WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES (2026)

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Chapter 18

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

Article I.

In General

Sec. 18-1.

Conversion of wells from agricultural to domestic use.

Secs. 18-2—18-20. Reserved.

Article II.

Groundwater Management

Sec. 18-21.

Short title.

Sec. 18-22.

Policy.

Sec. 18-23.

Scope of regulation.

Sec. 18-24.

Violation and penalty.

Sec. 18-25.

Deﬁnitions.

Sec. 18-26.

Permits; standards of issuance and use.

Sec. 18-27.

Application procedure.

Sec. 18-28.

Records of application, permit and proceedings.

Sec. 18-29.

Records of water usage.

Sec. 18-30.

Rule-making authority.

Secs. 18-31—18-48. Reserved.

Article III.

Environmental Protection

Sec. 18-49.

Policy.

Sec. 18-50.

Deﬁnitions.

Sec. 18-51.

Compliance required generally.

Sec. 18-52.

Enforcement of article and regulations.

Sec. 18-53.

Production, processing, distribution, sale, etc., prohibited.

Sec. 18-54.

Wildlife and natural plants.

Sec. 18-55.

License suspension or revocation.

Sec. 18-56.

Judicial proceedings; Community court.

Secs. 18-57—18-85. Reserved.

Article IV.

Surface Water Management

Sec. 18-86.

Short title.

Sec. 18-87.

Policy.

Sec. 18-88.

Scope of regulation.

Sec. 18-89.

Deﬁnitions.

Sec. 18-90.

Permits; standards of issuance and use.

Sec. 18-91.

Shortage; retired agricultural lands.

Sec. 18-92.

Application procedure.

Sec. 18-93.

Records of applications and permit.

Sec. 18-94.

Records of water usage.

Sec. 18-95.

Violation; penalty.

Sec. 18-96.

Rule-making authority.

Sec. 18-97.

Effective date.

Secs. 18-98—18-122. Reserved.

Article V.

Sec. 18-123.

Sec. 18-124.

Sec. 18-125.

Sec. 18-126.

GRUSP Groundwater Recharge Control and Quality

Protection

Declaration of policy.

Deﬁnitions.

Water quality regulation.

Operational management and MSL regulation.

CD18:1

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

Sec. 18-127.

Formulation and adoption of regulations.

Sec. 18-128.

Enforcement authority.

Sec. 18-129.

Employment of consultants.

Sec. 18-130.

GRUSP maintenance.

Sec. 18-131.

Additional regulations to ensure water integrity authorized.

Secs. 18-132—18-160. Reserved.

Article VI.

Sec. 18-161.

Sec. 18-162.

Sec. 18-163.

Sec. 18-164.

Sec. 18-165.

Sec. 18-166.

Agriculture Fugitive Dust Control

Title, authority, purpose, etc.

Deﬁnitions.

Applicability.

Administration for compliance and enforcement.

Judicial proceedings; Community court.

Remedies not exclusive.

CD18:2

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL

Sec. 18-1. Conversion

wells

from

agricultural to domestic use.

(a) Policy. It is the policy of the Community

that wells drilled within the Community for

agricultural irrigation or for any other nondomestic purposes will be constructed in such a manner

as to allow for conversion to domestic purposes

with minimum reconstruction costs so as to

ensure the members of the Community an uninterrupted supply of domestic water.

(b) Restrictions on issuance of permits. The

building official shall not issue a building and

construction permit pursuant to the zoning

ordinance for the drilling or construction of a

well to supply water for agricultural irrigation or

for any other nondomestic use unless the plans

and specifications indicate and the permit requires

that the well be constructed in such a way that it

can be readily converted to use supplying domestic

water. Such wells shall have such protections

against contamination as are required in wells

constructed for domestic water supply.

(Code 1981, § 18-1; Code 2012, § 18-1; Ord. No.

SRO-96-85, §§ 1, 2, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-1, 5-30-2012; Ord. No. SRO-469-2015,

7-1-2015)

Secs. 18-2—18-20. Reserved.

ARTICLE II. GROUNDWATER

MANAGEMENT

Sec. 18-21. Short title.

This article may be referred to as the

9Groundwater Management Code.9

(Code 1981, § 18-21; Code 2012, § 18-21; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 1, 12-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-21, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-22. Policy.

The groundwaters of the Community are in

one groundwater basin underlying the Community. The owners of the land have a right to

the reasonable and beneficial use of such waters

to the extent that such use does not defeat the

Supp. No. 2

§ 18-25

right of other landowners to reasonable and

beneficial use of such waters. It is the policy of

the Community that use of such groundwater

should be subject to an equitable system of

control, distribution, allocation and regulation

so as to achieve the maximum beneficial use and

conservation of such waters in recognition of the

drain on the water resource and the changing

state of the art of the use of water and the ability

to determine the usable extent of the resource. It

is the goal of the Community that groundwater

use will be limited to replenishable supplies.

(Code 1981, § 18-22; Code 2012, § 18-22; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 2, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-22, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-23. Scope of regulation.

This article shall regulate all groundwater

within the Community.

(Code 1981, § 18-23; Code 2012, § 18-23; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 4, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-23, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-24. Violation and penalty.

Any permittee who violates the conditions of

the permit or the provisions of this article shall

be subject to the forfeiture of the permit after

notice and hearing as provided for in section

18-27. The Community shall have the jurisdiction to provide injunctive relief in order to

prevent the use of groundwater in violation of

this article upon a petition of the groundwater

administrator. The Community court shall have

the jurisdiction over civil actions brought by the

groundwater administrator against permittees

for civil damages resulting from the violation of

the permit issued, or for using groundwater

without a permit and such damages shall include

the value of the water used in violation of this

article, the cost of investigations and attorneys'

fees and all hearing and court costs incurred.

(Code 1981, § 18-24; Code 2012, § 18-24; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 10, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-24, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-25. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when

used in this article, shall have the meanings

CD18:3

§ 18-25

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

contract or interest, for a period of five

years. Such user shall apply for a

groundwater use permit within 180 days

of the enactment of the ordinance from

which this article is derived. Failure to

apply within such time shall result in the

user's loss of any presumptive right. The

presumptive right created by this section

may be defeated by a fair showing that:

ascribed to them in this section, except where

the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Groundwater means all water which is taken

by well and pump or any like method from

underground water sources except when such

water is so taken by the Community for domestic

water purposes of the members and Indian

residents of the Community.

Groundwater administrator shall be the Community director of the Community development

department or the director's designee or designees.

Reserved water rights means those rights to

the use of waters recognized as reserved in

accordance with the principles enunciated in

Winters v. United States, 207 U.S. 564 (1908),

Cappaert v. United States, 426 U.S. 128 (1976),

and subsequent cases, which rights have either

an immemorial priority or a priority date as of

the establishment of the reservation.

(Code 1981, § 18-25; Code 2012, § 18-25; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 3, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-25, 5-30-2012)

(a) Required. No groundwater may be used

for any purpose unless the user has received a

groundwater use permit from the groundwater

administrator.

(b) Establishment of presumptive right.

(2)

Within 60 days of the enactment of this

article, the groundwater administrator

shall send by certified mail notice of the

enactment of the ordinance from which

this article is derived, together with a

copy of this article to each user of

groundwater within the Community. Mailing of such notice shall be conclusive

proof of receipt of notice.

Any person using groundwater at the

time of the enactment of the ordinance

from which this article is derived shall

have a presumptive right to the use of

such groundwater, in the amount used,

for the term of any contract or other

instrument which forms the basis of the

groundwater use, or if there is no such

Supp. No. 2

CD18:4

The amount of water used for the

purpose exceeds the amount of water

required to achieve the purpose

intended; or

The purpose for which the water is

used is wasteful of the resource in

terms of other feasible uses.

