February 2016 Volume 2 Issue 2
John Sullivan: How a Legacy of Great Customer Service Works for Salt River Project
Always a Leader By Kris Polly
W
hen former Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Floyd Dominy was 97, the National Water Resources Association awarded him its first-ever Water Buffalo Award for his many years of service and tremendous leadership during his 10 years as commissioner. The evening before the award was to be presented, the National Water Resources Association hosted a small, private dinner for Commissioner Dominy and his son, a retired three-star general. John Sullivan and Fritz Beeson of Salt River Project were present. As we sat down and introductions went around the table, Commissioner Dominy took particular interest in the Salt River Project representatives. “Ah, it is good to see friends from the Salt River Project again,” Commissioner Dominy said. “Your project contract was special. It was the first to have a hydro component, and you were the first to pay back your contract.” Commissioner Dominy continued for some time discussing the Salt River Project in great detail. Commissioner Dominy had a near-perfect memory and could recite testimony he had presented to Congress in the 1950s. As he discussed the Salt River Project, it was clear that he was impressed by its design and felt that Salt River Project was “always a leader.” This issue of Municipal Water Leader features Arizona water leaders and tells exciting stories of the innovations they make to ensure that an arid state has the water it needs to thrive and grow. John Sullivan’s 45-year career at Salt River Project exemplifies water leadership and planning at its very best. Central Arizona has been greatly blessed by his service. Ted Cooke is the interim general manager of the Central Arizona Project, Arizona’s largest contractor of Colorado River water with an annual entitlement of nearly 1.5 million acre-feet (almost 500 billion gallons) during normal supply conditions. Mr. Cooke explains to readers “why the desert flourishes and the economy continues to grow.” Senator Jon Kyl and Kathleen Ferris bring readers a story of yet another Arizona water innovation, the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act, which continues to be one of the nation’s most visionary laws for the use and protection of groundwater. They explain how the pumping of groundwater in excess replenishment has been reduced from 6 million acrefeet in 1980 to about 178,000 acre-feet in 2010—a spectacular accomplishment. Kathryn Sorensen, director of water services for the city of Phoenix, explains how the city has embraced a 2
water management strategy for the 2.5 million residents of the Valley of the Sun that emphasizes incentives for water conservation rather than government mandates. Water leadership and integration are apparent in the work of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Its director, Tom Buschatzke, explains how Arizona is meeting the challenges of managing water uses in collaboration with water users to secure a coordinated and integrated approach to both water supply and water quality. In another article, Mr. Buschatzke shares what Arizonans are doing to store Colorado River water in a water bank so that they can withdraw it during droughts. The practice is highly effective and entirely reverses the idea of a rainy-day fund. Our other writers also make clear the critical role that water leadership plays in our lives. Bruce Hallin, the director of water rights and contracts, Salt River Project, and Marcus Selig, interim president of the National Forest Foundation, make a strong case for the connection of healthy forests and healthy watersheds and how to make that connection work for municipal water. The vibrant partnership between Salt River Project and the National Forest Foundation in headwater forests is reducing the risk of uncharacteristically severe wildfire, limiting erosion and sedimentation, and improving wetlands and stream channels. Jason Hauter, a member of the Gila River Indian Community, and Dave Roberts, senior director of water resources at Salt River Project, collaborate on an article about the innovative partnership known as Gila River Water Storage, LLC. Gila River Water Storage uses the opportunities of tribal water rights and Arizona’s water banking program to pursue storage and exchange of water that benefits the tribe and to secure 100‑year renewable water supplies that support economic growth and development in Arizona. Guy Carpenter is Carollo’s water reuse technical practice director and president of the Water Reuse Association. He uses his perspective to inform readers about water reuse accomplishments in Arizona. Arizona’s motto is “God enriches.” We are confident that our readers will appreciate the role of Arizona’s water leaders in preserving and enhancing its precious endowment of water riches. Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader and Irrigation Leader magazines. He is also president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations, marketing, and publishing company he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com. Municipal Water Leader
FEBRUARY 2016
C O N T E N T S 2 Always a Leader
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 Municipal Water Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by Water Strategies LLC 4 E Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Crotty, Editor Valentina Valenta, Writer Robin Pursley, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting LLC, Copyeditor SUBMISSIONS: Municipal Water Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only on request. For more information, please contact Valentina Valenta at (202) 544-4348 or valentina.valenta@waterstrategies.com. ADVERTISING: Municipal Water Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or Municipal. Water.Leader@waterstrategies.com. CIRCULATION: Municipal Water Leader is distributed nationally to managers and boards of directors of water agencies with annual budgets of $10 million or more; the governors and state legislators in all 50 states; all members of Congress and select committee staff; and advertising sponsors. For address corrections or additions, please contact our office at Municipal.Water.Leader@waterstrategies.com. Copyright 2016 Water Strategies LLC. Municipal Water Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources and water industry professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Municipal Water Leader, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Municipal Water Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Municipal Water Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.
John Sullivan in front of one of the waterfalls at Arizona Falls, a restored SRP hydroelectric plant on the Arizona Canal in Phoenix. (Photo courtesy of Michael McNamara/SRP) Municipal Water Leader
By Kris Polly
4 John Sullivan: How a Legacy of Great Customer Service Works for Salt River Project 0 Central Arizona Project: Ensuring 1 Reliable, Cost-Effective Colorado River Water Supplies to Central and Southern Arizona
By Ted Cooke
4 The 1980 Arizona Groundwater 1 Management Act: Inspiring Sustainable Water Management
By Senator Jon Kyl and Kathleen Ferris
6 Phoenix Water: Smart Strategies for an 1 Uncertain Future
By Kathryn Sorensen
20 Arizona Department of Water Resources: Leading the Way for Resilience
By Tom Buschatzke
2 Ensuring High-Quality Water Deliveries: 2 The Connection Between Healthy Forests and Healthy Watersheds
By Bruce Hallin and Marcus Selig
26 Gila River Water Storage: An Innovative Partnership Puts Water in the Bank for Central Arizona
By Jason Hauter and Dave Roberts
32 Reusing Water for 90 Years
By Guy W. Carpenter
36 Arizona Water Banking Authority: Reserving Water Today for Use Tomorrow
By Tom Buschatzke
CLASSIFIED LISTINGS
38 Classifieds 3
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John Sullivan: How a Legacy of Great Customer Service Works for Salt River Project
ohn Sullivan is the deputy general manager and chief strategic initiatives executive at Salt River Project (SRP), where he has worked from 1971 until his retirement from SRP at the end of February. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2015 from the National Water Resources Association (NWRA)—the highest award given by the NWRA —for his “exemplary leadership, dedication and many years of service to the NWRA Board of Directors in furtherance of the water resources of Arizona.” Mr. Sullivan also served as the NWRA’s president for two years. SRP is the oldest multipurpose federal reclamation project in the United States. It has been serving central Arizona since 1903. SRP’s water business is one of the largest raw‑water suppliers in Arizona. It delivers about 800,000 acre-feet of water annually to a 375-square-mile service area and manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, canals, and irrigation laterals. Municipal Water Leader’s editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, spoke with Mr. Sullivan about his notable 45-year career at SRP, the district’s vast range of water resources operations, and its plans to continue providing Arizona with a fresh, reliable supply of water. Kris Polly: You helped lead SRP’s transformation from an agricultural water supplier to a municipal water supplier in the booming Phoenix metropolitan area. What were the important milestones in the transition from agricultural to urban water supply? John Sullivan: The transformation of the SRP water service area from agricultural to urban use in the Salt River valley started in the late 1940s. Following World War II and the Korean War, a large population of military personnel was being trained in Arizona, and they found that it was a nice place to live and raise their families following their deployment. So, we experienced a large influx of population to the state, starting at that time and extending well into the 1990s. When I started at SRP in 1971, we had more irrigated acreage than urban. In the mid- to late-1970s, we crossed over—urban acreage became greater than agricultural acreage—and it’s been a steady increase in urban 4
John Sullivan served as the master of ceremonies for the Theodore Roosevelt Dam centennial event on March 18, 2011. Roosevelt Dam is the cornerstone of SRP’s water-management system.
