Opinion ID: 3047681
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Impact on the Regional Aquifer

Text: The Navajo Appellants claim that the FEIS inadequately considers the environmental impact of diverting the treated sewage effluent from Flagstaff’s regional aquifer. The Forest Service argues that this claim was not exhausted in the administrative process. We disagree. Several comments raised the issue of diverting water that would have gone into the regional aquifer, including a comment by the Center for Biodiversity and the Flagstaff Activist Network, as well as a lengthy analysis submitted by the Sierra Club. Appellants’ administrative appeal explicitly incorporated and reasserted by reference the submissions of these organizations. Thus, “taken as a whole,” their appeal “provided sufficient notice to the [agency] to afford it the opportunity to rectify the violations that the plaintiffs alleged.” Native Ecosystems Council, 304 F.3d at 899. On the merits, Appellants claim that the FEIS inadequately considers the environmental impact of diverting the treated sewage effluent wastewater from the aquifer. Currently, during the winter when there is little demand for “reclaimed water” for irrigation and other uses, the treated sewage effluent is pumped into the Rio de Flag, where it is diluted with fresh water and percolates into the underground regional aquifer. Much of the effluent used to make artificial snow would 2894 NAVAJO NATION v. USFS eventually make its way back to the aquifer, but some water would be lost to sublimation and evaporation. The FEIS contains extensive analysis on the question of the impact of this water loss on the recharge of the regional aquifer; subchapter 3H, discussed above, is largely devoted to the subject. Nevertheless, Appellants argue that the FEIS does not adequately address the cumulative impact on the aquifer caused by diverting the water. First, they argue that the analysis is inadequate because the FEIS states that the study area of the watershed analysis is limited to the Hart Prairie Watershed and the Agassiz Subwatershed, an area that does not include the location where the treatment plant discharges the treated sewage effluent into the Rio de Flag. Therefore, they argue, the analysis fails to consider the impact on the regional aquifer caused by diverting the effluent from the Rio de Flag. However, the analysis of environmental impacts is plainly not limited to the designated “study area.” Immediately after describing the parameters of the “study area” for the watershed analysis, the FEIS identifies as one of the cumulative effects to be analyzed the “potential long-term effects on the regional aquifer from diversions of reclaimed water for snowmaking.” Second, Appellants argue that the FEIS is inadequate, because the Forest Service “refused” to consider the impact of the wastewater diversion. They point to two portions of the FEIS that do, indeed, disclaim responsibility for analyzing the impact on the regional aquifer. The FEIS states that, due to an Arizona Supreme Court decision holding that cities can sell wastewater, “the authority of the city to provide reclaimed water to the Snowbowl is not subject to decision by the Forest Service and is therefore not within the jurisdictional purview of this analysis.” In the comments and responses portion of the FEIS, the Forest Service reiterates, “The City has the legal right to put the reclaimed water to any reasonable use they see fit and is the responsible entity to determine the most suitable and beneficial use of reclaimed water.” NAVAJO NATION v. USFS 2895 [25] Nevertheless, the FEIS contains some analysis of the environmental impact of the diversion on the regional aquifer. After stating that the issue “extends well beyond the scope of the EIS” and “is provided as general information but will not be specifically considered in selecting an alternative,” the Forest Service provides a quantitative analysis concluding that the snowmaking would “result in an estimated net average reduction in groundwater recharge to the regional aquifer of . . . . slightly less than two percent of the City of Flagstaff’s total annual water production.” Ultimately, the FEIS concludes that the cumulative impact is “negligible for overall change in aquifer recharge.” Despite the odd and backhanded way in which it is presented, we conclude that the analysis in the FEIS is a “reasonably thorough discussion” of the issue. Ctr. for Biological Diversity, 349 F.3d at 1166.