Pinal County water battle jeopardizing Colorado River drought plan
The Santa Rosa Canal, near Maricopa, channels Central Arizona Project water to farmland in the Maricopa Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District. Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star
The gap between Pinal County farmers and the Gila River Indians over how to protect the Colorado River and Lake Mead is far wider than the interstate highway separating their communities.
Farmers Dan Thelander and Cindi Pearson grow cotton, alfalfa, grains, melons and other crops on fields amidst a bevy of dairies, cattle feedlots and small towns west of Interstate 10 and south of Casa Grande.
They’re worried that one version of a plan to stave off a catastrophe at Lake Mead is unfair and will threaten their long-term livelihood, along with the entire agriculture economy that has thrived in Pinal County since World War II.
