districts to allow them to sell, and then seek approval from the state Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages the state’s water. approval must be obtained. West.
What many Irwin and Cibola residents didn’t realize was that a select group of farmers and landowners in their sleepy river towns had been working for years to facilitate such deals. That was it.
“His dream was to sell this water.”
Irrigation districts, as their name suggests, are designed to distribute water for irrigation throughout the western United States. These districts were established as cooperatives in the 19th and 20th centuries, allowing farmers to pool their resources and develop water infrastructure. In the Colorado River Basin, the district contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation to provide water flowing through federal infrastructure to farms and ranches.
Susannah Eden of the University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center explained that farmers tend to monopolize precious water. Most irrigation districts are set up as follows: Secure water for agriculture and retain water internally their jurisdiction.