John Sullivan on his 45 years at SRP: “This is what I want people to know about SRP—there has never been a day in my entire career that I didn’t look forward to coming to work.”
Municipal Water Leader
acreage since then. Today, we have about 20,000 acres in agricultural use, and the remaining 228,000 acres are in urban uses of some type. If you look at milestones, in 1952 SRP entered into a unique agreement with the city of Phoenix, which was approved by the secretary of the interior because we operate a federal Reclamation project. Under the agreement, SRP agreed to deliver to Phoenix the water supply attributed to the SRP-member lands served by the city. Phoenix, in turn, agreed to take delivery of the water from SRP, treat it for potable uses, and collect and transfer to SRP the monetary assessments from the SRP shareholders served by the city. The agreement recognized that the landowners still retained their right to SRP water, and further, that the city would act as an agent for the shareholders to provide for the delivery of SRP water to that homeowner. Eventually, agreements were signed with the other cities within the SRP water service area. My involvement in the full scope of water resources at SRP started in the 1990s, when I became the associate general manager for the Water Group. At that time, we were in the process of updating our agreements with the cities to add additional provisions concerning the use of SRP’s facilities to transport and exchange city water supplies. I led SRP’s renegotiation of all of those agreements. The agreements kept the same basic premise: The cities acted as an agent in the delivery of SRP water to the lands that had a right to it. But we provided for a little more flexibility in terms of where the cities could take delivery of water from SRP. We also provided the cities with greater access to the SRP well system to use groundwater directly to supplement SRP’s surface water supply.
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The ability for the Valley of the Sun to grow and transition from primarily agricultural use to urban use can really be traced to the dependable water supplies and innovative delivery agreements put in place by SRP and the cities. Kris Polly: Please tell us about your role in the completion of the SRP–Central Arizona Project (CAP) Interconnect facility in the early 1990s through which, for the first time, SRP could take Colorado River water from the CAP into its water delivery system. John Sullivan: Up until 1991, I had spent 20 years of my career working on the power side of SRP. In 1991, I moved into a senior management role in water planning, operations, and contracts. The planning for an interconnection between SRP and the CAP had already taken place. It was placed in the budget. The CAP Aqueduct crosses the Salt River within a few hundred yards of our Granite Reef Diversion Dam, which is where we divert water out of the Salt River into our two main canals, the South Canal and the Arizona Canal. So, it was a very good place to build an interconnection facility. In terms of my personal role, I was involved in the negotiations regarding how that facility would operate. It is currently a one-way interconnection where only water from the CAP Aqueduct can be delivered into our canal system. But, over the years we have been able to use that interconnect for a variety of purposes, such as allowing the cities to take CAP water to their water treatment plants on the SRP canal system and to bring CAP water on-project for recharge. We are able to move that water through our canal system because of that interconnect. Also, during the drought in the early 2000s, we entered into an exchange agreement with the CAP in which we were able to take water from the CAP, give it credits that it could use when our reservoirs were full, and provide for our needs without drawing down our reservoirs. We used that arrangement in the early 2000s, and then again when we refilled our reservoirs and began to return that water to the CAP. In fact, the use of that facility has helped CAP actually save some water in Lake Mead the past few years in an attempt to bolster that supply and reduce the threat of a shortage declaration on the Colorado River. The interconnect has been very valuable to both the CAP and SRP over the last 30 years, especially during drought. It provides flexibility for SRP and the cities that have water treatment plants along our canal system. Often times, the cities’ operational needs are best met when they take the CAP water at their SRP water treatment plants and reduce the quantity of water they take at plants that are directly on the CAP Aqueduct.
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Kris Polly: Please share with our readers some perspectives on water planning in SRP. What projects are you planning currently? John Sullivan: There is a very reliable water supply within the SRP water service area. Most of our planning for the supply within this area is related to operations and drought. Our system is pretty resilient to drought in part because we operate both the reservoirs and the surface water supply, and we also operate 270 groundwater wells. So, during droughts we increase the supply of groundwater and conserve our reservoir supplies. That has worked very well for us during the current drought. Again, within the water service area, it’s all about operational planning. We have a long history of using our reservoirs and groundwater system to manage supply through droughts. Looking outside the water service area, our electric system service area is much, much larger than the water service area, and a part of that electric service area is not within the service area of water providers. As a result, there is an issue with reliability of the water supply within SRP’s electric service area. We are looking proactively at how that part of our electric service area can have a reliable water supply, because we want to make sure our electric customers have water for their needs.
The Navajo Generating Station, located on the Navajo Reservation near Page, Arizona, provides nearly all of the energy needed to move water in the CAP canal from the Colorado River through central Arizona and then to Tucson. The station also provides electricity to hundreds of thousands of customers in the Southwest.
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Municipal Water Leader
the Community has set aside 30,000 acre-feet of CAP water for 100-year leases to municipal water providers within SRP’s electric service area. Further, SRP has access to 100,000 acre-feet of the Community’s CAP water to meet shareholder water demands during severe droughts. SRP also has priority to purchase long-term storage credits for power generation and other purposes. Kris Polly: What’s the biggest water supply challenge ahead for SRP, and how will the organization meet it?
John Sullivan led SRP’s Water Group during the popular “Together We Conserve” campaign in 2011 to help educate consumers about how to reduce water use at home.
It was with this concern in mind that SRP entered into a joint venture with the Gila River Indian Community (Community) called Gila River Water Storage, LLC. After years of work culminating in the Arizona Water Settlements Act [the Community signed a subcontract for 311,800 acre-feet CAP subcontract.] While the longterm plan is to fully use the water on-reservation, the infrastructure necessary to do so will not be completed until 2030. In the meantime, the Community sought a way to put this significant water resource to beneficial use. At the same time, SRP was in need of renewable water supplies to meet its needs. Under the joint venture, SRP and the Community work together to store the Community’s CAP water at underground storage facilities to earn long-term storage credits. These credits can be used by landowners, industrial interests, and municipal development interests that are in need of additional dependable, renewable water supplies in central Arizona. The Community has committed to store at least 2 million acre-feet for this purpose. In addition, Municipal Water Leader
John Sullivan: From a long-term perspective, considering the state’s continued growth and with our continued diverse needs for water, including agricultural, mining, and municipal and industrial uses, our biggest challenge is providing a reliable water supply for future water needs within the state. From a big-picture perspective, because SRP is a major water provider within the state, along with the CAP, we are involved in a number of collaborative processes with stakeholders. We regularly get together to talk about where we can find that next bucket of water, where additional supply will come from, and how to finance that. So, collaboration is a big issue. We also have a history, from a water perspective, of getting together and looking at what the water issues are and sitting down and negotiating pragmatic solutions. It takes a lot of creativity to do that. We were successful in the early 1900s with the formation of SRP. We did it again from the 1940s through the 1960s with the creation of the CAP. Currently, we are writing another chapter in Arizona. Recently, the governor of Arizona formed a water augmentation council that will begin meeting this year to look at solutions for future water supply needs. Commitment will be required within the state. Once we decide how we are going to solve the problem, everyone needs to get behind it. Arizona has a long history of moving forward with water supply and water conservation projects to make sure that its residents can have a reliable supply of water, even during drought. Kris Polly: How would you like to see the roles of federal, state, and local governments adjust to help best meet water supply needs? John Sullivan: First, state and local governments need to work together. We have a history of doing that in the state of Arizona, but we also need creative solutions, because resolving issues and creating water supplies in the future are going to be very complicated and costly. We can no longer rely on the federal government to fund, in any 7
The transformation of Arizona Falls, a historic waterfall formed by a natural 20-foot drop along the Arizona Canal, was completed in June 2003. The site is now a restored SRP hydroelectric plant and a neighborhood gathering place.
