Water is Life

PEAKS ALERT!!!: Snowbowl May Start Construction by Next Week

WINDOW ROCK – Delegate Walter Phelps made a vain attempt Thursday to again bring up for discussion a resolution supporting the use of groundwater for artificial snow-making at the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort near Flagstaff.

Last Thursday, the Naa'bik'iyati' Committee tabled Phelps' bill until the Navajo Nation Council's Spring Session.

Naa'bik'iyati' met Thursday morning to set the agenda for a special Council session to follow immediately after the committee meeting. Because the petition for a special session referenced only one item, the committee bogged down in discussion on whether other items legally could be added to the agenda.

It was a gray area, however, so the committee, rather than Council, heard reports on Navajo water rights settlements and bond financing, then considered two resolutions, which delayed start of the Council session until 4 p.m.

When Speaker Johnny Naize asked for announcements, Phelps said he had just received word that Snowbowl owners will be proceeding with construction next week on a pipeline to carry reclaimed sewer water from the city of Flagstaff to the ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks, a sacred mountain which Arizona tribes believe will be defiled by its use. Phelps had presented the groundwater solution as an alternative to preserve the sacredness of the mountain.

Naize said the matter was tabled and would be dealt with in April.

“I think our people need to know that the pipeline is now going to be connected to the city limits and the use of reclaimed water is now inevitable. Council is not going to address and take a position on the legislation until spring session. By that time, the construction will be complete,” Phelps said afterward.

When contacted late Thursday, Snowbowl General Partner Eric Borowsky said he had spent the day in a meeting with the president of the construction company and general manager going over construction plans. Engineering companies are finalizing drawings for the pump houses and reservoirs, and construction is expected to start in early March in the lower elevations and in April on the mountain once ski season is over.

Save millions on composting toilets

Seattle PI | Link to original

Before Oak Harbor indebts its citizens by another $100 million for a new wastewater treatment plant (more than double that including interest), someone should suggest a cheaper alternative that is far more environmentally friendly: Composting toilets.

This is not a new suggestion. It was first proposed by environmentalists before Langley built its new sewer plant years ago. The proposal penciled out but didn't pass the nose test. The thought of a toilet in one's bathroom that composted waste rather than flushing it away was too indelicate for Langley's prim population to seriously ponder.