Federal government suspends permit for large Arizona development near San Pedro River

Ian James
The Republic | azcentral.com

The federal government has suspended a permit for a development that would bring 28,000 homes to the Arizona desert near Benson and the San Pedro River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to suspend the permit two weeks after conservation groups sued in federal court arguing the government failed to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts. 

“We’re taking this as a pretty large victory in the case,” said Nicole Gillett, a conservation advocate with the Tucson Audubon Society, which is among the groups suing the agency. “The most important thing that the Corps needs to do is to really take a step back and analyze the entire scope of the project.”

The Corps of Engineers notified the developer of the decision in a Feb. 15 letter. Regulatory Division Chief David Castanon said the agency was suspending a 2018 permit that had authorized “discharges of fill material” as part of the construction work. 

“The Corps has determined that it is in the public interest to suspend the permit while the Corps considers corrections and clarifications,” Castanon said in the letter, which was addressed to Michael Reinbold of El Dorado Benson LLC in Phoenix. He ordered the developer not to proceed with work while the agency considers “whether any additional modifications to the permit are warranted prior to making a new permit decision.”

Reinbold did not respond to calls and emails from The Arizona Republic requesting comments on the matter. 

The San Pedro River provides habitat for a wide variety of birds.

Homes, a resort four golf courses

It was the second time the Corps of Engineers suspended a permit for the development, called Villages at Vigneto. In 2016, the Corps suspended a permit that had been issued in 2006 following an earlier lawsuit by conservation groups, which demanded the agency consult with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service about how the project would affect endangered species. 

The development is proposed to cover about 12,000 acres. It is slated to include homes, a resort, commercial space and four golf courses. The development would be large enough for about 70,000 new residents, and it would rely entirely on groundwater, which also feeds the San Pedro River. 

MORE:Lawsuit targets federal permit for development near San Pedro River

Opponents argue the project would deplete the aquifer and reduce the flow of the river, which nourishes an oasis that supports millions of migratory birds.

The Corps in October issued a dredge-and-fill permit that enables builders to fill in desert washes during construction. It’s known as a Section 404 permit, referring to a provision of the Clean Water Act that regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material into rivers, streams or wetlands.

Environmental groups sued on Jan. 31. They argued that President Donald Trump’s administration should have analyzed the potential harm to the river as part of its analysis. They said the Corps should not have limited the review to a 1,919-acre portion of the proposed development.

Groups: River, wildlife at risk

Stu Gillespie, a lawyer with Earthjustice who is representing the groups, said the Corps’ decision shows that officials found significant errors in their decision to issue the permit, though the specifics aren’t clear.

“I think that this is likely a last-second desperate attempt to fix a decision that’s rotten to its core,” Gillespie said. “We’ve pointed out some really fundamental flaws in this decision.”

The conservation groups say that groundwater pumping by the development threatens the San Pedro River and the wildlife that depends on it, and that the Corps violated federal law by refusing to analyze the effects of drawing down the water table.  

The groups that brought the lawsuit include the Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the Tucson and Maricopa Audubon Society and the Cascabel Conservation Association.

Gillespie said Department of Justice officials have indicated the Corps may make a new permit decision by mid-April. 

“In re-evaluating this permit, the Corps should be involving the public, should be doing a thorough analysis and should be taking its time to do it right,” Gillespie said. “They keep on doing the wrong thing and not doing their homework.”

The conservation groups have asked the court to invalidate the permit and require the government to complete a more extensive environmental review.

Border Patrol agents walk on the banks of the San Pedro River on April 10, 2014, near Palominas, Arizona.

Seeking a full environmental study

Gillett said she hopes the Corps take the opportunity “to really consider the multitude of problems that we raised in our complaint.”

Dave Palmer, a spokesperson for the Corps of Engineers, said as a matter of policy the agency does not make comments on pending litigation. 

The San Pedro River is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Southwest. It nourishes a rich variety of wildlife along its tree-shaded banks, from migratory birds to salamanders to bobcats. 

MORE:Arizona court clears way for new development to tap groundwater near San Pedro River

Rare birds that inhabit the area range from the threatened western yellow-billed cuckoo to the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Conservation groups point out that the area also includes critical habitat for the few endangered jaguars that still roam across southern Arizona.

Tricia Gerrodette, a board member of Tucson Audubon, said the permit suspension appears to be a “delaying action.” She said it’s hard to imagine the Corps will be able to do much in two short months to address the many unresolved concerns. 

“I think an appropriate outcome would be an assessment of the entire acreage that’s proposed for developing, using new science and new information,” Gerrodette said. “And actually doing a full environmental assessment.” 

She said she thinks that full assessment, called an environmental impact statement, should have been done from the beginning.

Want to share a tip about the issue? Reach reporter Ian James at ian.james@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8246. Follow him on Twitter: @ByIanJames

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Environmental journalism on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and at OurGrandAZ on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.