Mohave Daily News: Local

FORT MOJAVE - “Don't be afraid of us,” said Charles B. “Chip” Sherrill, Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District (MVIDD) board chairman, as he delivered the monthly address at a well-attended Mohave Valley Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday.

Responsible for almost all the water from the Needles Bridge to the Bullhead City line, the MVIDD is the guardian of the valley's water supply, Sherrill said.

He wants “undocumented” well owners to come out of the shadows for their own good. Even those on file should make sure the information the MVIDD has is accurate, Sherrill said.

“We're not going to put meters on your wells,” he assured his audience. The MVIDD needs to update its records to give an accurate accounting to the federal Bureau of Reclamation as to how much water is being used in the district so it can be protected, Sherrill said.

Too many cities and states in the thirsty Southwest have designs on the MVIDD's 41,000 acre-feet allocation of Colorado River water, he said. “Believe me, if they had a chance, they'd take all our water right now.” Sherrill added, “Arizona and California have already been trying to buy water from us.”

For example, if a parcel of land has been subdivided into five residential lots, “we need to know that so we can protect that water,” Sherrill said. “It's going to be a lot more use for five lots than it is going to be for one.”

He asked landowners to “allow us to come on your property” so they can put a meter on the well to determine how much is being used, to figure the proper allocation.

Sherrill said the feds consider just about every drop of water in the district - including all well water - to be Colorado River water and someone would have to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees to try to prove otherwise. “This aquifer goes a long ways back (from the river),” he said.

Most of the MVIDD's water is used for agricultural purposes, Sherrill said, “which is a good thing, because it protects our water.”

He said there will come a day when the feds declare an official drought.

“When the drought comes, they're going to take water from us,” Sherrill said. “They'll come to the farmers and the big users ... and they will have to stop farming part of that ground.”

Sherrill urged residents in the irrigation district to bring in their lot and tax information to the district office at 1460 E. Commercial St. in Mohave Valley.