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Residents ask for citizens advisory board as Cochise County revisits data center rules and groundwater protections
Summary
Public commenters asked the Board of Supervisors to create a citizens advisory group to participate in upcoming work sessions on data center regulations; speakers raised concerns about large data-center footprints and groundwater protection and proposed formal public representation in rulemaking.
Several residents told the Cochise County Board of Supervisors on April 21 that the county should give the public a formal role as it amends data-center rules and addresses other land-use proposals.
Allison (Ali) Morse of Portal thanked the board for passing a data-center ordinance and urged creation of a citizens advisory group or task force to review additional amendments and participate in work sessions. "Rather than send another flurry of emails, I would like to respectfully propose the formation of a citizens advisory group or task force to give the public opportunity to discuss additional amendments," she told supervisors.
Donna Quisenberry asked the board to appoint a similar committee to coordinate among federal, state and local governments on land-proposal issues — including solar farms, transmission lines and potential mines — and noted an open house for a proposed 520-mile natural-gas pipeline route.
Cheryl Knott urged stronger groundwater protections and said large industrial groundwater users can impose economic loss; she cited a 2019 figure she reported seeing that a local operator used about 110,000 acre-feet per year and estimated a value of roughly $50 million in free water. Those numbers were presented as her research and were not verified or disputed on the record.
Multiple speakers said work sessions alone do not allow enough public dialogue and recommended that 2–3 citizen representatives be permitted to participate in the board’s amendment work sessions to improve transparency. One caller nominated specific community members for a prospective advisory board.
Why it matters Speakers framed the request as a way to increase transparency and reduce adversarial public debate over high-load projects (data centers, solar and transmission), and they raised groundwater protection as a central community concern. Board members acknowledged the public input and indicated staff will consider suggestions during upcoming work sessions.
What remains unresolved Public commenters provided several large numeric claims about water use and data-center megawatt scales; those figures were presented as participant research and were not vetted during the meeting.
The board did not take a formal vote on creating a citizens advisory group at this meeting; public commenters requested the board consider that step during forthcoming work sessions.