substantial way, our future water supplies. So, from a state and local perspective, we have to start asking ourselves not only where does the water come from but also how we fund those projects. From a federal perspective, the government needs to become an enabler rather than a stumbling block. That means that if the state and local governments are going to figure out how to move forward on projects, the federal government must reduce the regulatory environment that currently exists to allow the solutions to proceed. I don’t know how that will get done, but it’s going to take a lot of work. We all have to work to get the federal government into an enabling role. It has a habit of telling us the 47 reasons why we can’t do something, but we need a federal government that can tell us how we can get something done. Kris Polly: What would you like everyone to know about SRP? John Sullivan: On February 16, I celebrated my 45th year at SRP. At the end of February, I will be retiring and entering 8
a new phase in my life. This is what I want people to know about SRP: There has never been a day in my entire career that I didn’t look forward to coming to work. SRP has been a great employer. Part of the reason for that is that SRP has a legacy of caring about its customers, and that legacy dates back to 1903 when the water users’ association was first formed. It is a part of our charter, and we take it very seriously. We also take our role in the community very seriously. SRP also has great employees committed to quality and excellence in what they do. They are committed to providing great customer service to both our water and electric customers. Our employees are highly qualified, and our future is safe because they are very smart. We have lots of challenges on both the water and electric sides of the business, but I have faith that our employees will be able to solve tough issues going forward.
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A $430 million modification project completed in 1996 raised the height of Theodore Roosevelt Dam by 77 feet and expanded Roosevelt Lake’s storage capacity by 20 percent—enough to serve an additional million people in the booming Phoenix metropolitan area.
Municipal Water Leader
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Central Arizona Project: Ensuring Reliable, Cost-Effective Colorado River Water Supplies to Central and Southern Arizona By Ted Cooke
T
he Central Arizona Project (CAP) was originally created in 1971 pursuant to Arizona state law. CAP is a multicounty water conservation district focused on managing and providing Colorado River water to millions of residents in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties. CAP is Arizona’s largest contractor of Colorado River water, with an annual entitlement of nearly 1.5 million acre-feet (almost 500 billion gallons) during normal supply conditions. One acre‑foot of water is equal to approximately 326,000 gallons—enough water to serve at least two families per year. CAP delivers its full allocation each year and has never missed a delivery.
The Delivery System
The CAP aqueduct begins at the Arizona–California border near the confluence of the Bill Williams and Colorado Rivers at Lake Havasu. It extends east and then south to the Tohono O’odham Nation, south of Tucson. The CAP system includes about 336 miles of aqueduct, 15 pumping plants, 12 tunnels and siphons, and 42 turnouts. Using its pumps, CAP lifts water nearly 3,000 feet from the Colorado River to the CAP terminus, just south of Tucson.
Operations and Administration
A 15-member board of directors, elected at large from Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties, governs CAP. The board meets at least monthly to establish policies, levy taxes, set water rates, approve budgets, and address a variety of other critical issues affecting CAP, its customers, and its employees. More than 450 employees support CAP operations both at its headquarters in north-central Phoenix and at several field sites. CAP is responsible for repaying the federal government the reimbursable costs associated with the construction of the canal. Over time, CAP’s responsibilities have expanded to include authorization to provide groundwater replenishment services through the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District and to build, operate, and maintain underground water storage projects.
underground storage or recharge purposes. Tribal and municipal and industrial customers have the highest priority. Cities, businesses, and Indian tribes are the last to lose any water due to shortage. CAP’s service area spans 24,000 square miles of land, or 20 percent of the state, and nearly 50 cities and communities, including Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Glendale, and Scottsdale. CAP serves around 5.1 million people, roughly 80 percent of the state’s population. Arizona’s population has significantly increased since 2000. From now to 2035, Arizona’s population is expected to almost double. It is the job of CAP to help ensure reliable water supplies to the current and future residents of central and southern Arizona.
Extended Drought on the Colorado
Throughout 2015, preserving the flows of the Colorado River and safeguarding CAP’s share of the river has been our primary focus. While it is true that prolonged drought conditions in the Southwest have not helped water elevations in Lake Mead, there is a structural deficit on the Colorado River, which means the lower basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada are allocated more water than what flows in from the river. The difference is about 1.2 million acre-feet per year. CAP has been collaborating regionally and with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to develop and implement programs, projects, and policy
Customers
Approximately 34 percent of all deliveries are made to municipal and industrial users, 22 percent to agriculture, over 35 percent to Indian tribes, and 9 percent to
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The Superstition Mountains recharge project, where CAP banks up to 25,000 acre-feet of water for future use.
Municipal Water Leader
CAP Canal snaking through the desert and residential portions of the city of Phoenix, population 1.513 million.
initiatives intended to increase supplies in the river, reduce local and regional use of the river water, and search for ways to increase the health of the river system. For example, CAP, in partnership with lower basin water agencies, funded the construction of the Brock Reservoir, a new off-stream reservoir, to reduce losses from water that is ordered but not diverted by Colorado River users. In the past, that water flowed into Mexico but did not count against the 1.5 million acre-feet allocated to Mexico. Now, the water is diverted into Brock Reservoir and used by the basin states. CAP is working on increasing runoff by participating in cloud seeding in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and improving vegetation management along the river. CAP, Reclamation, and the basin states reached an agreement through minute 319 to the 1944 treaty with Mexico to allow Mexico to store up to 260,000 acre-feet in Lake Mead until the 2010 earthquake damage to irrigation infrastructure in Mexico can be repaired and Mexican agricultural users can effectively use their full entitlement. The additional storage could reduce the likelihood of a shortage declaration in the near term. CAP, along with Reclamation and the basin states, through minute 319, reached an agreement with Mexico wherein Mexico would accept reductions in its deliveries during shortage periods in the lower basin. CAP, Reclamation, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are funding partners through minute 319 for a conservation project. Through this project, Mexico is expected to conserve 124,000 acre-feet, creating additional storage in Lake Mead. Municipal Water Leader
CAP, with other Colorado River partners, is developing a drought response plan to mitigate the effects of a shortage in the lower basin and to address the existing imbalance between supply and demand. CAP has stored more than 4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water in recharge projects. CAP and its partners continue to discuss partnering in a desalination plant in Mexico and finding a way to fund the operation of the Yuma Desalting Plant. In December 2014, CAP, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the federal government, and entities from California and Nevada entered into an agreement to conserve up to 740,000 acre-feet in Lake Mead by the end of 2017. The agreement has reduced the near-term risk of Lake Mead falling below 1,075 feet of elevation, the trigger point for a shortage declaration. CAP and the federal government, Denver Water, and agencies from California and Nevada are funding a pilot conservation program to conserve Colorado River water. The new approach protects the river and all who depend on it. CAP and its partners look to expand these programs in the coming years.
