Rosemont Mine Water Concerns

Concerns about water West of the Santa Ritas

Rosemont states in their Master Plan of Operation section 2.8 that they will use approximately 5000 acre feet of water per year.  In GALLONS that is 1,629,105,000.  ONE BILLION, SIX HUNDRED TWENTY NINE MILLION, ONE HUNDRED FIVE THOUSAND GALLONS OF WATER PER YEAR.  Fifty one gallons per second.  Of course other estimates put it up to 8,000 acre feet, and the dry tailing and water recovery technology they propose are not proven.  Who really knows how much water they will use?  It is certain though that Rosemont has permits with the Arizona Department of Water Resources to withdraw up to 6,000 acre feet per year, and an article in the Arizona Daily Star from 5/28/2008 said "a mine the size of the one proposed by Rosemont Copper normally would use enough water every year to supply 40,000 households.  Officials with Rosemont Copper say they will only use half that much — 5,000 to 8,000 acre-feet a year — by using techniques developed for mining in extremely arid climates.”  Rosemont claims they are purchasing and storing 105,000 acre feet of cap water and tells the public they will only use 95,000 acre feet (19 years at 5,000 acre feet per year) leaving the public with an excess of 10,000 acre feet.  However if the 8,000 Acre feet estimate is used they will use 152,000 acre feet.  In this case they would draw 47,000 acre feet more than they will store. 

According to Jaimie Sturgess Rosemont, they could have just taken water out of the Cienega Aquifer,  I wonder if this is true, would the Arizona Department of Water Resources permit this?  Do they have the power to stop it?  Is there any legal restrictions preventing this? What laws do govern mines water use in Arizona?

Rosemont signed an agreement with CAP to store 50,000 to 70,000 acre feet of excess CAP water at the Pima Mine Road Recharge Project ("PMRRP") over the next 5 to 7 years, commencing in 2007.  Augusta realizes the UNCERTAINTIES OF AVAILABLE EXCESS WATER AND STORAGE CAPACITY AT THE PMRRP.  Augusta desires to begin building up an account of long-term storage credits that could be used to replace or offset any groundwater pumped by the mine from the Tucson AMA.  Click here to read the full document

In other words they want to store CAP water "upstream" from where they will pump the groundwater from, and there is no guarantee of any CAP water at all.

Rosemont then proposed a pipeline from the CAP terminus at Pima Mine road to Old Nogales Road, south just past Continental road.  A groundwater recharge facility would help recharge groundwater in this area.  Even if you allowed for the $18 million pipeline proposed for the Green Valley community water project Rosemont is still paying a fraction of what the water will cost in the future.  Community water must sell its CAP allocation to Rosemont for Rosemont to put up the $18 million.  Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry summarizes the issue with Rosemont, other mines in the area, and agricultural use and their impact on groundwater best in this letter dated Oct 2, 2007 to the Pima County board of supervisors

Securing sustainable water supplies in Arizona - an excellent overview of water management strategies and regulations in arizona.

What does CAP propose for us in the future? 

CAP officials have acknowledged that the amount of Colorado River water available to Arizonans may diminish in the future and that CAP is looking to acquire new water supplies, including desalination plants."

Lets take a look at this one option for our future water supplies.  In a document by the California Coastal Commission on desalination plants they discuss the technology, energy use, and cost per acre foot.  Energy cost alone ranges from $711 to $1,171 per acre foot for electrical cost.  A once cent change in KWH cost means a $50 change in electricity cost per acre foot.  This does not include the cost to build the desalination plant or build a pipeline and pump the water from the coast to Tucson.  CAP charges Rosemont a fraction of the cost of desalinated water.  

CAP policies greatly affect our state at this time of diminishing water supplies, climate change, and shifts in the pricing and supply of energy. CAP officials have acknowledged that the amount of Colorado River water available to Arizonans may diminish in the future and that CAP is looking to acquire new water supplies, including desalination plants.  Currently Lake Mead contains 1/2 the water it did in 2000 due to the drought conditions. 

