[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16956]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
                TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA, WATER SUPPLY FIASCO

  (Mr. GOSAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. GOSAR. Last week, the ninth circuit court heard a case regarding 
Tombstone, Arizona's right to access its water supply. Last year, a 
devastating combination of wildfires and monsoons struck Tombstone, 
leaving only 3 of its 25 springs in operation. Tombstone has been 
engaged in a yearlong standoff with the Federal Government over the 
repairs that will restore the town's water supply because those springs 
are in wilderness areas and they are prohibited from using mechanized 
equipment to make the necessary repairs.
  This situation is not unique. A similar disaster occurred in northern 
Arizona after the 2010 Schultz Pass fire. The Inner Basin pipeline, 
infrastructure that delivers water to Flagstaff, was severed during 
catastrophic floods that followed the fire. In our case, a lawsuit 
wasn't necessary, but it took my team and the city over a year to 
persuade multiple agencies to allow for repairs. Last month, I took the 
first sip of water out of the repaired infrastructure with Mayor Jerry 
Nabours.
  Our communities shouldn't need their Congressman or a lawsuit to make 
basic repairs to infrastructure. The Federal Government should work 
with us, not against us, to preserve western water supplies.

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