[ADEQ Media] ADEQ Grants $43, 000 to Gila Watershed Partnership for New Well to Help Protect San Francisco River in Greenlee County

Wed Jun 17 08:34:40 MST 2009

PHOENIX (June 17, 2009) - The Arizona Department of Environmental
Quality has awarded a $42,750 Water Quality Improvement Grant to the
Gila Watershed Partnership for a project to reduce waste from ranch
animals in the San Francisco River.

The 100 cattle on the Kaler Ranch near Clifton have no source for
drinking water except the river, which is being contaminated with E.
coli bacteria left behind in animal waste. The ADEQ grant will fund the
construction of the first of what ranch owner Dick Kaler hopes will
ultimately be five wells to serve as a new water source for the cattle.

The Gila Watershed Partnership estimates that the first well will reduce
waste from the Kaler Ranch cattle in the river by as much as 20 percent.
The group expects that all five wells will keep all livestock at the
ranch away from the river area. 

The first well will be built on ranch property, and the others on public
land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. The grant will be
administered by the Gila Water Partnership. Kaler will act as site
supervisor. 

The first well is scheduled to be completed by March 2010. It will
include a solar-powered pump, which is being funded by a $50,000 grant
from the Arizona Department of Agriculture's Livestock and Crop
Conservation Program. 

"ADEQ is pleased to fund this project, which will help to protect
Arizona's precious water resources," said ADEQ Acting Director Patrick
J. Cunningham. "We recognize that the owners of the ranch have the legal
right to graze their cattle near the river, and we appreciate that they
are teaming with ADEQ to correct a serious environmental problem."

ADEQ's Water Quality Improvement Grant program is funded by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act. 

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"News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
communications@azdeq.gov."

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