Watch an excellent video about water scarcity around the world

Concerns about water East of the Santa Ritas

Pima County is very concerned about the water table east of the Santa Ritas.  In a letter dated 9/7/2007 to the forestry service they outline their concerns and questions.  Read this report titled "Groundwater model of the Santa Rita Rosemont Site" prepared for Pima County by Dr. Tom Myers

The forestry service then sent a letter to Augusta on 10/19/2007 stating that they did not have sufficient information from Augusta on the effect on the groundwater on the east side of the Santa Ritas.  How can Augusta/Rosemont be so sure that the mine will not impact the Las Cienega national preserve and will not effect the Cienega creek when they cannot provide this information to the forest service?  It makes you wonder what else they are telling us that has not been verified, or cannot be verified.

In Arizona, housing developers are required to prove an ample supply of water for 100 years before getting permits to develop.  This is to protect the public.  Mines however are allowed to use as much water as they want.  How can water be guaranteed by the developer when they cannot foresee a mines arrival and additional use of water resources? 

Here is what Rosemont has to say about our wells if they go dry 

The mines have a poor track record of polluting our groundwater.  I have compiled several articles to give you an idea of the extent of the damage to groundwater and surface water by the mines.  Since Augusta Resources (or whomever they may sell the mine too) has no track record I cannot use them as an example.  So instead I decided to look at several  owned by Phelps Dodge and a few other companies. 

I'll start with this article from March 22, 1993, titled "Phelps Dodge gets a D in mining".  They contaminated the water supply for Bisbee from the copper queen mine tailings 

Phelps Dodge Sierrita Mine is contaminating Green Valleys water supply and they promised to fix it in this June 2006 article in the US water news . 

According to a Scientific report completed in 2006, scientists have now discovered that there is widespread failure to keep mines from polluting our groundwater   . 

More on Phelps Dodge, According to the Groundwater Awareness League Complaint issued 2/7/2007, now that the environment is trashed Phelps Dodge Corporation is planning to sell to Freeport MacMoran.

An article in the Arizona Daily Star on 2/20/2007 reported that Green Valley has higher Uranium, Cadmium, and Thallium levels in their water supply, and the culprit is Phelps Dodge's Sierrita and Twin Buttes mines.

On June 29, 2007 an article from the Arizona Department of Environmental quality informs us that they are making it more difficult for Phelps Dodge to get a water permit.

In an article dated July 9, 2007 the US Department of Justice issued this release about the second largest mining company in the US., the Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation (Kennecott), and its groundwater pollution from past mining operations.   The Bingham Canyon Mine is located 30 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.  The proposed consent decree requires Kennecott to meet three major objectives for the cleanup of the OU 2 Zone, a groundwater plume. The Zone A plume is the portion of the groundwater aquifer contaminated by acidic waste water that has leached from waste rock dumps and that has been contaminated by other wastewaters generated from operations in the mining district. The plume of contamination is about 20 square miles in size with a highly acidic core area of two-square-miles with high concentrations of sulfates and heavy metals.  It will take 4 DECADES to cleanup.  How do you clean up groundwater?  How much does it cost? 

Back to the Copper Queen a more recent article from the Arizona Department of Environmental quality dated 1/25/2008 once again addresses the Bisbee and Naco water supplies, guess 15 years was not long enough for Phelps Dodge to learn how to prevent contamination of groundwater. 

read about "modern mining" and its excellent track record.  If we are counting on high copper prices to make the Rosemont mine economically feasible, what happens when the price of copper drops.  Will we be another grouse creek mine. 

The Grouse Creek mine, located adjacent to the largest wilderness complex in the lower 48 states, was heralded as a "state of the art" mine when it began operations in 1994.  Just three years later, the mine shut its doors -- producing no profits and leaving behind severe environmental problems.

Hecla Mining Company (Hecla), owner and operator of the Grouse Creek Mine, began construction in 1993.   Before it produced its first ounce of gold, construction activities caused a major landslide, burying 100 yards of Jordan Creek -- a stream federally designated as critical salmon habitat.

What can you do to help stop this mine?

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’

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