Economic Development Effects
A recent study conducted by Arizona State University’s W.P. School of Business found that CAP’s delivery of Colorado River water from 1986 through 2010 generated in excess of $1 trillion of Arizona’s gross state product (GSP). The GSP represents the dollar value of all goods and services produced in the region and is a measurement of the economic output of a state, a counterpart to the gross domestic product for the nation. In recent years, the existence of CAP itself has generated an economic benefit approaching $100 billion per year, accounting for at least one-third, and sometimes more, of Arizona’s entire GSP. Simply put, Arizona would be entirely different if CAP’s 336-mile-long canal system had never been constructed. By delivering at least 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water every year, CAP has dramatically and positively changed the economic and environmental landscape of our state. “Central Arizona Project is one of the reasons why the desert flourishes and the economy continues to grow and attract new business to the state,” said Barry Broome, former president and chief executive officer of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. “CAP’s water deliveries to cities, farms, and industry have been crucial to our economic vitality.” Ted Cooke is the interim general manager of the Central Arizona Project. He can be reached at tcooke@cap-az.com. 11
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The 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act:
Inspiring Sustainable Water Management
By Senator Jon Kyl and Kathleen Ferris
A
rizona is located in the heart of the hottest and driest region of the country, so we desert dwellers never stop thinking about water. For over a century, we have planned and invested in projects to store and deliver water for our citizens. Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River, which stores water to be used by Phoenix and other cities, and the Central Arizona Project, which brings Colorado River water to Phoenix, Tucson, and parts in between, are just two examples. In addition to water projects, Arizona has also embraced the regulation of water use to ensure its sustainability. The 1980 Groundwater Management Act (Code), which continues to be one of the nation’s most visionary laws for the use and protection of groundwater, is the seminal example. The history of the Code is considered movieworthy, and a few paragraphs will not do it justice, but understanding its extraordinary roots is necessary to fully appreciate the Code’s significance. Starting in the 1930s, high cotton prices, cheap power, and a prolonged drought drove farmers in central Arizona to drill more and deeper wells to pump groundwater. During this period, Arizona’s cities were growing and copper mines needed to pump more groundwater as the price of copper soared. Through the 1970s, water users in central and southern Arizona were mining groundwater at increasing rates. The national media was reporting that Arizona was running out of water, and lenders and businesses were becoming fearful of investing in the state. To make matters worse, the still-incomplete Central Arizona Project was in jeopardy, as President Carter put it on his federal water projects hit list. Unregulated groundwater pumping was also causing land subsidence, water quality degradation, and costly disputes among water users. One of these disputes led to much-needed change. In 1976, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the city of Tucson and nearby copper mines could no longer transport groundwater away from where it was pumped if
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agricultural users were affected. This decision threatened to cut off vital water supplies for the city and the mines. In response, the 1977 Arizona legislature established a 25-member Groundwater Management Study Commission to rewrite Arizona’s groundwater laws. After two and a half years of work by the commission, and another six months of negotiations by the Rump Group, chaired by Governor Bruce Babbitt, the Arizona legislature passed the Groundwater Management Act, without amendment, in a one-day special session. Governor Babbitt signed the bill into law on June 12, 1980. The Code applies to Arizona’s most heavily populated areas. These areas are known as active management areas (AMAs) and include approximately 83 percent of the state’s population and 57 percent of its water use. Within AMAs, the Code quantifies rights to use groundwater, prohibits the irrigation of new agricultural acreage, permits new wells to be drilled only in conformity with well impact standards, and bans the development of new residential subdivisions without a proven 100-year assured water supply. The Code also requires the Arizona Department of Water Resources to develop progressive 10-year management plans for each AMA, designed to achieve a management goal for that AMA. The management goal for the Phoenix, Tucson, and Prescott AMAs is safe yield. Safe yield is a long-term balance between the amount of groundwater withdrawn in the AMA and the amount of natural and artificial recharge in the AMA. Significantly, the management plans must contain mandatory conservation requirements for all water users in the AMAs. The Code was a grand experiment in water management. We did not know at the time what its legacy would be or even if it would withstand court challenges. Its impact has been more profound than anyone would have guessed. In 1980, water users in central Arizona were pumping about 2.5 million acre-feet more groundwater than was replenished naturally. That’s enough water to serve over 6 million households per year. By 2010, that overdraft of groundwater had been reduced to about 178,000 acre-feet, a remarkable achievement.
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Municipal water providers in Arizona have embraced the Code’s requirements to conserve water and to ensure a 100-year water supply for future growth. Since 1980, municipal water providers have implemented more than 305 best management practices, including the following: • water waste and irrigation ordinances • residential audits • high-water-use notification and assistance programs • rebates for converting from turf to water-efficient landscaping • training for landscape professionals • water use plan requirements for commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities • retrofit programs for low-income residents • plumbing codes • restrictions on water features • extensive outreach and education Recognizing that 50–70 percent of residential water use occurs outdoors, municipal water providers have focused extensively on developing programs to inspire and assist homeowners to design, install, and maintain lower-wateruse landscapes. As a result, Phoenix and surrounding cities are embracing their natural desert environment. Analyzing its water consumption and other data, the city estimates that during the 1980s, 70–90 percent of Phoenix’s homes had turf landscapes. Today, that number has dropped to 10 percent. How did that happen? After passage of the Code, newly hired municipal water conservation experts actively promoted the desert aesthetic. They spread the word about its beauty, its ability to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, its practicality, and its water and moneysaving advantages. Some cities began to offer rebates to replace turf with desert landscaping, and others developed demonstration gardens to inspire homeowners. These efforts to increase efficiency have paid off. While Phoenix’s population grew by 47 percent from 1991 to 2013, its per-capita water use rate decreased by 29 percent during that period. Arizona municipalities are also leaders in reusing reclaimed water. Municipal water providers in the AMAs now reclaim about 95 percent of the wastewater collected by sanitary sewers for beneficial uses, such as energy production, turf irrigation in recreational facilities, and environmental restoration. They have also taken advantage of Arizona laws enacted in 1986 allowing underground storage of unused surface water and reclaimed water. Today, cities, towns, and private water companies in the state’s AMAs have stored more than 5 million acre-feet of water underground for future use. This water is protected from evaporation and mitigates greater need for aboveground storage. Municipal Water Leader
The town of Gilbert’s underground storage of reclaimed wastewater demonstrates that water supplies and the environment can both benefit. One of its underground storage sites has created a 110-acre wildlife habitat called the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch. Inside the preserve, 4.5 miles of hiking and horse trails are lined with dense natural vegetation and bubbling streams that attract more than 200 species of birds, other wildlife, and thousands of human visitors every year. The trails wind around seven 10-acre recharge ponds that mimic natural wetlands. These recharge ponds play a key role in Gilbert’s commitment to use 100 percent of its treated wastewater. The Groundwater Management Act’s focus on conservation and sustainable water supplies has resulted in many innovative municipal programs. The city of Chandler implemented one such program this past year. Chandler has secured enough water to meet and surpass the 100-year supply that the state requires for the city to develop the final 15 percent of the land within its boundaries. Wanting to get the most value from its water supply as it grows its community and businesses, Chandler has adopted a forward-looking ordinance to ensure that decisions about land use and water use are made in concert. The new ordinance allots water to new businesses based on the square footage and building type. If a business needs more water than the base allocation, it must demonstrate that it will benefit the city to a degree that is commensurate with the extra water it will require. Ultimately, this could mean that some businesses must secure additional water. These are just a few examples of the innovative steps Arizona municipal water providers have taken to ensure sustainable water supplies for their citizens. Their efforts continue to be inspired by the 1980 Code. Jon Kyl is senior of counsel at Covington & Burling. Senator Kyl retired from Congress in January 2013 as the secondhighest-ranking Republican senator. He advises companies on domestic and international policies and assists corporate clients on tax, health care, defense, national security, and intellectual property matters. Kathleen Ferris is a senior research fellow at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University, where she consults with the Kyl Center for Water Policy. She is also legal counsel and policy advisor for the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association.