If a finding under subsection (b)(2)a of

this section is made, a groundwater use

permit shall be issued for such an amount

of groundwater as is reasonable and necessary for the use, provided the applicant

submits to the groundwater administrator an amended application in the amount

found to be reasonable and necessary for

the use. If the use has been found to be

wasteful under subsection (b)(2)b of this

section, a permit may be issued only if

the applicant submits to the groundwater

administrator an amended application

for an amount of water reasonable and

necessary for a feasible alternative use.

An amended application under subsection (b)(2)b of this section shall be treated

as an application under subsection (c) of

this section.

Sec. 18-26. Permits; standards of issuance

and use.

(1)

Application. Any member of the Community or any other person who holds a

contractual right which requires the use

of water for its enjoyment or any allotted

landowner of the land for which a

groundwater permit is being sought may

apply for a groundwater use permit. The

appli-

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

cation shall be on a form provided by the

Community and shall provide information sufficient to enable the groundwater

administrator to make a decision in regard to the issuance of a permit and to

enable the groundwater administrator to

impose reasonable use criteria on any

issued permit.

(2)

(3)

Groundwater use permit.

A groundwater use permit may be

issued for a period of ﬁve years if the

use to which the water is to be put is

agricultural and the land on which

the water is to be used is not subject

of a contract or other instrument.

If the water is to be used for agricultural purposes and the land is subject of a contract or other instrument, then the permit may be issued

for a period equal to that of the term

of the contract or other instrument.

If the use to which the water is to be

put is other than agricultural, the

term of any groundwater use permit

shall be coexistent with the term for

which the use shall be reasonably

required by the applicant, but in no

event longer than the term of any

contract or other instrument under

which the use arises.

Determination of permitted water. The

amount of water permitted to be used

under each groundwater use permit shall

be determined by the need proven, and

the available groundwater resources for

all potential uses within the Community

lands subject of this article.

(d) Use permits conditional. All groundwater

use permits shall be issued conditioned on a term

of use; the nature of the use permitted; and the

amount of water to be used per week, month or

year, depending on the nature of use; the parcel or

tract of land within which the use will take place;

and upon such other reasonable conditions as the

groundwater administrator shall determine is

necessary to carry out the policies of this article.

§ 18-27

(e) Actual and potential use permits. Groundwater use permits may be issued for actual and

potential uses. Groundwater use permits issued

for potential uses shall be limited in time so that

water resources will not be reserved beyond a

reasonable period of time. For good and sufficient

cause shown, extension in time may be granted.

(f) Permits conditioned on available water. All

groundwater use permits shall be conditioned on

the right of the groundwater administrator to

change the amount or permitted use of groundwater depending on changing quantities of available groundwater. Any such change by the groundwater administrator shall be based upon clear

and convincing evidence that the change is required to ensure the future availability of the

resource, and shall be subject to the notice, hearing and appellate procedures of this article.

(Code 1981, § 18-26; Code 2012, § 18-26; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 5, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-26, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-27. Application procedure.

(a) Any application for a groundwater use permit pursuant to section 18-26(b) or (c) shall be

made to the groundwater administrator with an

application fee as provided by the rules and

regulations. The groundwater administrator shall

determine whether and under what conditions a

groundwater use permit shall be issued after a

hearing has been held. The hearing shall be

noticed by certiﬁed mail or delivered notice to all

landowners owning land which is within the

Community and within one mile of the perimeter

of the land within which the water use is to be

made, and all of the land within which the water

use is to be made, and all persons having a right

to use land which is within the Community and

within one mile of the perimeter of the land

within which the water use is to be made pursuant to a valid contract or other instrument, and by

notice in the Community newspaper. Notice shall

be given no less than ten days prior to such

hearing. Mailing of notice shall be conclusive

proof of receipt of notice. The hearing shall be

conducted by the groundwater administrator in

an informal manner with rules adopted pursuant

to this article calculated to ensure full disclosure

of all relevant information. Professional attorneys

CD18:5

§ 18-27

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

shall not be permitted to represent parties at any

such hearing. The groundwater administrator

shall hear all relevant issues and within ﬁve days

after the hearing is concluded, shall issue a written decision. The decision will contain the ﬁndings of act relied on by the groundwater administrator for the decision as well as the decision. The

ﬁndings of fact and decision shall be distributed

to the applicant and any other land user or

Community member who ﬁles a notice of appearance pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

(b) A decision of the groundwater administrator may be appealed to the Community court by

the applicant, any Community member or other

person having the right to the use of land within

the Community, who ﬁles a notice of appearance

with the groundwater administrator before the

hearing is adjourned.

(2)

Costs. There shall be posted with the

clerk of the Community court a cash fee of

$25.00 to cover costs of the court.

(3)

Grounds for appeal. The court shall determine the appeal upon the ﬁndings of fact

and decision entered in the case by the

groundwater administrator.

(4)

Findings of fact. The ﬁndings of fact shall

be presumed to be without reversible error. The presumption may be overcome by

a sworn written statement presented to

the court at the time of the ﬁling of the

notice of appeal which establishes on the

basis of the statement, any one or more of

the following grounds:

A witness ready and willing to testify at the time of the hearing on

behalf of the appellant was not allowed by the groundwater administrator to take the witness stand and

testify, and such testimony would

have materially altered the decision

of the groundwater administrator.

The groundwater administrator refused to admit documentary or other

physical evidence, and such evidence would have materially altered

the decision of the groundwater administrator.

After the hearing the appellant discovered material evidence which, with

reasonable diligence, could not have

been discovered and produced at the

hearing, and such evidence would

have materially altered the decision

of the groundwater administrator.

the groundwater administrator in the following

manner:

(1)

Notice of appeal. Written notice of appeal

shall be given within ﬁve days after the

day the written and executed decision is

ﬁled with the secretary of the Community.

The notice of appeal shall state all the

grounds for appeal relied on by the appellant. The notice of appeal shall not be

amended once it is ﬁled. The appellee may

ﬁle a short written response to the grounds

for appeal within ten days after the notice

of appeal is ﬁled. The notice of appeal and

response shall be mailed to the opposing

party on the day it is ﬁled. If the appellant

is the applicant for the groundwater use

permit, the appellee shall in all cases be

the groundwater administrator. If the appellant is a person who ﬁled a notice of

appearance, the appellee shall in all cases

be the applicant. The applicant for the

groundwater permit shall in all cases be

permitted to appeal. No more than three

persons who ﬁled notice of appearance, in

addition to the applicant for the permit,

shall be permitted to appeal the decision

of the groundwater administrator. The

ﬁrst three such notices of appeal shall

conclude ﬁlings.

CD18:6

In the event the court ﬁnds the presumption is overcome pursuant to this subsection, the court shall remand the case back

to the groundwater administrator for the

limited purpose of hearing only the excluded or new evidence and any evidence

presented in rebuttal to such evidence.

The hearing will be held within ten days

after the order of the court prior to its

decision to give the court such parties and

appellee. At the conclusion of such remand hearing, the groundwater adminis-

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

trator shall, within ten days of the hearing, make and enter such amended ﬁndings

of fact and decision as the groundwater

administrator deems necessary, or in the

event the groundwater administrator determines that the evidence adduced at the

remand hearing requires no amendment,

the groundwater administrator will issue

a decision reaffirming its prior ﬁndings of

fact and decision. The ﬁndings of fact and

decision will be transmitted to the court

and such ﬁndings of fact and decision will

not be subject to a separate appeal.

