MOHAVE VALLEY IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE DISTRICT

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING HELD TUESDAY,

JUNE 3, 2014	AT THE OFFICES OF THE MOHAVE VALLEY

IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE DISTRICT ("THE DISTRICT")

CALL TO ORDER.

The meeting was called to order at 3:58 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mr. Steve Buck.

ROLL CALL.

Present:	Charles B. ("Chip") Sherrill, Jr., Chairman, Director District III

Vince Vasquez, Director District II

John Kai, Director District I

Perry Muscelli, Treasurer, Director At Large

Mark R. Clark, CCM, Manager

Jamie Kelley, District Counsel

Cecily ("CeCe") Preusser, Administrative Assistant

Absent:	Clay Vanderslice, Director At Large

WAIVER MOTION. Motion to waive the reading of full minutes and resolutions presented for approval or adoption.

Mr. Kai made a motion to waive the reading of full minutes and resolutions presented for approval or adoption. Mr. Vasquez seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

1.	REPORTS.

A.	Staff report on water use.

Manager Mark Clark reported that so far this year the District has used 15,721 acre feet of water. Last year at this time the District had used only 9,179 acre feet, so the District is 6,542 acre feet ahead of last year's usage. In comparison to what we have ordered compared to what we have used is 207 acre feet. The District is very close to the 2014 Water Order. This is the largest amount of water that the District has used in the last four years. Mr. Clark also advised that 85% of the District's water is being used for agriculture, 6% is being used by the utility companies (or M&I users) and 6% is being used by amenity users.

B.	Bureau of Reclamation Lower Colorado Water Supply Report as of June, 2014; Upper Colorado River Basin Snowpack Report; Lake Powell Water Data Graph; and Lake Mead Water Data Graph.

Chairman Sherrill stated that the news is not good. Lake Powell is at 51% and Lake Mead is at 40% of their total system contents. Lake Mead's current elevation is 1084.29, and 1075 is the first trigger of a declared shortage. Mr. Clark added that it is anticipated that Lake Mead will drop below the 1075 number around November or December, but it is expected that there will be some additional inflows to bring Lake Mead back up so that it will be above the 1075 level in January of 2015, and a shortage won't have to be declared. Mr. Clark stated that October will most likely be the month wherein the District will know exactly what is going to happen with regard to whether or not a shortage is declared. As long as Lake Mead is above the 1075 level in January of 2015, a shortage will not be declared.

C.	USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Reports for the month of June, 2014:

1.	Arizona Agri-Weekly for the month of June, 2014;

Chairman Sherrill stated that the only thing that stands out on these reports is the fact that Arizona has had no rain. We are about one and one-half inches below the normal.

2.	News Release: Cattle On Feed - Arizona and United States;

Cattle on Feed - United States, is actually up one percent from last year.

3.	News Release: Crop Production - June 2014 - Arizona and United States.

Crop production is pretty stable as to what it was last year.

D.	Arizona Meteorological Network Monthly Summary for June, 2014.

Chairman Sherrill stated that the Summary reflected the fact that we are in a drought right now.

2.	AGENDA MODIFICATION. Possible action to withdraw from, or move, any item on the Agenda, including the removal of an item from the Consent Agenda.

No action taken.

3.	CONSENT AGENDA. The items listed below will be considered as a group and acted upon by one motion with no separate discussion of said items, unless a Board Member requests an item or items be removed for separate discussion and action.

A.	Approve the June 3, 2014 Meeting Minutes.

B.	Ratify payment of expenses for June, 2014.

C.	Approve the Snell & Wilmer Billing Statement for the month of May, 2014.

Mr. Kai made a motion that the Consent Agenda be approved in its entirety. Mr. Muscelli seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

4.	REGULAR AGENDA.

A.	MVIDD Payment Rules. Discussion and possible action to approve updates to the MVIDD Payment Rules.

Manager Clark stated that the Payment Rules had previously been provided to the Board as part of the 2014-2015 Fiscal Year Budget. Board Member Vasquez had suggested changes be made to Rule 25, and those changes have been made. The Rule now reads:

25.	Interim Water is a temporary alternative source of water and is not intended to replace or become a permanent source of supply.

Mr. Muscelli made a motion to approve the Payment Rules. Mr. Kai seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

B.	Mohave County Financial Services Special District Reimbursements for County Services & Annual Report. Discussion and possible action to approve the MVIDD Special District Report to be submitted to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and the County Treasurer on or before July 10, 2014, pursuant to A.R.S. §48-252.

Manager Clark advised that this is a report that we have to prepare and submit to the County. The report encompasses the MVIDD 2014-2015 Fiscal Year Budget as well as what the District's property tax rate will be for the coming year. Mr. Clark stated that there had been no changes to the District's tax rate, it will remain at $1.50 per acre.

Mr. Vasquez asked if this report reflected the raised rates on water as were agreed to in last month's meeting. Mr. Clark stated that the agricultural users water rate was raised by 33% this year over last year.

Mr. Muscelli made a motion that the MVIDD Special District Report be approved. Mr. Kai seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

C.	Sun Valley Unit II, Tract 4185E, T18N, R22W. Section 1. Discussion and possible action to approve the request for an extension of the preliminary water allocation of 9.66 acre feet for Sun Valley, Unit II, Tract 4185-E from July 19, 2014 until January 19, 2015.

Manager Clark stated that this development was making forward progress. The developer is working through the County and getting engineering done. Staff is recommending that the preliminary allocation extension be granted.

Mr. Kai made a motion to approve the extension request of 9.66 acre feet for a period of six (6) months, to and including January 19, 2015.