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The city of Phoenix’s Deer Valley Water Treatment Plant was built in 1964 along the Arizona Canal. In its early years, the plant was producing 80 million gallons of water daily. Today, the plant has expanded and grown with Phoenix, providing up to 150 million gallons of water daily.
Phoenix Water:
Smart Strategies for an Uncertain Future By Kathryn Sorensen
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he city of Phoenix began municipal water utility operations in 1907. Today, Phoenix Water treats and distributes tap water to 1.5 million customers daily, manages the city’s sewer system, and handles wastewater treatment operations for 2.5 million residents in the Valley of the Sun. Our vast infrastructure includes 7,000 miles of water lines and 5,000 miles of sewer lines, 8 treatment plants, 50,000 fire hydrants, and 90,000 manholes over a 540-square-mile service area. Phoenix understands the value of water. Secure, reliable, high-quality water deliveries form the basis of public health, economic development, and quality of life in our desert city. Water’s importance and the danger of its absence permeate our arid environment. We are acutely aware of the challenges posed by drought and climate change because hot and dry is our daily reality and always will be. Because of this, we have built a diverse portfolio of water supplies that includes the Salt River, the Verde River, the Colorado River, groundwater, and reclaimed water for nonpotable uses. Our partners at the Salt River Project deliver around 60 percent of our water supplies from the Salt and Verde
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River watersheds through the reservoirs and canals. A little less than 40 percent of our water supplies come from the Colorado River and are delivered through the Central Arizona Project canal; the remainder is groundwater. We reclaim and reuse all wastewater for power generation at the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, for local agricultural irrigation, and for aquifer recharge. A large amount of our reclaimed water is used for agriculture in exchange for Salt River water that we can use in our potable system through a partnership with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The Salt River Project facilitates this exchange. It is through creative and innovative partnerships benefiting cities, agricultural districts, and native communities alike that we are able to ensure a sustainable future in an arid place. Because of our efforts to develop a sustainable water supply, Phoenix has been designated by the state of Arizona as having a 100-year assured water supply. Through carefully planned construction of infrastructure to treat and deliver renewable surface water supplies, we have reduced our reliance on groundwater to a minimum, deliberately preserving precious groundwater supplies that can be called upon during future times of drought. We’re making smart, strategic choices today to ensure quality, Municipal Water Leader
reliable water delivery for generations to come. Our commitment to provide the clean, reliable water deliveries that underpin public health, economic development, and quality of life in Phoenix is a commitment to both current and future Phoenicians. While we are proud that Phoenix already has a record as a wise water planner, we also know the future is uncertain. Recently, the city rolled out several innovative agreements and partnerships to protect our water supply. In October 2014, Phoenix Water entered into an unprecedented agreement with the city of Tucson to increase the resiliency of its water supplies. Phoenix only uses around two-thirds of the Colorado River water to which it is entitled. As part of the agreement, Phoenix will store some of its unused Colorado River water in Tucson aquifers. During future shortages on the Colorado River, Tucson will pump the stored water out of its aquifer, and deliver it to customers in Tucson. In exchange, Tucson Water will order a part of its Colorado River water for delivery to Phoenix water treatment plants and, ultimately, Phoenix customers. Tucson benefits in the short term through increased water levels in its aquifer that lower pumping costs, while Phoenix benefits by securing surface water deliveries to water treatment plants in the future during times of shortage on the Colorado River. The Tucson system is built to be reliant on wells. The Phoenix system is built to be reliant on surface water. By partnering to leverage the unique infrastructure characteristics of each system, both communities increase the resiliency of their systems in a way that provides benefits to both communities. Another initiative is the Colorado River Resiliency Fund. Through this annual $5 million fund, Phoenix can earmark projects, such as aquifer recharge, well-sharing agreements, Colorado River system conservation, and other efforts that help ensure the resiliency of Phoenix’s water supply. We think of this resiliency fund as a kind of insurance policy against future shortages.
Phoenix Water chemists perform more than five million tests and measurements each year to ensure the highest quality drinking water for the city’s 1.5 million residents.
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The city of Phoenix Water Services Department treats and distributes tap water to 1.5 million customers daily. Phoenix Water manages the city's sewer system, and handles wastewater treatment operations for 2.5 million residents in five Valley cities. Its vast infrastructure includes 7,000 miles of water lines, 5,000 miles of sewer lines, 8 treatment plants, 50,000 fire hydrants and 90,000 manholes.
In May 2015, the city entered a three-year partnership with the National Forest Foundation to help protect Phoenix’s water supply. Through this partnership, the city will invest $200,000 per year in the Northern Arizona Forest Fund, a program developed by the National Forest Foundation and Salt River Project that is designed to improve forest health and water quality in the Salt and Verde River watersheds. And finally, in January 2016, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton hosted the Western Mayors’ Water and Climate Change Summit in Washington, DC. Western mayors, including those from Los Angeles and San Francisco, met to discuss local solutions to water resiliency issues in an era of climate change. We are proud that 16 years into the current drought, Phoenix has adequate supplies as well as a buffer of supplies available to mitigate the effects of drought, shortage on the Colorado River, and climate change. This is due, in part, to the fact that our customers have embraced a desert lifestyle that entails using water wisely. When it comes to water conservation, Phoenix plays the long game. Rather than focusing on short-term, reactive strategies during drought conditions, Phoenix Water focuses on long-term culture change. We encourage our residents to embrace a desert lifestyle because, while some day the drought will end, it will still be hot and dry here, and water will still be scarce. 18
Phoenix residents truly understand the importance of water conservation in a desert city. Instead of implementing government mandates, we focus our efforts on ensuring a strong conservation signal in our water rates, educating our customers, and then making sure they have the tools to use water wisely in a manner that is best suited for their families and businesses. This strategy has paid dividends for us. Phoenix’s gallons-per-capita, perday use of water has fallen roughly 30 percent over the last 20 years. The bottom line is that water deliveries to Phoenix residents are lower than they were in 1995, despite the fact that Phoenix Water serves 400,000 more people. Public health, economic development, and quality of life here in our desert city are contingent on a reliable and safe tap water supply. Phoenix Water is committed to building resiliency and implementing innovative water management strategies to ensure dependable water supplies for generations to come. Kathryn Sorensen is the director of water services at the city of Phoenix. She can be contacted at Kathryn.Sorensen@phoenix.gov.