(5)

Decision. The court shall determine

whether the decision is supported by the

ﬁnding of fact and the law. Any party to

the case may request an opportunity to

appear before the court prior to its decision to give the court such parties view of

the case. The other party or parties shall

be given adequate notice of the hearing

and an opportunity to present such party

or parties view of the case. Such views

shall be presented orally by the parties

and shall only deal with the ground relied

on by the appellant as set out in the notice

of appeal. The hearing shall be limited to

one hour and the time will be equally

divided between the appellant and the

appellee. If the court ﬁnds that the decision is incorrect, it shall issue a new

decision correctly stating the decision. Such

decision shall be ﬁnal and not subject to

rehearing, review or appeal.

(Code 1981, § 18-27; Code 2012, § 18-27; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 6, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-27, 5-30-2012)

§ 18-49

Sec. 18-29. Records of water usage.

Each permittee shall maintain a complete record of groundwater withdrawal and usage. The

record shall be maintained contemporaneously

with withdrawal and use and shall contain the

amount of water withdrawn on a weekly basis;

the use to which it was put; the location of the

use; the amount and cost of electrical power in

connection with the withdrawal; and such other

information as shall reasonably be required by

the groundwater administrator. A true and complete copy of such records certiﬁed by the permittee to be accurate shall be ﬁled by the permittee

with the groundwater administrator on the 15th

day of each month for the prior month.

(Code 1981, § 18-29; Code 2012, § 18-29; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 8, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-29, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-30. Rule-making authority.

The groundwater administrator shall prescribe, subject to the approval of the Community

Council, rules and regulations, not in conﬂict with

the ordinances of the Community, necessary to

perform the groundwater administrator's functions under this article.

(Code 1981, § 18-30; Code 2012, § 18-30; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 9, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-30, 5-30-2012)

Secs. 18-31—18-48. Reserved.

ARTICLE III. ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

Sec. 18-49. Policy.

It is the policy of the Community that:

Sec. 18-28. Records of application, permit

and proceedings.

A complete record of all applications, actions

taken thereon, and any permits issued shall be

maintained by the Community and shall be open

for public inspection at the office of the groundwater administrator.

(Code 1981, § 18-28; Code 2012, § 18-28; Ord. No.

SRO-94-85, § 7, 1-23-1985; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-28, 5-30-2012)

CD18:7

(1)

The health and welfare of the Community

and its members are enhanced by compliance with federal and Community environmental law;

(2)

Consistent with the 1984 statement of

policy by the United States Environmental Protection Agency entitled "EPA Policy

for the Administration of Environmental

Programs on Indian Reservations," the

Community develop and fulﬁll its princi-

§ 18-49

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

pal role as the appropriate nonfederal

party for making decisions and carrying

out program responsibilities affecting the

reservation, its environment, and the

health and welfare of the reservation populace;

(3)

Federal environmental law means that body of

public laws, as amended, enacted by the United

States Congress to protect the environment including, but not limited to:

Reasonable and feasible means within

existing Community resources be regularly taken both to ensure compliance

with federal and Community environmental law and to limit the Community's

liability in the event of environmental

damage caused by commercial lessees of

Community property;

The Community shall have the responsibility and capability of regulating any

environmentally harmful conduct by any

commercial lessee who is a party to a

contract, lease or other instrument with

the Community.

(Code 1981, § 18-41; Code 2012, § 18-41; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 1, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-41, 5-30-2012)

(1)

Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, 90

Stat. 2003, codiﬁed as 15 USC 2601 to

2654;

(2)

Federal Water Pollution Control Act of

1987, 101 Stat. 76, codiﬁed as 33 USC

1251 to 1387;

(3)

Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1976, 90 Stat.

2795, codiﬁed as 42 USC 6901 to 6991i;

(4)

Clean Air Act of 1970, as amended, 84

Stat. 1705, codiﬁed as 42 USC 7401 to

7642;

(5)

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,

83 Stat. 852, codiﬁed as 42 USC 4321 to

4370a;

(6)

Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980,

94 Stat. 2767, 3300, codiﬁed as 42 USC

9601 to 9675;

(4)

Sec. 18-50. Deﬁnitions.

In this article, unless the context otherwise

requires, the following terms shall have the meanings herein ascribed to them:

Business means all activities or acts, personal

or corporate, engaged in and caused to be engaged

in with the object of gain, beneﬁt or advantage,

either direct or indirect, but not casual activities

or sales.

Commercial lessee means any person who, by

means of a contract, lease or other instrument

subject to the provisions of section 17-5, engages

in business within the exterior boundaries of the

Community Reservation.

Community means the Salt River PimaMaricopa Indian Community.

Director means the director of the Community

development department of the Community.

Environmentally harmful substance means any

pollutant, solid, liquid or gaseous, subject to regulation and so deﬁned by federal environmental

law.

and the federal regulations promulgated by agencies and departments of the United States pursuant to such public laws, and as such statutes and

regulations may be hereafter amended.

Person means any individual, partnership, association, corporation or any organized group of

persons whether incorporated or not, including a

person acting in a ﬁduciary or representative

capacity, and further including any governmental

agency.

(Code 1981, § 18-42; Code 2012, § 18-42; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 2, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-42, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-51. Compliance required generally.

(a) Handling of environmentally harmful substances. No person or commercial lessee shall

generate, handle, store, transport, apply, or dispose of any environmentally harmful substance

as deﬁned within the scope of federal or Community environmental law, within the Community, if

such activity or the manner of its conduct under

the circumstances would be prohibited by federal

or Community environmental law.

CD18:8

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

(b) Amendment to section 17-6. The Community Council shall not approve any contract, lease

or instrument pursuant to section 17-6 unless

such contract, lease or other instrument shall

provide:

§ 18-52

propriate for the protection of public health, safety

and welfare, and to prevent harm to the environment:

(1)

To designate environmentally harmful substances and activities.

(2)

To restrict, regulate or prohibit the generation, storage, transportation, handling

and application of environmentally harmful substances within the Community.

(3)

To enter in a lawful manner any commercially leased premises within the Community to observe or inspect any equipment,

supplies, materials, storage and handling

areas and facilities, disposal sites and

devices which are used or intended for use

in connection with any environmentally

harmful substance or potentially environmentally harmful substance.

Sec. 18-52. Enforcement of article and regulations.

(4)

(a) Director designated to enforce article. The

director of the Community development department or his or her designee shall enforce this

article and the regulations adopted pursuant to it.

To issue, promulgate and enforce regulations to implement this article, subject to

the approval of the Community Council.

(5)

To require violators of this section and

others liable for disposal or spillage of

environmentally harmful substances

within the Community to remove and

clean or bear the costs of removing and

cleaning such substances within a time

frame established by the director.

(6)

To obtain advice and assistance of federal,

state, county and municipal government

agencies, and private agencies, and persons with technical expertise, in the adoption and implementation of a comprehensive environmental program; to coordinate

activities and cooperate with such other

governmental agencies having similar or

related responsibilities within their respective jurisdictions; and to utilize the Community court to enforce the environmental program, the provisions of this article,

and the regulations adopted pursuant to

this article.

(7)

To designate authorized representatives

of the director and to delegate to them

authority to act on behalf of the director

in the conduct of inspections, observa-

(1)

An agreement to comply fully with all

applicable federal and Community environmental law; and

(2)

An agreement to hold the Community

and/or allotted landowners harmless for

all environmental damage caused by lessee or, in the alternative, to indemnify or

reimburse the Community and/or allotted

landowners for economic losses sustained

as a result of such damage.

