Gilbert OKs 100-year water lease with tribe

San Carlos Apache Tribe deal allows more growth

Gilbert’s new $31.2 million, 100-year water lease with the San Carlos Apache Tribe should allow for continued growth. Ensuring a reliable water source opens the way for the town to attract new development, the town’s water resources manager says.

Gilbert, the nation’s largest town, approved a $31.2 million water lease with the San Carlos Apache Tribe that should allow for continued growth.

The lease gives Gilbert access to nearly 6,000 acres of water annually, enough water for 12,000 to 15,000 households.

The deal was vital to the town’s development, Water Resources Manager Eric Braun said.

Without ensuring a reliable water source, it would be difficult for the town to attract new development. The town must have a guaranteed water supply for the next 100 years of development under the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

The water will amount to about 7 or 8 percent of the town’s water supply as it grows over the next 20 years.

“This is an ongoing partnership and relationship with San Carlos,” Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels said. “And we just appreciate and are grateful to them. The town is one step closer to a 100-year assured supply (of water).”

It took eight years and the change of a presidential administration for Gilbert to land this deal with the tribe.

In 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation stalled the deal due to other leases executed by the tribe, according to Braun. The federal agency was concerned over which lessees would be prioritized in the case of a water shortage.

It wasn’t until last year when Daniels met with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that the deal began to move forward again.

Ultimately Gilbert agreed to come after two other leases to get water in a time of shortage, Braun said.

“That was acceptable to both Gilbert, the tribe and the bureau,” he said. “So were finally able to get past that final hurdle.”

Braun credits the tribe and its relationship with Gilbert to coming to an agreement.

“Chairman Rambler from the tribe and Mayor Daniels from Gilbert have both put in a tremendous amount of effort to change the political winds to get this deal done,” he said. “It was that relationship that held us together a decade to get us to the finish line.”

Gilbert will pay the tribe a flat

$31.2 million for the 5,925 acre-feet of water per year, $20 million of which will come from the town’s water resources development fees, according to town documents.

The other $11 million was budgeted in Gilbert’s 10-year capital improvement projects for 2019 to 2028.

Under the deal, Gilbert cannot use the water for mining or golf courses.

The lease still needs to be approved by the Bureau of Reclamation. It’s unclear when the bureau will review it.