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Arizona Department of Water Resources:
Leading the Way for Resilience By Thomas Buschatzke
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ater supply and sustainability are two terms often linked in today’s discussion about water resources. Arizona has been at the forefront of long-term water resource planning to ensure a sustainable water supply for the future of our state. Arizona’s Next Century: Strategic Vision for Water Supply Sustainability, published by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) in 2014, was another step forward in continuing to ensure that Arizona has sufficient and sustainable water supplies for future generations. The goal of the strategic vision was to provide a comprehensive water supply and demand analysis for the next 100 years. Thanks to careful planning and continued leadership, Arizona has been successful in the management of its water resources for more than a century. Through the implementation of mandatory and voluntary conservation programs, Arizona has reduced its statewide water use by 1 percent while its population has increased 5-fold and its economy almost 17-fold since 1957. Arizona’s statewide water use peaked in 1980 and has been declining ever since. However, recent studies have identified the potential for a long-term imbalance between available water supplies and projected water demands over the next 100 years. The studies concluded that over the next 25–100 years, Arizona would need to identify and develop additional water supplies to meet projected growing water demands. The strategic vision created the framework for the development of potential strategies to address the projected imbalances. While we continue to look for opportunities to expand our existing conservation efforts, we know that conservation alone cannot solve the projected imbalances for Arizona. We project that if we maximize the use of reclaimed water, we can reduce our projected supply and demand imbalance by 50 percent. Nevertheless, we will still need to augment our water supplies to withstand the projected imbalance. While there may be viable local water supplies that have not yet been developed, water supply acquisition and importation will be required for some areas of the state to realize their full growth potential. To address future challenges, the strategic vision provides various strategies ranging from the development of locally available water supplies, including the direct and indirect reuse of reclaimed water, to the importation of water supplies developed through ocean desalination. The strategic
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vision recognizes the uniqueness of the various regions throughout the state and the diverse challenges facing those regions, acknowledging that no single strategy can address projected water supply imbalances across the state. Instead, a portfolio of strategies needs to be implemented that addresses the needs of each area of the state. In October 2015, Governor Doug Ducey announced his water planning initiative for the state. The Arizona Water Initiative furthers the activities identified in the strategic vision. Through the water initiative, the ADWR will work closely with key stakeholders statewide on two parallel tracks. The first track focuses on a local stakeholder–driven analysis of the 22 planning areas identified in the strategic vision. In this track, the ADWR will work closely with the planning areas to identify issues that create water demand and supply imbalances and to develop strategies to successfully address them. The second track involves the creation of the governor’s Water Augmentation Council, which will investigate long-term water augmentation strategies, additional water conservation opportunities, and funding and infrastructure needs to help secure water supplies for Arizona’s future.
Surface and Groundwater Management
In Arizona, surface water and groundwater are regulated separately. Surface water is subject to the doctrines of prior appropriation and beneficial use and may be appropriated and used as provided in the surface water code or under a court decree. Groundwater, on the other hand, is not appropriable and may be pumped by the landowner for any reasonable use, subject to regulations in the groundwater code. The Arizona Supreme Court has recognized and adhered to this bifurcated system of water management in several opinions, most recently in a 2000 opinion involving the Gila River general stream adjudication. In re General Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the Gila River Sys. & Source, 198 Ariz. 330; 9 P.3d 1069 (2000). Although surface water and groundwater are regulated separately, it is the state’s policy that all water supplies should be used efficiently, pursuant to our overall conservation strategy. It is also the state’s policy that, where possible, renewable supplies, such as surface water and reclaimed water, should be used in place of groundwater. These policies are reflected in several provisions of Arizona law. For example, the director of the ADWR is required by statute to adopt a series of 10‑year management plans for areas of the state designated as active management areas (AMAs). These Municipal Water Leader
plans must include mandatory conservation requirements for persons withdrawing and using groundwater designed to achieve AMA management goals. For most AMAs, the goal is a long-term balance between groundwater recharge and groundwater withdrawals. These plans also require persons using groundwater on farms and turf-related facilities, such as golf courses, to comply with a maximum annual water allotment. In determining compliance with these allotments, the ADWR counts the total amount of water used from all sources, including surface water. The assured water supply requirements for AMAs provide an example of how the state encourages the use of renewable water supplies in place of groundwater. Arizona law requires developers of subdivisions within an AMA to demonstrate that the subdivision will have a 100‑year assured water supply and that any groundwater use will be consistent with the AMA’s management goal. For most AMAs, this means that the subdivision will use only renewable water supplies, or that any groundwater used by the subdivision will be replenished with renewable water supplies. These requirements have been successful in significantly reducing groundwater demand in AMAs. An example of integrated management of surface water and groundwater supplies in Arizona is the state’s laws allowing underground storage of renewable water supplies. These laws allow renewable water supplies, such as surface water and reclaimed water, to be stored underground in aquifers for later recovery and use. When the water is recovered, it retains the legal character of the water that was stored, even though it physically may be groundwater. Although these examples resulted in greater water use efficiency and increased renewable water use in Arizona, challenges still exist, particularly in rural areas of the state.
Integrated Water Management
In Arizona, water supply and water quality are managed by two separate state agencies that cooperate on water supply and water quality issues. For example, the ADWR is responsible for issuing permits to store water underground. In reviewing an application for an underground storage facility permit, the ADWR must determine whether the proposed water storage will cause unreasonable harm to land and other water users in the area. As part of its review, the ADWR is required by statute to consult with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to ensure that the water storage will not result in groundwater contamination or the migration of a contaminant plume. Another example of cooperation between the two agencies involves remedial action plans for groundwater contamination sites. Although ADEQ is the state agency responsible for approving such plans, it consults with the ADWR on plans for the reuse of remediated groundwater to ensure that the reuse is consistent with the groundwater code.
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Interstate Water Management on the Colorado
The Colorado River system, which supplies 40 percent of Arizona’s total water use, has experienced extensive drought conditions for the past 16 years. This has resulted in Lake Mead dropping to historically low reservoir levels. Recent projections show a probability of shortage as soon as 2017, although expected shortage volumes are relatively small compared to Arizona’s total Colorado River allocation. While this is cause for concern, these conditions are not unexpected. Arizona has been proactively building resilience and implementing innovative water management strategies to secure dependable water supplies. To address the risk of Colorado River shortages and improve the health of the river system, the ADWR has been collaborating with the Colorado River basin states; the federal government; Mexico; and local and regional partners, including Yuma agricultural users and on‑river municipalities, on water resource management. Discussions are focused on drought contingency and sustainability planning. The goal is to avoid critical reservoir levels in Lakes Mead and Powell by adding volumes of water to those lakes through augmentation or conservation. Discussing Colorado River water is quite complex due to the differences between the upper and lower Colorado River basins and the variances in the seven basin states’ Colorado River contracts. Therefore, coming to a solution that all parties agree on is going to require compromises that may be difficult to achieve. With that being said, in the past the Colorado River basin states have demonstrated the ability to develop consensus-based solutions to address water management issues.
Conclusion
Arizona is setting an example by making integrated management of water resources a reality. The ADWR works across agencies and within our surface and groundwater authorities to promote the water well being of all Arizonans. Our water planning initiatives are founded on having a diversified portfolio of water supply and water quality alternatives that improves resiliency and promotes economic and natural resource sustainability. We are focused on capturing the best of technology and on policy development. We are wholly committed to working collaboratively to develop strategies that benefit our communities in securing water for Arizona’s future. Tom Buschatzke is the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. He can be contacted at tbuschatzke@azwater.gov.