(Code 1981, § 18-43; Code 2012, § 18-43; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 3, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-43, 5-30-2012)

(b) Functions. The director shall enforce this

article to protect the health, safety and welfare of

all residents of the Community against adverse

effect of the restricted, regulated or unlawful

generation, storage, transportation, handling or

application of environmentally harmful substances within the Community. The director is

authorized and directed to utilize all reasonably

available resources to monitor regularly commercial developments pursuant to this section, and by

rules and regulations to adopt and impose such

restrictions, requirements, controls and prohibitions upon generation, storage, transportation,

handling or application of environmentally harmful substances within the Community as, considering all reasonably available and material data

and information, appear technically and scientifically reasonable for the protection of the public

health, safety and welfare.

shall include the following procedures and undertakings, as may be necessary, reasonable or ap-

CD18:9

§ 18-52

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

tions, inquiries, and enforcement of this

article, regulations adopted pursuant to

it.

Until an alternate waste disposal system is available for use by a user or installer of a septic tank

system, nothing in this article shall limit the use

or installation of a septic tank system or subject

any user or installer of any such a system to any

penalty provided such a septic tank system is

maintained in a reasonable manner.

(Code 1981, § 18-44; Code 2012, § 18-44; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 4, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-44, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-53. Production, processing, distribution, sale, etc., prohibited.

No person may generate, produce, process,

manufacture, distribute, sell or offer to sell or

dispose of any hazardous, toxic, or environmentally harmful substance within the Community.

(Code 1981, § 18-45; Code 2012, § 18-45; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 5, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-45, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-54. Wildlife and natural plants.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by chapter

12, article II and chapter 15, article III, it is

unlawful for any person to take, acquire, receive,

damage, destroy, transport, purchase or sell any

naturally occurring ﬁsh or wildlife or plant within

the exterior boundaries of the Community without ﬁrst obtaining a permit.

(b) It is unlawful for any person to take, acquire, receive, damage, destroy, transport, purchase, or sell any endangered or threatened ﬁsh

or wildlife or plant, or to impair the critical

habitat thereof, in violation of any law, treaty, or

regulation of the United States, including, but not

limited to, the Endangered Species Act (16 USC

1531 et seq.), or in violation of the laws and

regulations of the State of Arizona governing the

protection of native plants.

(Code 1981, § 18-46; Code 2012, § 18-46; Ord. No.

SRO-211-96, § 2, 12-6-1995; Ord. No. SRO-4022012, § 18-46, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-55. License suspension or revocation.

Violation of the provisions of this article shall

be cause for suspension or revocation of license

under section 15-36.

(Code 1981, § 18-47; Code 2012, § 18-47; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 6, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-21196, § 1, 12-6-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1847, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-56. Judicial proceedings; Community court.

(a) If at any time it appears to the director that

any person or commercial lessee has violated or

failed to comply with the provisions of this article

or any of the regulations adopted pursuant to it or

that such person is then so violating or failing to

comply therewith, the director may institute proceedings in the Community court for any appropriate remedies, whether criminal or civil in nature, including injunctive relief, seizure and

forfeiture, and the posting of bonds or sureties to

ensure compliance.

(b) The Community court shall have jurisdiction to hear all actions brought by the director

pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, and

may impose:

(1)

Civil ﬁnes and penalties for violation of

this article or the regulations issued pursuant thereto, not to exceed $10,000.00

for each such violation and for each day of

its continuance; and/or

(2)

A sentence of imprisonment for violation

of this article or the regulations issued

pursuant thereto not to exceed six months

in the Community jail or a $5,000.00 ﬁne

or both, with costs.

(Code 1981, § 18-48; Code 2012, § 18-48; Ord. No.

SRO-180-95, § 7, 10-12-1994; Ord. No. SRO-21196, § 1, 12-6-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1848, 5-30-2012)

Secs. 18-57—18-85. Reserved.

CD18:10

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

§ 18-90

Sec. 18-89. Deﬁnitions.

ARTICLE IV. SURFACE WATER

MANAGEMENT

The following terms, when used in this article,

shall have the meanings ascribed herein, except

where context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Sec. 18-86. Short title.

This article may be referred to as the "Surface

Water Management Code."

(Code 1981, § 18-71; Code 2012, § 18-71; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-71, 5-30-2012)

Regulated surface water means water diverted

from any surface watercourse or surface water

storage facility and carried to the Community for

any other purpose.

Sec. 18-87. Policy.

Surface water administrator means the director of the Community development department or

the director's designee or designees.

The rights of the Community to the waters of

the Salt and Verde Rivers and the Central Arizona Project (surface water) have been quantiﬁed

by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Agreement of 1988

and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988

(Act). These rights constitute an invaluable asset

of the Community which ought to be wisely managed for the beneﬁt of the members of the Community and landowners within the Community. It

is the policy of the Community that use of such

surface water should be subject to an equitable

system of control, distribution, allocation and

regulation so as to achieve the maximum beneﬁcial use and conservation of such waters in recognition of the drain on the water resource and the

changing state of the art of the use of water and

the varying annual quantity of available Community water. Surface water shall ﬁrst be used to

satisfy the agricultural requirements of the Community's lands, and then be used for appropriate

commercial purposes. Groundwater shall be used

for domestic and commercial purposes which require no water treatment beyond ﬂuoridation.

(Code 1981, § 18-72; Code 2012, § 18-72; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-72, 5-30-2012)

Unregulated surface water or effluent means

water which, after having been withdrawn as

groundwater or diverted as surface water, has

been used for domestic, municipal, agricultural or

industrial purposes and which is available for

reuse for any purpose, whether or not the water

has been treated to improve its quality.

(Code 1981, § 18-74; Code 2012, § 18-74; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-74, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-90. Permits; standards of issuance

and use.

(a) Permit required. No surface water may be

used for any purpose unless the user has received

a surface water use permit from the surface water

administrator.

Sec. 18-88. Scope of regulation.

This article shall regulate all surface water of

the Community.

(Code 1981, § 18-73; Code 2012, § 18-73; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-73, 5-30-2012)

CD18:11

(b) Establishment of presumptive right.

(1)

Within 60 days of the enactment of this

article, the surface water administrator

shall send, by certiﬁed mail, notice of the

enactment of this article, together with a

copy of this article to each user of surface

water within the Community. Mailing of

such notice shall be conclusive proof of

receipt of notice.

(2)

Any person using regulated surface water

at the time of the enactment of the ordinance from which this article is derived

shall have a presumptive right to the use

of such surface water, in the amount used,

for the term of any contract or other

instrument which forms the basis of the

surface water use, or, if there is no such

§ 18-90

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

water permit is being sought may apply

for a surface water use permit. The application shall be on a form provided by the

Community and shall provide information sufficient to enable the surface water

administrator to make a decision in regard to the issuance of a permit and to

enable the surface water administrator to

impose reasonable use criteria on any

issued permit.

contract or interest, for a period of ﬁve

years. Such user shall apply for a surface

water use permit within 180 days of the

enactment of the ordinance from which

this article is derived. Failure to apply

within such time shall result in the user's

loss of any presumptive right. The presumptive right created by this section

may be defeated by a fair showing that:

The amount of water used for the

purpose exceeds the amount of water required to achieve the purpose

intended; or

Term.

A surface water use permit may be

issued for a period of ﬁve years if the

use to which the water is to be put is

agricultural and the land on which

the water is to be used is not subject

to a contract or other instrument.

