Verde News has the full story. 

PRESCOTT VALLEY - In a new twist, the Salt River Project's latest move against local plans to pump water from the Big Chino Basin focuses heavily on Prescott Valley's involvement.

SRP, the Phoenix-area utility company that has senior water rights in the Verde River Basin, was among the several dozen entities and individuals to file objections recently to Prescott's application for an increase in its assured water supply.

While much of the complaint repeats previous SRP assertions about Prescott's authority to pump from the Big Chino Basin, it also brings into question Prescott Valley's rights to the imported water.
 

That is a notion that Prescott Valley town officials took exception to this week. In a late-Wednesday press conference, a group of town officials disputed both SRP's claims and the company's right to get involved in the process at all.

"They're really reaching, because they don't have standing," Prescott Valley Town Attorney Ivan Legler said, noting that the state process requires that objections to the designation come from within the Prescott Active Management Area.

The matter dates back to 2004, when the City of Prescott bought a portion of the JWK Ranch (later renamed the Big Chino Water Ranch) northwest of Paulden and partnered with Prescott Valley on costs, as well as future water allocations.