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Ensuring High-Quality Water Deliveries:
The Connection Between Healthy Forests and Healthy Watersheds By Bruce Hallin and Marcus Selig
C.C. Cragin Reservoir is a critical water supply to SRP and the surrounding northern Gila County communities. It is listed as a priority watershed within the Western Watershed Enhancement Partnership, a program designed to reduce the risk of wildfire and its effect on water supplies. (Photo courtesy of Salt River Project)
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Utilities and water providers across the West recognize the economic value of investing in and supporting work to improve watershed health. Activities in headwater forests that reduce the risk of uncharacteristically severe wildfire, limit erosion and sedimentation, and improve wetlands and stream channels—our water systems’ natural filters and conduits—help ensure that reliable, high-quality water arrives at municipal water treatment facilities. Proactive watershed stewardship helps avoid costs associated with building new or repairing existing infrastructure or increasing water treatment activities, which may otherwise be necessary to address the effects and consequences of an unhealthy watershed. In Arizona particularly, unhealthy conditions in forested watersheds pose significant risks for long-term water delivery. Highly erosive soils and fire-prone forests create a constant threat to the water quality of Arizona’s streams and rivers and the storage capacity of the state’s reservoir system. With over 2 million acres of Arizona’s headwater forests burned in the last two decades, the state has suffered its fair share of fire-related expenses, including those associated with water infrastructure damage and turbid postfire flows into water treatment facilities. Investing in the health of Arizona’s forests to protect the watersheds that supply the Phoenix metropolitan area’s drinking water is an easy decision. The challenge is finding good investment strategies to finance forest health measures. There are a variety of issues that complicate investment in watershed health. Those include land that is almost exclusively federally owned, lengthy planning and environmental analysis hurdles on those federal lands, tracking on-the-ground accomplishments and investment results, ensuring that funds are managed in a fiscally responsible manner, and effectively communicating the value of such investments to constituents and customers. Further, the distance between Phoenix area residents and the upper reaches of their watersheds creates challenges for explaining the linkage between the condition and health of northern and eastern Arizona forests and reliable, high-quality water delivered to desert cities over 100 miles downstream. To help establish the connection between forest health Municipal Water Leader
and water supplies, at the end of 2014 the Salt River Project (SRP) and the National Forest Foundation (NFF), a congressionally chartered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the enhancement of national forest system lands, launched a program that provides an easy way for businesses, municipalities, and residents of Arizona to invest in the lands and watersheds on which they depend. SRP and NFF designed the Northern Arizona Forest Fund (NAFF) to proactively address the potential challenges associated with green infrastructure investments and provide a credible, reliable means that allows all downstream beneficiaries to support valuable watershed improvement activities. This is how the NAFF operates: Each year, NFF works with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to identify a portfolio of unfunded high-priority watershed improvement projects on national forest lands in the Salt and Verde River watersheds, which supply the Phoenix metro area with a majority of its surface water supplies. All projects must be shovel ready, meaning that all planning and permitting is complete, and be implemented within one year. A local advisory council, comprising government agencies, local nonprofits, and downstream beneficiaries, then reviews and selects the projects that will be supported by the NAFF. Selected projects provide a comprehensive suite of on-the-ground watershed improvements that reduce wildfire risk, improve streams and wetlands, enhance wildlife habitat, restore native plants, and limit erosion and sediment into Arizona streams, rivers, and reservoirs in the Salt and Verde River watersheds. NFF and SRP then work hand in hand to raise funds from Arizona businesses, municipalities, foundations, and individuals to support implementation of selected projects. Funds are held and managed by NFF. On a regular basis, NFF deploys funds to complete the previously identified, high-priority restoration projects. Funds are awarded to a mix of local nonprofit stewardship organizations, private contractors, and the USFS to complete the projects. Following implementation, accomplishments are recorded and project effects are monitored. Each year, program partners and contributors receive official reports detailing stewardship accomplishments associated with these projects. The strong partnership between SRP and NFF, and the integrity of this approach to watershed investment, has created significant success for the NAFF. In its first year, the NAFF completed two Municipal Water Leader
Prescribed fire being managed by U.S. Forest Service employees on the Coconino National Forest. (Photo courtesy of Salt River Project)
high-priority restoration projects in the Coconino National Forest, restoring over 3,000 acres of ponderosa pine forests and limiting sediment and erosion in more than 30 miles of forest roads. To support this and future work, the NAFF has already garnered over $1.6 million in investments. The accountability provided through the NAFF and its ability to produce tangible results has helped the program generate support from corporations and municipal governments. Indeed, the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale have both enthusiastically invested in the NAFF. This past summer, the Phoenix city council approved a three-year partnership with NFF to help protect Phoenix’s water supply through a $200,000-per-year investment in the NAFF. Immediately following the city council meeting, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton celebrated the city council’s
Mogollon Rim Ranger District Fire Crew on the Coconino National Forest. (Photo courtesy of Salt River Project)
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unanimous support for the partnership by tweeting, “One of the coolest things we’ve done.” Mayor Stanton later summed up the business case for the partnership: “In an era of climate change and continued drought, Phoenix must take direct steps to protect the lifeblood of our economy—our water supply. This partnership will do exactly that. We must protect and preserve the rivers and watersheds that our city relies upon for continued economic prosperity.” Soon after Phoenix approved its participation in the NAFF, its neighbors in Scottsdale demonstrated their commitment to watershed protection, making a three-year, $120,000 investment in the NAFF. Additional Phoenix metro area municipalities, including Mesa, Tempe, and Glendale, are now considering investment in the NAFF as a means for helping ensure reliable, high-quality water deliveries to their treatment facilities. In addition to supporting on-the-ground watershed improvements, the NAFF is dedicated to connecting Phoenix area residents to their relatively remote forested watersheds. Through various communications and outreach campaigns, the NAFF draws the connection between Phoenix area water supplies and the health of northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests. One notable effort is the Tap to Top campaign, a partnership between NFF and SanTan Brewing Company. The campaign uses in-store materials and web-based videos (TapToTop.org) to show Arizonans where their water (and beer) comes from. This campaign is launching in February 2016. As part of the campaign, SanTan plans
Unhealthy conditions in forested watersheds pose significant risks for long-term water delivery in Arizona, as highly erosive soils and fire-prone forests create a constant threat to the storage capacity of state’s reservoir system. Theodore Roosevelt Lake, located 80 miles northeast of Phoenix, is the largest reservoir in SRP’s water-delivery system.
to donate $1.00 to the NAFF for every case of SanTan products sold. Looking forward, SRP and NFF hope to grow the NAFF each year, continually increasing the number of on-the-ground projects funded by the program. By securing out-year funding and creating an informed public, the NAFF can continue to tackle targeted watershed improvement projects that strategically complement larger, landscape-scale restoration efforts, thereby providing a high rate of return on program investments. More information on the NAFF can be found at NorthernArizonaForestFund.org and srpnet.com/water/forest/naff.aspx. Bruce Hallin is the director of water rights and contracts at Salt River Project. He can be reached at Bruce.Hallin@srpnet.com.
Marcus Selig is interim president of the National Forest Foundation. He can be reached at mselig@nationalforests.org. SRP employees volunteering at a Northern Arizona Forest Fund work day in the Coconino National Forest near Sedona, Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Salt River Project)
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The Superstition Mountains Recharge Project is one of three sites located in the Phoenix Active Management Area, where the Gila River Indian Community is permitted to recharge Central Arizona Project water for Gila River Water Storage, LLC.