If the water is to be used for agricultural purposes and the land is subject to a contract or other instrument, then the permit may be issued

for a period equal to that of the term

of the contract or other instrument.

If the use to which the water is to be

put is other than agricultural, the

term of any surface water use permit

shall be coexistent with the term for

which the use shall be reasonably

required by the applicant, but in no

event longer than the term of any

contract or other instrument under

which the use arises.

The purpose for which the water

issued is wasteful of the resource in

terms of other feasible uses.

If a ﬁnding under subsection (b)(2)a of

this section is made, a surface water use

permit shall be issued for such an amount

of surface water as is reasonable and

necessary for the use, provided the applicant submits to the surface water administrator an amended application in the

amount found to be reasonable and necessary for the use. If the use has been

found to be wasteful under subsection

(b)(2)b of this section, a permit may be

issued only if the applicant submits to the

surface water administrator an amended

application for an amount of water reasonable and necessary for a feasible alternative use. An amended application under subsection (b)(2)b of this section shall

be treated as an application under subsection (c) of this section.

(3)

(2)

Any allottee or other person upon whose

property unregulated surface water occurs, whether naturally or whether by

return or salvage, is presumed to have

usage rights to such water. These persons

are not required to obtain a permit for use

of such water.

(3)

Determination of amount of water. The

amount of regulated surface water permitted to be used under each surface water

use permit shall be determined by both

the need proven and the available supply

of surface water.

Use permits conditional. All surface

water use permits shall be issued

conditioned on:

A term of use;

(1)

The nature of the use permitted;

The amount of water to be used

per week, month or year, depending on the nature of use;

Permit form. Any member of the Community or any other person who holds a

contractual right which requires the use

of water for its enjoyment or any allotted

landowner of the land for which a surface

CD18:12

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

The parcel or tract of land within

which the use will take place;

and

Upon such other reasonable conditions as the surface water administrator shall determine are

necessary to carry out the policies of this article.

Actual and potential use permits.

Surface water use permits may be

issued for actual and potential uses.

Surface water use permits issued for

potential uses shall be limited in

time so that water resources will not

be reserved beyond a reasonable period of time. For good and sufficient

cause shown, extension in time may

be granted.

Permits conditioned on available water. All surface water use permits

shall be conditioned on the right of

the surface water administrator to

change the amount or permitted use

of surface water depending on changing quantities of available regulated

surface water. Any such change by

the surface water administrator shall

be based upon the administrator's

written ﬁnding that the change is

required to ensure the equitable distribution of the resource, and shall

be subject to the notice, hearing and

appellate procedures of this article.

Redetermination of water requirements. The surface water administrator may, upon notice and hearing,

and subject to the appellate provisions of this article, determine that

the use of water by a permittee in

any year requires a redetermination

of such permittee's water requirements and the surface water administrator may, upon a written ﬁnding,

reduce the amount of water to be

used in the remaining years of the

permit to the amount actually required.

§ 18-91

(d) Renewal. Permittees must apply for a renewal of a permit at least six months prior to its

expiration. In the absence of clear and convincing

evidence that a permit should not be renewed, it

will be renewed. Renewal may be on different

terms than contained in the prior permit and the

applicant shall be required to meet the standards

of this article for the issuance of a permit for a use

with a presumptive right.

(Code 1981, § 18-75; Code 2012, § 18-75; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-75, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-91. Shortage; retired agricultural

lands.

(a) Shortage. When the surface water administrator determines that there will be insufficient

surface supplies for a stated period of time, the

surface water administrator shall determine in a

written ﬁnding the facts leading to the conclusion,

the conclusion of shortage and the determination

of reallocation of surface water to permittees.

(1)

The ﬁndings will be made only after a

public hearing which has been noticed at

least ten days prior to its conveying and

at which testimony and written memoranda regarding the issue of water availability shall be received by the surface

water administrator, who shall be the

hearing officer, unless the surface water

administrator designates another person

to be the hearing officer.

(2)

The allocation of surface water shall be

accomplished by an equal reduction in

water supplies delivered in the most efficient time pattern as determined by the

surface water administrator whether or

not any permittee is disadvantaged thereby.

(b) Extended water shortage. The surface water administrator shall impose a moratorium on

the delivery of surface water to agricultural or

other uses which have not had delivery of surface

water to the time the moratorium commences if

the surface water administrator makes written

ﬁndings pursuant to the process provided in subsection (a)(1) of this section that a ﬁnding requir-

CD18:13

§ 18-91

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

ing a reallocation under this section has been

made for the period just ending and for the

ensuing period.

uses. Permits for surface water delivery for agricultural or other purposes shall terminate when

the use for which the permit was issued lapses.

(Code 1981, § 18-76; Code 2012, § 18-76; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-76, 5-30-2012)

(b) A decision of the surface water administrator may be appealed to the Community court by

the applicant, any Community member, or other

person having the right to the use of land within

the Community, who ﬁles a notice of appearance

with the surface water administrator before the

hearing is adjourned.

the surface water administrator in the following

manner:

Sec. 18-92. Application procedure.

(a) Any application for a surface water use

permit pursuant to section 18-90 shall be made to

the surface water administrator with an application fee as provided by the rules and regulations.

The surface water administrator shall determine

whether and under what conditions a surface

water use permit shall be issued after a hearing

has been held. The hearing shall be noticed by

certiﬁed mail or delivered notice to all landowners

owning land which is within the Community and

within one mile of the perimeter of the land

within which the water use is to be made, and all

of the land within which the water use is to be

made, and all persons having a right to use land

which is within the Community and within one

mile of the perimeter of the land within which the

water use is to be made pursuant to a valid

contract or other instrument, and by notice in the

Community newspaper. Notice shall be given no

less than ten days prior to such hearing. Mailing

of notice shall be conclusive proof of receipt of

notice. The hearing shall be conducted by the

surface water administrator in an informal manner with rules adopted pursuant to this article

calculated to ensure full disclosure of all relevant

information. Professional attorneys shall not be

permitted to represent parties at any such hearing. The surface water administrator shall hear

all relevant issues and, within ﬁve days after the

hearing is concluded, shall issue a written decision. The decision will contain the ﬁndings of fact

relied on by the surface water administrator for

the decision as well as the decision. The ﬁndings

of fact and decision shall be distributed to the

applicant and any other land user or Community

member who ﬁles a notice of appearance pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

CD18:14

(1)

Notice of appeal. Written notice of appeal

shall be given within ﬁve days after the

day the written and executed decision is

ﬁled with the secretary of the Community.

The notice of appeal shall state all the

grounds for appeal relied on by the appellant. The notice of appeal shall not be

amended once it is ﬁled. The appellee may

ﬁle a short written response to the grounds

for appeal within ten days after the notice

of appeal is ﬁled. The notice of appeal and

response shall be mailed to the opposing

party on the day it is ﬁled. If the appellant

is the applicant for the surface water use

permit, the appellee shall, in all cases, be

the surface water administrator. If the

appellant is a person who ﬁled a notice of

appearance, the appellee shall, in all cases,

be the applicant. The applicant for the

surface water permit shall, in all cases, be

permitted to appeal. No more than three

persons who ﬁled notice of appearance, in

addition to the applicant for the permit,

shall be permitted to appeal the decision

of the surface water administrator. The

ﬁrst three such notices of appeal shall

conclude ﬁlings.

(2)

Costs. There shall be posted with the

clerk of the Community court a cash fee of

$25.00 to cover costs of the court.

(3)

Grounds for appeal. The court shall determine the appeal upon the ﬁndings of fact

and decision entered in the case by the

surface water administrator.

(4)

Findings of fact. The ﬁndings of fact shall

be presumed to be without reversible error. The presumption may be overcome by

a sworn written statement presented to

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

the court at the time of the ﬁling of the

notice of appeal which establishes, on the

basis of the statement, any one or more of

the following grounds:

That a witness ready and willing to

testify at the time of the hearing on

behalf of the appellant was not allowed by the surface water administrator to take the witness stand and

testify, and such testimony would

have materially altered the decision

of the surface water administrator.

That the surface water administrator refused to admit documentary or

other physical evidence, and such

evidence would have materially altered the decision of the surface water administrator.

That after the hearing the appellant

discovered material evidence which,

with reasonable diligence, could not

have been discovered and produced

at the hearing, and such evidence

would have materially altered the

decision of the surface water administrator.

In the event the court ﬁnds the presumption is overcome pursuant to this subsection, the court shall remand the case back

to the surface water administrator for the

limited purpose of hearing only the excluded or new evidence and any evidence

presented in rebuttal to such evidence.

The hearing will be held within ten days

after the order of the court prior to its

decision to give the court such parties and

appellee. At the conclusion of such remand hearing, the surface water administrator shall, within ten days of the hearing, make and enter such amended ﬁndings

of fact and decision as the surface water

administrator deems necessary, or, in the

event the surface water administrator determines that the evidence adduced at the

remand hearing requires no amendment,

the surface water administrator will issue

a decision reaffirming its prior ﬁndings of

fact and decision. The ﬁndings of fact and

§ 18-94

decision will be transmitted to the court

and such ﬁndings of fact and decision will

not be subject to a separate appeal.

(5)

Decision. The court shall determine

whether the decision is supported by the

ﬁnding of fact and the law. Any party to

the case may request an opportunity to

appear before the court prior to its decision to give the court such party's view of

the case. The other party or parties shall

be given adequate notice of the hearing

and an opportunity to present such party's

or parties' view of the case. Such views

shall be presented orally by the parties

and shall only deal with the ground relied

on by the appellant as set out in the notice

of appeal. The hearing shall be limited to

one hour and the time will be equally

divided between the appellant and the

appellee. If the court ﬁnds that the decision is incorrect, it shall issue a new

decision correctly stating the decision. Such

decision shall be ﬁnal and not subject to

rehearing, review or appeal.

(Code 1981, § 18-77; Code 2012, § 18-77; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-77, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-93. Records of applications and permit.

A complete record of all applications, actions

taken thereon, and any permits issued shall be

maintained by the Community and shall be open

for public inspection at the office of the surface

water administrator.

(Code 2012, § 18-78; Ord. No. SRO-199-95, 5-31995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 18-78, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-94. Records of water usage.

(a) Each permittee shall maintain a complete

record of surface water usage. The record shall be

maintained contemporaneously with use and shall

contain:

CD18:15

(1)

The amount of water used on a weekly

basis;

(2)

The use to which it was put;

(3)

The location of the use; and

§ 18-94

(4)

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

Such other information as shall reasonably be required by the surface water

administrator.

(b) A true and complete copy of such records

certiﬁed by the permittee to be accurate shall be

ﬁled by the permittee with the surface water

administrator on the 15th day of each month for

the prior month. The surface water administrator

shall monitor the accuracy of the records.

(Code 1981, § 18-79; Code 2012, § 18-79; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-79, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-97. Effective date.

The provisions of this article shall become

effective as of May 3, 1995.

(Code 1981, § 18-82; Code 2012, § 18-82; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-82, 5-30-2012)

Secs. 18-98—18-122. Reserved.

ARTICLE V. GRUSP GROUNDWATER

RECHARGE CONTROL AND QUALITY

PROTECTION

Sec. 18-123. Declaration of policy.

Sec. 18-95. Violation; penalty.

Any permittee who violates the conditions of

the permit or the provisions of this article shall be

subject to the forfeiture of the permit after notice

and hearing as provided for in section 18-92. The

Community shall have the jurisdiction to provide

injunctive relief in order to prevent the use of

surface water in violation of this article upon a

petition of the surface water administrator. The

Community court shall have the jurisdiction over

civil actions brought by the surface water administrator against permittees for civil damages resulting from the violation of the permit issued, or

for using surface water without a permit, and

such damages shall include the value of the water

used in violation of this article, the cost of investigations and attorney's fees, and all hearing and

court costs incurred.

(Code 1981, § 18-80; Code 2012, § 18-80; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-80, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-96. Rule-making authority.

It is the policy of the Community that the

groundwater underlying Community lands be protected from contamination resulting from contact

with Community landﬁlls. In furtherance of that

policy, a plan and appropriate regulations shall be

established to help ensure separation between

groundwater levels and low points of the landﬁll

refuse cells. The purpose of this plan and its

related regulations is to provide the Community a

mechanism by which it may adjust groundwater

levels in the event of an emergency involving the

rapid rise of such levels. Furthermore, additional

regulations designed to improve Community oversight of groundwater quality shall be authorized.

This plan and its related regulations are in no

way intended to alleviate or absolve the Salt

River Project or any other interested parties from

their respective duties and obligations in maintaining safe groundwater levels and preserving

groundwater quality.

(Code 1981, § 18-83; Code 2012, § 18-83; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-83, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-124. Deﬁnitions.

The surface water administrator shall prescribe, subject to the approval of the Community

Council, rules and regulations, not in conﬂict with

the ordinances of the Community, necessary to

perform the surface water administrator's function under this article.

(Code 1981, § 18-81; Code 2012, § 18-81; Ord. No.

SRO-199-95, 5-3-1995; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-81, 5-30-2012)

The following words, terms and phrases, when

used in this article, shall have the meanings

ascribed to them in this section, except where the

context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Aquifer means the groundwater aquifer underlying the Community landﬁlls and the GRUSP.

Community means the Salt River PimaMaricopa Indian Community.

CD18:16

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

Community landﬁlls means the Salt River Landﬁll located on the north side of the Bee Line

Highway in Section 19, Township 2 North, Range

6 East, the Tri-Cities Landﬁll, a closed landﬁll

located on the south side of the Bee Line Highway

in Section 34, Township 2 North, Range 5 East

along with Sections 3 and 4, Township 1 North,

Range 5 East, Gila and Salt River Base and

Meridian, and other landﬁlls that may have been

or may be established.

GRUSP means the Granite Reef Underground

Storage Project located on approximately 350

acres of land in Sections 28, 29 and 30, Township

2 North, Range 6 East, leased to it by the Community, and any related Community lands or

facilities, used for recharging water into the ground.

GRUSP permittees means the entities recognized and given a permit by the Arizona department of water resources to utilize the GRUSP for

purposes of obtaining credits, consisting of the

Salt River Project (as operating agent), the City of

Chandler, the City of Phoenix, the City of Mesa,

the City of Scottsdale, the City of Tempe, and the

Town of Gilbert.

Maximum safe level means the highest level of

groundwater underlying Community landﬁlls that

is permitted under regulations of the Community

and under orders issued by a responsible Community official or agency under authority of this

article.

Salt River Project means collectively, the Salt

River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power

District, an Arizona municipality, as the GRUSP

lessee and as a GRUSP permittee, and the Salt

River Valley Water Users Association, an Arizona

corporation, as a GRUSP permittee.

(Code 1981, § 18-84; Code 2012, § 18-84; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-84, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-125. Water quality regulation.

Primary authority to preserve the integrity of

the Community's groundwater is in the Community development department (CDD). The CDD is

authorized to monitor and regulate groundwater

quality and perform necessary related functions.

Such functions include developing appropriate

§ 18-127

regulations as required herein and providing appropriate oversight procedures to ensure Community and GRUSP permittee compliance with this

article and relevant groundwater quality standards. These functions shall be performed by

CDD subject to the supervision of the CDD director and of the Community manager or his or her

designee. This responsibility is delegated by the

Community Council, and such delegation may be

reassigned by the council by resolution should the

need arise.

(Code 1981, § 18-85; Code 2012, § 18-85; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-85, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-126. Operational management and

MSL regulation.

Primary authority for carrying out the Community's operational and management functions

set forth in this article is in the engineering and

construction services department (ECS). Such functions include performing the management and

enforcement functions set forth below, as well

monitoring groundwater levels and rates of ﬂow

and rise into and out of the GRUSP to ensure that

the maximum safe level (MSL) is maintained.

These functions shall be performed by ECS subject to the supervision of the ECS director and the

Community manager, or their respective designee(s). This responsibility is delegated by the

Community Council, and such delegation may be

reassigned by the council by resolution should the

need arise.

(Code 1981, § 18-86; Code 2012, § 18-86; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-86, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-127. Formulation and adoption of

regulations.

CDD, in conjunction with ECS, shall formulate

regulations that prescribe the maximum safe level

of groundwater underlying Community landﬁlls,

recognizing that the maximum safe level may

vary from time-to-time depending upon the quantity of Salt River and Verde River waters being

released from the facilities of the Salt River

Project as determined by factors including but not

limited to the water level of the associated reservoir, the extent of Salt River and Verde River

CD18:17

§ 18-127

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

watersheds snow cover, and precipitation predictions. Such regulations shall require periodic reports from the Salt River Project on groundwater

levels as determined from various means including but not limited to monitoring well depth-togroundwater levels, water recharge quantities,

groundwater withdrawals from the associated

Aquifer through supply wells, and data described

above which determines the release of river water

from the Salt River Project facilities. Formulated

regulations shall be furnished, together with an

invitation to submit written comments, to other

Community departments and agencies having an

interest in the subject and to the Salt River

Project. After reviewing the comments, CDD and

ECS shall submit the proposed ﬁnal regulations

to the Community Council for its consideration

and approval. CDD, in conjunction with ECS,

may issue temporary regulations that shall be in

effect during the comment and review process.

(Code 1981, § 18-87; Code 2012, § 18-87; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-87, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-130. GRUSP maintenance.

The CDD and ECS directors shall request

through the Community's budgeting process the

funds necessary for their departments to perform

the regulatory and operational functions set forth

in this article.

(Code 1981, § 18-90; Code 2012, § 18-90; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-90, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-131. Additional regulations to ensure water integrity authorized.

CDD is authorized to develop additional regulations as needed to ensure the integrity of waters

entering into and being stored in the GRUSP.

Such additional regulations shall be effective when

approved by the Community Council by resolution.

(Code 1981, § 18-91; Code 2012, § 18-91; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-91, 5-30-2012)

Secs. 18-132—18-160. Reserved.

Sec. 18-128. Enforcement authority.

ECS shall have the authority to enforce the

maximum safe level of groundwater by issuing

orders to the Salt River Project limiting and

prohibiting groundwater recharge. This authority

will be applicable not only if the maximum safe

level has been exceeded, but also in instances

where the maximum safe level has not been

exceeded. The Community may enforce orders

issued pursuant to this section by excluding the

violators from the GRUSP or by other appropriate

means.

(Code 1981, § 18-88; Code 2012, § 18-88; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-88, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-129. Employment of consultants.

ECS, in consultation with CDD, shall have the

authority to employ expert consultants as may be

necessary to conduct the efficient performance of

the duties assigned to it by this article.

(Code 1981, § 18-89; Code 2012, § 18-89; Ord. No.

SRO-326-08, 12-5-2007; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012,

§ 18-89, 5-30-2012)

ARTICLE VI. AGRICULTURE FUGITIVE

DUST CONTROL

Sec. 18-161. Title, authority, purpose, etc.

(a) Title. This article shall be known as the

Community agriculture fugitive dust control ordinance.

(b) Authority. This article is enacted pursuant

to article VII, section 1(c)(1), (c)(7) and (k) of the

Community Constitution.

is to regulate and mitigate agricultural fugitive

dust sources within the exterior boundaries of the

Community by minimizing the amount of particulate matter (PM-10 and PM-2.5) emitted into the

ambient air as a result of the impact of human

related activities through regulatory measures

aimed to prevent, reduce, or mitigate particulate

matter emissions.

(d) Scope. This article shall regulate the release of all agricultural fugitive dust within the

Community.

CD18:18

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

(e) Regulatory authority. The authority of the

Community, the Community development department director, or as may be delegated by the

director, shall include the promulgation, issuance,

and enforcement of regulations, policies, procedures or rules, as may be necessary or appropriate for the implementation of this article.

(Code 2012, § 18-95; Ord. No. SRO-368-2010,

§ 18-85, 8-18-2010; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1895, 5-30-2012)

§ 18-162

Community manager means the Community

manager or his or her authorized representative.

Cover crop means plants or a green manure

crop grown for seasonal soil protection or soil

improvement.

Critical area planting means using trees, shrubs,

vines, grasses or other vegetative cover on

noncropland.

Cropland means land that is suited to or used

for crops.

Sec. 18-162. Deﬁnitions.

Cross wind ridges means soil ridges formed by

a tillage operation.

The following words, terms and phrases, when

used in this article, shall have the meanings

ascribed to them in this section, except where the

context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Cross wind strip cropping means planting strips

of alternating crops within the same ﬁeld.

Access restriction means restricting or eliminating public access to noncropland with signs or

physical obstruction.

Cross wind vegetative strips means herbaceous

cover established in one or more strips within the

same ﬁeld.

Aggregate cover means gravel, concrete, recycled road base, caliche or other similar material

applied obstruction.

Dust suppressants are those materials applied

to a soil surface to prevent soil particles from

becoming airborne. Examples include ﬁber based,

calcium

chloride,

magnesium

chloride,

lignosulfonate, petroleum resin, and acrylic polymers, nonpetroleum based organics and

ligninsulfonate.

Artiﬁcial wind barrier means a physical barrier to the wind.

Caliche means a hardened deposit of calcium

carbonate.

Carryout/trackout means any and all bulk

materials that adhere to and agglomerate on the

exterior surfaces of motor vehicles, haul trucks

and/or equipment (including tires) and that have

fallen onto a paved public roadway.

Cessation of night tilling means the discontinuance of night tilling on high pollution advisory

days during stagnant air conditions.

Chemical irrigations means applying fertilizer,

pesticide or other agricultural chemicals to cropland through an irrigation system.

Combining tractor operations means performing two or more tillage, cultivation, planting or

harvesting operations with a single tractor or

harvester pass.

Community means the Salt River PimaMaricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).

Environmental protection and natural resources

means the Community's environmental protection and natural resources office (EPNR). The

person authorized to act on behalf of the EPNR is

the Community's EPNR manager or his or her

authorized representative.

Equipment modiﬁcation means modifying agricultural equipment to prevent or reduce fugitive

dust from cropland.

Fugitive dust means particulate matter emissions made airborne by forces of wind, mechanical

disturbances of surfaces or both. Unpaved roads,

construction sites and tilled land are examples of

sources of fugitive dust.

Green chop means harvesting of a forage crop

without allowing it to dry in the ﬁeld.

Integrated pest management means the use of a

combination of techniques including organic, conventional and biological practices.

CD18:19

§ 18-162

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

Limited activity during a high-wind event means

performing no tillage or soil preparation activity

when the measured winds peek at six feet height

is more than 25 miles per hour at the farm site.

Manure application means applying animal

waste or biosolids to a soil surface.

Surface roughening means manipulating a soil

surface to produce or maintain clods.

Tillage and harvest means arable land that is

worked by plowing and sowing, raising crops and

the yield from plants in a single growing season.

Mulching means applying plant residue or other

material that is not produced on site to a soil

surface.

Tillage based on soil moisture means applying

water to soil before or during tillage, or delaying

tillage to coincide with precipitation.

Multiyear crop means a crop, pasture, or orchard that is grown, or will be grown, on a

continuous basis for more than a year.

Timing of tillage operation means performing

tillage operations at a time that will minimize the

soil's susceptibility to generate fugitive dust emissions.

Noncropland means any land that does not

meet the deﬁnition of cropland including unpaved

roads and buffer strips.

Owner and/or operator means any person who

owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises a

fugitive dust source subject to the requirements of

this article.

Permanent cover means a perennial vegetative

cover on cropland.

Planting based on soil moisture means applying water to soil before performing planting operations.

Precision farming means using global positioning system (GPS) to precisely guide farm equipment in the ﬁeld.

Reduced harvest activity means reducing the

number of harvest passes using a mechanized

method to cut and remove crops from a ﬁeld.

Reduced tillage system means reducing the

number of tillage operations used to produce a

crop.

Reduced vehicle speed means operating farm

vehicles or farm equipment on unpaved farm

roads at speeds not to exceed 15 miles per hour.

Residue management means managing the

amount and distribution of crop and other plant

residues on a soil surface.

Sequential cropping means growing crops in a

sequence that minimizes the amount of the time

bare soil is exposed on a ﬁeld.

Transgenic crops means the use of plants that

are genetically modiﬁed.

Tree, shrub or windbreak planting means providing a woody vegetative barrier to the wind.

Watering means applying water to noncropland.

(Code 2012, § 18-96; Ord. No. SRO-368-2010,

§ 18-86, 8-18-2010; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1896, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-163. Applicability.

(a) Purpose. This article limits particulate matter (PM-10 and PM-2.5) emissions into the ambient air from any agriculture property, operation,

activity or land use that may serve as an agricultural fugitive dust source.

(b) Dust control measures and requirements.

The owner and/or operator who farms more than

ﬁve contiguous acres of land within the Community must complete an agricultural fugitive dust

general plan for each location and shall employ

two of the following dust control measures for

each category of agricultural activity at each

location (if applicable). All general plans shall

identify, at minimum, the contact information for

the owner and/or operator, the location, the dust

control sources and the measures to be taken

before, after, and while conducting any dust generating activity; and must be submitted to the

EPNR within 30 days of being requested by the

EPNR to do so. The EPNR shall approve, disap-

CD18:20

WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

prove, or conditionally approve the general plan,

in accordance with the requirements herein within

ﬁve days of receipt of the general plan.

(1)

(2)

(3)

Tillage and harvest.

Cessation of night tilling.

Chemical irrigation.

Combining tractor operations.

Equipment modiﬁcation.

Green chop.

Integrated pest management.

Limited activity during high-wind

events.

Multiyear crop.

Planting based on soil moisture.

Precision farming.

Reduced harvest activity.

Reduced tillage system.

Tillage based on soil moisture.

Timing of tillage operations.

Transgenic crops.

Access restriction.

Aggregate cover.

Artiﬁcial wind barrier.

Critical area planting.

Manure application.

Reduce vehicle speed.

Dust suppressants approved by environmental protection and natural

resources division.

Trackout control system.

Tree/shrub/windbreak planting.

Watering.

Artiﬁcial wind barrier.

Cover crop.

Crosswind ridges.

Crosswind strip cropping.

Crosswind wind vegetative strip.

Integrated pest management.

Manure application.

Mulching.

Multiyear crop.

Permanent cover.

Planting based on soil moisture.

Residue management.

Sequential cropping.

Surface roughening.

Transgenic crops.

Trees/shrub/windbreak planting.

(d) Dust control records. The owner and/or

operator must keep records detailing the dust

control measures selected for each category. The

owner and/or operator must make available the

records to the environmental protection and natural resources division within three business days

of the notice to the owner and/or operator.

single control measure prove ineffective, the owner

and/or operator shall immediately implement additional control measures, which may require

submitting a revised general plan to the EPNR.

Noncropland.

Cropland.

§ 18-164

(e) Fee. No fee is associated with the agriculture fugitive dust general plan.

(f) Violations. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section including the chosen control

measures, or failure to obtain and implement an

approved fugitive dust general plan is deemed to

be a violation of this article.

(Code 2012, § 18-97; Ord. No. SRO-368-2010,

§ 18-87, 8-18-2010; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1897, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-164. Administration for compliance

and enforcement.

(a) Issurance of notice of violation. When EPNR

determines that a violation of any of the applicable provisions of this article has been committed,

an administrative compliance process shall be

initiated by the issuance of a notice of violation

(NOV) sent certiﬁed mail to the owner or operator

within 30 days of the violation. Depending on the

nature and seriousness of the violation, the EPNR

CD18:21

§ 18-164

COMMUNITY CODE OF ORDINANCES

manager, at his or her discretion, shall determine

whether or not the violation constitutes a ﬁne.

During the administrative compliance process,

the EPNR manager shall have the authority to

determine the ﬁne assessment on applicable violations. The EPNR will consult with the office of

the general counsel (OGC) and/or office of prosecutor in carrying out enforcement measures. Administrative ﬁnes and penalties for violation of

this article shall not exceed $500.00 for each such

violation and for each day of its continuance

which may constitute a separate violation.

(b) Contents. EPNR's NOV will at minimum

state the sections of this article the owner or

operator violated, corrective action to remedy the

violation, and specify a time period for corrective

action.

the EPNR in writing to the Community manager

within ﬁve business days from the date the NOV

is received. A meeting on the appeal before the

Community manager shall take place within 30

days from the date the appeal is received by the

Community manager. The decision of the Community manager shall be ﬁnal.

each such violation and for each day of its

continuance which may constitute a separate offense.

(2)

Other relief as may be available by law,

which may include injunctive relief, and

the posting of bonds or sureties to ensure

compliance.

(Code 2012, § 18-99; Ord. No. SRO-368-2010,

§ 18-89, 8-18-2010; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1899, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-166. Remedies not exclusive.

The remedies listed in this article are not

exclusive of any other remedies available under

any applicable federal, tribal or local laws and is

within the discretion of the Community to seek

cumulative remedies.

(Code 2012, § 18-100; Ord. No. SRO-368-2010,

§ 18-90, 8-18-2010; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 18100, 5-30-2012)

(d) Judicial proceedings. If the owner or operator fails to pay the administrative ﬁne or fails to

comply with this article, the EPNR shall initiate

judicial proceedings by referring the violation to

the Community's office of the general counsel who

may ﬁle civil proceedings in the Community's

tribal court in accordance with the applicable

laws of the Community.

(Code 2012, § 18-98; Ord. No. SRO-368-2010,

§ 18-88, 8-18-2010; Ord. No. SRO-402-2012, § 1898, 5-30-2012)

Sec. 18-165. Judicial proceedings; Community court.

The Community court shall have jurisdiction to

hear all actions brought by the office of the

general counsel or the office of prosecutor pursuant to section 18-164(d) or other applicable law,

and may impose:

(1)

Civil ﬁnes and penalties for violation of

this article shall not exceed $1,000.00 for

CD18:22

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.