Title
Phoenix Water Supply and Demand Update - Citywide
Description
This report provides an update on the City of Phoenix’s water resource planning efforts in response to Colorado River water shortages and current drought conditions and outlines ongoing and future steps the City of Phoenix is taking in response.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
The United States Bureau of Reclamation will implement new Post-2026 Colorado River Operating Guidelines effective January 1, 2027. This action is the result of the Environmental Impact Statement released earlier this year that outlines multiple decision alternatives, each resulting in significant reductions to water supplies available to the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal and the State of Arizona.
The Operating Guidelines will reduce the Lower Basin states by 1.25 million acre-feet per year. Currently the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada are negotiating a two-year deal to share in the water shortages. The reductions to each state will result in a 27 percent cut to Arizona, 10 percent cut to California and 16 percent cut to Nevada. This will be a 760,000 acre-feet cut to (CAP).
The City of Phoenix relies on water delivered via CAP to meet approximately 40 percent of its annual customer demand and because of the upcoming reductions, the Water Services Department (WSD) continues to plan and prepare for the continued water delivery to residents and customers.
Phoenix’s Readiness
The City of Phoenix has been preparing for years to deal with these anticipated shortages while still developing viable long-term supply solutions.
There are several projects the City is pursuing to develop the next generation of water supplies. When completed, these projects will not only help offset Colorado River water shortages but also position the City with reliable water resources for the foreseeable future. First and foremost is Pure Water Phoenix, which is the City’s Advanced Water Purification program currently under construction at the Cave Creek Water Reclamation Plant and anticipated to deliver water to customers in 2029. In addition, the City is partnering with Salt River Project and others to expand Bartlett Dam to create more storage capacity on the Verde River. And earlier this year, Council approved the City’s participation in the Secure Water Arizona Program to create new and innovative water transactions that will offset both current and long-term water shortages. The next generation solutions demonstrate Phoenix’s commitment to planning, investment, and conservation to ensure reliable water services are accessible.
In the interim, the City will meet demands with backup supplies such as renewable backup supplies from the Salt and Verde river systems; water stored in the Arizona Water Bank, Tucson area and elsewhere; and groundwater. These are all solutions that, when used wisely, will build a bridge to long-term solutions.
While the City continues with these proactive measures, the City must also focus on how conservation and demand management today plays a role in strengthening our water future. For years, the City has maintained a Drought Management Plan (DMP) to employ as needed. The DMP identifies four drought stages:
- Stage 1 - Water Alert (declared June 2022)
- Stage 2 - Water Warning
- Stage 3 - Water Emergency
- Stage 4 - Water Crisis
Each stage brings with it an escalation of actions that the City can take to help deal with water supply insufficiencies. Since Stage 1, WSD has continued to build on its conservation, education and customer outreach programs, as well as take internal actions, like the creation of the Drought and Shortage Response Team, which is a comprised of staff from the City’s 13 departments that directly use water, to reduce overall water use.
It is increasingly likely that a Stage 2 declaration could be necessary in the future. If this occurs, the City will ask its departments to reduce water use by 10 percent and ask customers to voluntarily reduce their own water use by five percent.
In addition, WSD plans to further expand current conservation programs. The Water Efficiency Consultation Program, which offers an on-site review from a WSD conservation team member who evaluates water use and identifies ways the customer can improve their water efficiency, will be expanded to allow for more consultations per year. The Customer Incentive Program provides financial incentives for customers who take steps to improve water efficiency. This program will increase the incentives for grass removal and smart irrigation controllers. WSD will also be developing a new incentive program related to leak repairs.
As part of Stage 2, WSD will implement a drought surcharge. This is a temporary surcharge on customers who are the highest water users. The funds collected through surcharges will be used to fund the WSD conservation programs as well as identify and purchase new water supplies to add to the City’s water portfolio.The $2.10 surcharge will be applied per unit (equal to 748 gallons) based on customer type and will be applied to the monthly City Services bill.
- Residential - $2.10 per unit over 20 units a month.
- Commercial - $2.10 per unit over 300 units a month.
- Industrial - $2.10 per unit over 15,000 units a month.
Most water customers will not see a surcharge on their monthly bill, and for those that do, WSD is available to assist them to identify how to be more water efficient.
Phoenix is dedicated to ensuring reliable, high-quality water service through ongoing planning, infrastructure investment and conservation initiatives. The City will continue with proactive steps to diversify water supplies, enhance distribution systems and strengthen long-term water resilience.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Ginger Spencer and the Water Services Department.