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By Mayor Sam Hosler, Town of Kearny
Arizona water law is very complicated, owing to the lack of water and the history of Arizona’s development. When it comes to Kearny’s water, it shares the complications. In the simplest terms, the water we pump from our wells is legally determined by the amount of water behind Coolidge Dam.
Mayor Sam Hosler, Town of Kearny
The town is working on ways to increase our supply, including redeveloping wells which lie outside the boundaries of the Gila Water Accord. Our town manager, Anna Flores, is applying for a grant to cover much of the expenses. She is also applying for a competitive grant to do even more paving on our streets in this fiscal year.
Kearny’s streets are interesting. The town was planned and built in the ‘50s and ‘60s on the slope leading down to the Gila River. Like many Arizona cities at the time, the streets were designed to divert the rainwater into the river, rather than using the more conventional underground gutters. A new style of concrete curb, the slope, was utilized. It is designed to work in cooperation with the slope of the street to create swift, unimpeded flow of rain water. Other styles of curbing in use at the time had sharp corners and irregular surfaces, creating turbulence which eroded the softer surface of the pavement where it meets the curb.
So far, so good. But over the years, both by simple initiative and by unofficial permission of the Town of Kearny, residents began creating driveway ramps on the curb. What could be the harm? It’s just a little ramp.
But a look at our streets reveals that these ramps are a big contributing factor to road degradation. The ramps act like a rock in a river, creating turbulence and undoing the value of the smooth sloped curbs. Grit from the streets mixes with the water to scour the softer pavement, and dirt and water work their way underneath the edge. And, after the rain is gone, silt and grit remain dammed behind the ramps rather than being swept away. The town has to hire a street sweeping service on a regular basis to remove the dirt.
As our new pavement is laid, I ask all of us to refrain from the temptation to build a ramp. And, if your ramp is deteriorating, I suggest that it be removed rather than rebuilt. Yes, we will have to slow down a bit more when coming home, but we will have better streets and cleaner streets.
Next week I may write more about Journey for a Clean Kearny. But before I write anything, I’m going to pull the weeds in my own yard.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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