Title
Authorization to Enter into a Memorandum of Understanding With Multiple Agencies to Conduct a Gila River System Optimization Study (Ordinance S-53118) - District 7
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with other Arizona municipal water agencies to conduct a System Optimization Study of water diversion infrastructure along the Gila River below the 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Study will be jointly funded by all MOU participants, with the Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District collecting funds and managing work products. The City of Phoenix will provide $120,000 for the Study. Further request to authorize the City Controller to disburse, and the City Treasurer to accept, all funds related to this item.
Report
Summary
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be between the City of Phoenix, Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District (Buckeye WCDD), the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Arlington Canal Company, Paloma Irrigation and Drainage District, the City of Buckeye, and other possible participants to conduct a System Optimization Study (Study) of water diversion infrastructure along the Gila River below the 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The MOU parties are currently engaged in discussions to resolve long-asserted claims and disputes involving water use from the Verde, Salt and Gila Rivers. This Study will inventory current water diversion infrastructure used by the parties along the Gila River and identify potential infrastructure projects that may result in improved long-term water supply management, which improved efficiency could assist in the resolution of disputes among the parties.
The MOU sets out the purpose and need of the study, identifies respective duties and obligations of participating parties, and the cost share of the parties. The MOU is limited to the study and creates no commitment for any party to participate in, or fund, Study recommendations.
Under the MOU, Buckeye WCDD will manage the Study and will establish a special Project Trust Fund to hold the parties’ contributions and from which to pay the costs of the Study. Each party will pay Buckeye WCDD the funds they have agreed to pay under the MOU for the Study for deposit in the Project Trust Fund. Buckeye WCDD will provide the participants with monthly and final accounting of the expenditures of the Trust Fund. Any funds remaining in the Project Trust Fund upon the completion of the Study will be repaid to the participants in proportion to their contributions to the Fund.
Contract Term
The MOU will be effective upon execution by at least two parties and will be effective for each party that executes thereafter on the date of that execution. The MOU will terminate on January 31, 2027.
Financial Impact
The total cost of the Study is $569,952. The City of Phoenix will FUND no more than $120,000. Funds are available in the Water Services Department's operating budget.
Location
91st Avenue and W. Roeser Road
Council District: 7
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Ginger Spencer and the Water Services Department.