BEHIND METER THE

Oro Valley Water Utility Newsletter Spring 2023

A Message From Our Director

Peter Abraham, P.E. Water Utility Director

For 2023, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) declared a Tier 2a water shortage for many Colorado River Water users, including Arizona. A Tier 2a water shortage reduces Arizona’s Colorado River allocation by 21%.

The BOR has requested that all Colorado River water users create a new plan to leave even more water in the river. Six of the seven Colorado River Basin states submitted a consensus framework plan for Colorado River water cuts that met the goals set forth by the BOR. Unfortunately, the plan failed to gain the support of California, seen as critical to making meaningful cutbacks since California has the largest apportionment of the river. California released its own plan which minimizes their obligation to leave water in the river while vastly increasing what Arizona must cut. At this time, it is unclear how the BOR will view any plan to save the river that doesn’t have the support of all the states.

The BOR needs to take decisive action. All Colorado River water users will need to commit to reductions. The sooner the river’s demand is reduced to a sustainable level the sooner the river will be protected, benefiting everyone.

For 2023, Oro Valley will not see any reduction in Colorado River Water deliveries, but we can expect a reduction in deliveries in future years. Fortunately, Southern Arizona water professionals have been planning for these challenging times for over two decades in the following ways:

• Robust Colorado River Water (CRW) Allocation: The Utility delivers approximately 25% of its CRW Allocation. The remaining CRW water is delivered to nearby underground aquifer storage facilities to replace groundwater pumped by the utility as well as to be saved for future use if needed.

• Groundwater Preservation: Since 2005, the Utility has added reclaimed water for irrigation purposes and CAP water for domestic use. This has resulted in the Town reducing its groundwater pumping by 56%, effectively preserving this precious natural resource for future use if needed.

• Member of the Arizona Water Bank: For decades the state of Arizona has been storing CAP water in underground aquifer storage facilities. This water is available for members in the event of municipal CAP delivery shortages.

• Conservation: Oro Valley residents have a strong water conservation ethic. Most of our customers fall within our lowest level of consumption.

Thanks to a diverse water resource portfolio, forward thinking water resource management, and our community’s strong conservation ethic, your water utility is well positioned to manage future water resource challenges and continue to provide continued long-term water service to you.

Looking forward,

Peter Abraham

Peter A. Abraham, P.E. | Water Utility Director

Total Water Production By Year

Water Matters

Oro Valley Water has a variety of ways to store and move water throughout our water system. So how does it get from here to there? One of the tools we use is the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which is made up of a complex network of computers that interface with our water distribution system. SCADA is controlled by our team of professional water certified operators that oversee two systems, one is for drinking or potable water, and the other is a separate system for reclaimed water. Utility staff can monitor pumps, wells, boosters, and reservoirs in real time and document important information that keeps our water moving where it needs to go. SCADA allows staff to move millions of gallons of water a day across the Oro Valley service area.

Customer Billing Portal

Don’t miss out! Over 30% of our customers are signed up and active on the new billing portal. The portal allows customers to set up convenient payment methods such as credit card, e-check, Amazona Pay, Apple Pay, or pay by check.

DID YOU KNOW?

Over 8,500 automated leak alerts were sent in 2022 from our WaterSmart program. Not surprisingly, the most common leak reported by customers was related to irrigation and secondly, toilets, but not all alerts turn out to be leaks. Customers confirmed in many cases when it was not a leak, pool filling or leaving a hose running accounted for most leaks ruled out.

Need a few ideas to save water?

• Find and stop leaks as soon as possible. Check out our Water Wisdom videos by visiting orovalleyaz.gov and clicking on the blue Water Utility button.

NOT SIGNED UP YET? Go to https://watercs.orovalleyaz.gov and click the RED “SIGN UP” button in the upper right-hand corner. Having trouble logging in? please contact Customer Service at 520-229-5000.

As a reminder, our customer portal is monitored only during regular business hours and excludes weekends and holidays. For water emergencies after business hours, please call 520-229-5000 Option 1 for the answering service.

• The WaterSmart tool allows you to monitor your water use online and provides high water use notifications and leak alerts. Visit WaterSmart at orovalley.watersmart.com.