Truce signed in Big Chino water war

The SRP boards, and the city councils for Prescott and Prescott Valley have unanimously signed an agreement to end the 12-year long lawsuits and negotiate terms for use of Big Chino groundwater.

The Verde News summarized key elements in the agreement including a  limit of just over 8,000 acre feet to be pumped annually from the Big Chino, changes in the law to allow the water to be used anywhere in the Prescott AMA, and the cities willingness to mitigate the pumping if it adversely affects the flow of the Verde River.

[right, Big Chino groundwater basin and Prescott AMA. Credit, City of Prescott]