Arizona needs to cut back on Colorado River use, and water managers are working on a new plan that would tap into an underground water savings account to help do that.
As part of its response to record-low reservoir levels, the federal government is mandating water cutbacks for Arizona, California and Nevada. On top of that, the states are volunteering to cut back more water. To do that, they're passing the hat, getting contributions from water users — like cities and farms — that add up to a larger total.
Many of those users get money from the federal government to cut back on water use. But on Thursday, officials with the Central Arizona Project laid out the details of another strategy to help reach that goal.
Some cities and private utilities in the Phoenix metro could promise to conserve water and, instead of money, get access to an underground backup supply held by the Arizona Water Banking Authority.
The Water Bank was created in the late 1990s to store excess Colorado River water. Many cities that take water from the Central Arizona Project — the 336-mile canal system that brings Colorado River water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas — added water to that bank with the idea that they could pull it back out in the event of shortages on the Colorado River. Now, those shortages are here.
Earlier this year, Water Bank leaders and city utility managers locked horns over the future of the water savings account, arguing about how much water access utilities should be given in the event of Colorado River cuts. Eventually, the Water Bank agreed to make those utilities whole for one year, essentially providing a one-to-one replacement for the water they lose to mandatory cutbacks.
The new strategy, discussed at Thursday's Central Arizona Project board meeting, would be separate from that approach for forced cutbacks. The new plan would allow cities to volunteer water cuts in exchange for access to the Water Bank.
Greg Adams, a senior attorney at the Central Arizona Project, conceded that the savings from this new strategy may be relatively modest.
Arizona, California and Nevada are trying to save at least 700,000 acre-feet of water through 2028. An acre-foot is roughly enough water to supply three homes in the Phoenix area for a year.
At the board meeting, Adams showed tentative water savings under the new strategy. They could be up to 12,308 acre-feet this year, and up to 56,179 acre-feet in 2027.
"We're looking at the couch cushions here," Adams said. "But I think this does show broad commitment from water users within the state."
Cities and private utilities could offer a wide range of water savings. The city of Surprise may save up to 12,081 acre-feet of water in 2027. Meanwhile, the Tonto Hills Domestic Water Improvement District in Cave Creek, which serves a couple hundred homes and businesses, may save 25 acre-feet in the same year.
Adams said Arizona is trying to contribute 300,000 acre-feet of water conservation through 2028, and the cutbacks under this new strategy would only be a part of broader statewide water savings, including programs that pay water users money to cut back, and savings from water users in western Arizona, near the Colorado River itself.
"This goes a long way to getting us to that and surpassing that commitment," he said.
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