D.	Westview Estates, Tract 4215, T19N, R22W, Section 14. Discussion and possible action to approve the request to extend the preliminary water allocation of 56.71 acre feet and deferral of the final 1/3 payment of the non-refundable fees from July 22, 2014 to January 22, 2015.

Manager Clark stated that this development is working through their engineering and has submitted plans to the County. Staff is recommending approval of the extension of the preliminary allocation and deferral of the final 1/3 payment of the non-refundable fees to and including January 22, 2015.

Mr. Muscelli questioned what the staff was basing their recommendation for approval on. Mr. Clark responded that the staff reviewed the documentation provided by the developer with regard to how the project is progressing, whether they are submitting engineering plans, re-working the development, or doing actual construction on the project. Marketing of a project is not considered forward progress.

Mr. Muscelli asked if there were new engineering plans submitted with regard to this project. Mr. Clark answered that new plans had been submitted to the County.

Mr. Muscelli made a motion to approve the extension of the preliminary allocation and the deferral of the final 1/3 payment of the non-refundable fees to and including January 22, 2015. Mr. Kai seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

E.	Valley View At Sunrise Hills, Phase 2, T18N, R22W, Section 6. Discussion and possible action to approve the request to extend the preliminary water allocation in the amount of 24.44 acre feet for the remaining 58 lots in Phase 1 from July 10, 2014 to and including January 10, 2015.

Mr. Clark advised that this development is showing forward progress. Again, the engineering was still being worked on and staff is recommending that the Board approve the extension of the preliminary water allocation of 24.44 acre feet.

Mr. Kai made a motion to approve the extension of the preliminary water allocation of 24.44 acre feet to an including January 10, 2015. Mr. Muscelli seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

F.	Los Lagos Golf Course, T18N, R22W, Section 1, Contract No. 1992-03. Discussion and possible action to approve declaring Los Lagos' Contract No. 1992-03 in default for failure to pay 2014 amenity fees as contained in following MVIDD invoices:

Invoice No. 3393 in the amount of $32,747.01 (late charges in the amount of $2,977.01 were applied after June 15, 2014); and

Invoice No. 3399 in the amount of $9,543.61 (late charges in the amount of $867.61 were applied after June 15, 2014).

Mr. Kai made a motion to table this matter until the August 5, 2014 Board Meeting. Mr. Muscelli seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

G.	Agri-Business and Water Council of Arizona. Discussion and possible action for approval of Mark Clark to be appointed to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Agri-Business and Water Council of Arizona.

Mr. Kai made a motion to table this matter until the August 5, 2014 Board Meeting. Mr. Muscelli seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.

H.	MVIDD Water Conservation Report. Discussion and possible action to approve the Water Conservation Report.

Mr. Clark advised that this is the same Water Conservation Report that has been reviewed at the last few Board Meetings. Staff is in the final stages of completing the report and, as the Board Members have made suggested changes to the report Those changes will be made and this will be placed on the August Agenda for approval.

There is no action that needs to be taken at this time.

5.	PUBLIC INPUT.

Mr. Angelo Rinaldi addressed the board and asked if he could get a clarification of the Los Lagos Golf Course contract. District Counsel advised that this matter was not included on the agenda and could not be addressed in the "public input" part of the meeting.

Chairman Sherrill advised Mr. Rinaldi to contact CeCe at the District Office ten days before the August meeting to request that this matter be placed on the agenda. The "public input" portion of the meeting is reserved for general questions or comments involving the District.

Mr. Rinaldi asked if there was a rule of thumb measurement with regard to how water usage is determined as to type of crop, i.e., how much water cotton requires, etc. Chairman Sherrill responded that the usage is based mostly upon soil type. As a rule, the alfalfa crops grown within this valley require approximately seven (7) acre feet of water per acre. Produce crops take the most water, but there is no real produce grown in the District. There was a question as to whether there was a way to determine the difference of water usage among crops, i.e., how much water does alfalfa require in comparison to cotton. Chairman Sherrill responded that the crop reports that the agricultural users submit to the District Office show the water amount differences between crops.

There was a comment made that the District was supposed to compose a survey of the District's water use. Chairman Sherrill responded that Mr. Clark is working diligently on preparing such a report. The District is currently trying to identify wells within the District that are currently being used. The process of compiling this report has been laborious. The Bureau of Reclamation was here last month trying to determine which wells within the District are unclassified. The Bureau completed that work on the Mesa and would be returning in August or September to complete their work within the rest of the District.

There was then a question asked as to how much water was being used on usable acreage, rather than taking roads out, washes and transmission lines. Chairman Sherrill responded that agricultural users allow for that. He gave an example that, if a person has a 325 acre farm, the federal government requires that a deduction for roads and ditches must be included, so that takes an automatic eight percent (8%) away from the total acreage.

If a subdivision is being planned and the developer knows how many acres need to be watered, whether it is for yard, or whatever, an allocation is made for each residence. District records have been modified to take those amounts into consideration.

A question was raised as to whether or not each subdivision had a certain amount of water being allocated. Chairman Sherrill answered that it would depend on the size of the subdivision, size of the lots and houses within the subdivision.

Chairman Sherrill also stated that Arizona Department of Water Resources ("ADWR") has specific calculations to determine water usage per residence. At this time, Manager Clark is looking into those calculations as it may be that ADWR is allocating more water to the residences than is truly needed.

With utility companies, agriculture users and subdivisions reporting, the District is becoming much more accurate in its water measurements.

6.	ADJOURNMENT.

There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Muscelli made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Kai seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed.