For Immediate Release, March 30, 2020
Contact: Sandy Bahr, 602.999.5790, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org
Stuart Gillespie, 303-996-9616, sgillespie@earthjustice.org.
Sierra Club Joins Lawsuit to Save San Pedro River, Slow Groundwater Pumping Tied to Arizona Military Base
TUCSON, Ariz.― Today, Sierra Club joined litigation filed by Maricopa Audubon Society and the Center for Biological Diversity, to prevent further harm to Arizona’s San Pedro River and its endangered species from excessive groundwater pumping in the Fort Huachuca area, including nearby Sierra Vista.
Statement by Sandy Bahr, chapter director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter:
“The San Pedro River is precious and essential to sustaining plants and animals, including those endangered species threatened by the continued excessive groundwater pumping in Sierra Vista associated with the military base. We cannot afford to lose another river to these excesses. We cannot lose imperiled species. We simply cannot lose the San Pedro River. That is why we are joining this important lawsuit to challenge excessive groundwater pumping to save the San Pedro River.”
The lawsuit against the U.S. Army and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services challenges the agency’s 2014 decision authorizing groundwater pumping connected to the San Pedro River to serve military operations at Fort Huachuca through 2024. The amended complaint can be found here.
The groups are represented by Earthjustice.
Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.8 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. Sierra Club and its members have long worked safeguard the San Pedro River and its surrounding ecosystem.
Earthjustice is the nation’s premier environmental law organization. We believe that everyone has the right to a healthy environment. Since our founding more than four decades ago, we’ve defended that right by using the power of the law to fight for the earth and its inhabitants.