BLM email Response, page-40

1) The Native Americans are concerned about much more than conserving water, although it is true if you open a well 700 feet from the springs they own, it might shut off the water supply to it. What they are concerned about is that not just the springs, but the entire claim has religious and cultural significance, going back to the time before they were kicked off the land. And they are partnering with the descendants of the people who did it, because those ranchers also are now concerned about the supply of water on which their livelihood depends.

2) Try to learn something about Arizona water law. True, AZL can buy "water rights," which give them permission to withdraw water from the existing aquifer. These "rights:" are bought from farmers, local or hundreds of miles away, who agree to stop raising crops and let their land return to desert. Don't visualize buckets and pipes, visualize pieces of paper. The water itself still has to be pumped from underneath the mine site. It's not going to be trucked or piped in from a distance.