GILA RIVER WATER STORAGE: An Innovative Partnership Puts Water in the Bank for Central Arizona By Jason Hauter and Dave Roberts
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n 2010, the Gila River Indian Community (Community) and the Salt River Project (SRP) created the Gila River Water Storage, LLC (GRWS), to bring 5 million acre-feet of renewable water supplies to the Phoenix metropolitan area and elsewhere in central Arizona. This unique partnership became possible because of the mutual respect built over time between these onceadversarial entities. After the successful negotiation of the Community’s water settlement, approved as part of the Arizona Water Settlements Act in 2004, SRP and the Community worked out a partnership that would not only be mutually beneficial to both, but would also help address water supply needs in central Arizona. Through the settlement, the Community is entitled to withdraw up to 311,800 acre-feet of Central Arizona Project (CAP) water per year, the largest single entitlement of CAP water in Arizona. The Community plans to use much of its CAP water entitlement on its reservation to revitalize its agricultural heritage—the Community was traditionally a farming society, and from the 1790s through the 1860s, it conducted large-scale agricultural production. However, the construction and rehabilitation
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of its irrigation system will not be complete until 2030. The Community and SRP created GRWS to help the Community monetize its unused water in a flexible way and respond to the mounting challenges among municipal water providers in central Arizona to secure dependable and renewable water supplies.
Arizona Water Supply Requirements
Arizona has strict water requirements for new development in urban and other heavily developed areas in the state. In most of central Arizona, before new residential areas can be developed, developers must obtain either a commitment of service from a provider with an assured water supply (AWS) or get a certificate of assured water supply (CAWS) from the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). Most large municipal water providers in central Arizona have an AWS, and many developers receive service from these providers instead of meeting the AWS requirements on their own. As urban areas expand beyond the service areas of municipal water providers with an AWS, much of these to-be-developed areas are served by water providers that do not have an AWS designation. Those developers who do not rely on water providers must obtain a CAWS and demonstrate that sufficient renewable water supplies exist to meet the development’s demands for Municipal Water Leader
100 years. Since groundwater pumping alone is not enough to obtain a CAWS, demonstrating a 100-year supply often means obtaining a renewable water supply. GRWS addresses the needs of municipal water providers and developers seeking a 100‑year renewable water supply. The top renewable water supply sources in Arizona, other than SRP water, include CAP water, reclaimed water, and long-term storage credits. Currently, any CAP water that the Community does not use for irrigation or other purposes, or does not lease for municipal or industrial uses, is stored underground, resulting in longterm storage credits. All Community long-term storage credits are transferred to GRWS, which can then market these credits to Arizona municipal water providers needing to expand their AWS portfolio or to developers needing to obtain a CAWS.
Meeting Municipal Water Supply Needs
Arizona’s innovative water banking program creates long-term storage credits by allowing surface water or reclaimed water to be banked—stored underground—for future use. Water is stored underground through direct or indirect recharge. Under the direct recharge method, water is delivered to specially constructed basins in which water percolates and eventually reaches the existing
aquifer, storing the water underground for future use. The Community is permitted to recharge water in offreservation sites and is also participating in a pilot program for an on‑reservation direct recharge site. Indirect recharge is performed at irrigation districts that are permitted by the ADWR as groundwater savings facilities. Under this method, irrigation districts with legal rights to pump groundwater can use renewable water sources instead of pumping groundwater. Thus, groundwater is saved, and long-term storage credits are issued to the entity that delivered the renewable water to the irrigation district. Under the GRWS partnership, the Community and SRP coordinate in water-banking planning to identify and work with a variety of current and prospective water users to ensure that water is being stored where it is anticipated to be needed. All of the Community’s long-term storage credits are transferred to GRWS, which not only markets these credits but also can assist a water customer with its water planning needs. Long-storage credits can be purchased in advance to secure a supply and control costs. For example, a municipal provider can purchase a 100-year supply of long-term storage credits from GRWS to meet the AWS requirements. Once the long-term storage credits are purchased, the municipal provider uses its existing wells
Water rushes into the Gila River from the Managed Aquifer Recharge 5 site. This and future managed aquifer recharge sites are key components in the Gila River Indian Community’s long-term water plan. (Photo courtesy of Gila River Indian Community)
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The Granite Reef Underground Storage Project (GRUSP), located on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land near Mesa, is permitted to store 93,000 acre-feet of water per year. More than 1,000,000 acre-feet of water has been stored at GRUSP.
and delivery infrastructure to recover the credits. Other unique advantages of long-term storage credits include the following: • no evaporation losses because the water is stored underground • can be stored until needed and is not a use-it-or lose-it supply • no costs associated with holding credits • easily traded • recovered stored water does not require the same treatment as surface water • can be stored in areas where growth is expected to take advantage of existing infrastructure for recovery and to preserve groundwater Under the partnership with SRP, the Community will also make available 30,000 acre-feet of its CAP supplies for long-term lease by municipal water providers. To help meet AWS requirements, municipal water providers can use these 100-year leases in conjunction with long‑term storage credit purchases. GRWS intends to target areas in central Arizona identified by the state as has having insufficient groundwater or other water sources available to meet the AWS requirements. On many levels, GRWS provides the opportunity for win-win solutions to some of Arizona’s water challenges. Making water available to neighboring 28
communities also benefits the Community because without alternative sources, neighboring communities would be forced to pump water, which could negatively affect the Community’s groundwater supply. Making its water available through long-term storage credits not only benefits municipal water providers and developers, but also creates opportunities for growth and economic development in the Community because it is able to monetize its unused water without tying up too much of its water supply in long-term water leases.
Benefits for the Community
The proceeds from making its CAP water supply available through long-term storage credits are needed to help restore the Community’s self-sufficient agricultural economy. In addition, the Community also plans to use this water to develop riparian recharge areas to restore wetlands and the riparian habitat that is culturally important to the Community. The Community recently completed a comprehensive water plan that estimates its total water use over the next five years and the cost of using a large amount of water during this period. Under the plan, which will be updated each year, the Community will use long-term storage credit sales to create a stream of revenue for the development, operation, and maintenance of the riparian Municipal Water Leader
Site of a unique water delivery structure on the Gila River Indian Reservation where surface water from the Salt River watershed and effluent from the City of Mesa are blended to supply water to the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project. (Photo courtesy of Salt River Project).
recharge areas, and to help cover the cost of the operation and maintenance of the Community’s on-reservation canal system, which is currently being constructed. The Community’s plan is to have self-funding riparian projects on its reservation permitted as direct recharge facilities so that these projects generate long-term storage credits that can be sold to surrounding municipal water providers and other water users. In addition to financing the riparian project, the Community anticipates that the proceeds from the credit sales will be used to keep onreservation agricultural development affordable and to build additional irrigation infrastructure. These funds will also be used to supplement federal funding to ensure that the Community can afford to pay CAP water delivery charges. One of the Community’s biggest challenges is the rising cost of CAP water. CAP water is the Community’s most plentiful source of water but also the most expensive.
Benefits for SRP
The customers served by SRP, including many cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, also benefit from the partnership between SRP and the Community. Under the GRWS agreement, the Community will make available up to 100,000 acre-feet of CAP water through 2029 for use by SRP in years when SRP is facing a severe cutback in its water supplies due to prolonged drought. Additionally,
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under the partnership, SRP will have priority to purchase up to 25,000 acre-feet of long-term storage credits for its needs each year through 2029. For more information about the Gila River Water Storage LLC, visit www.gilawater.com. Jason Hauter is a member of the Gila River Indian Community and serves as senior counsel at Akin Gump in Washington, DC. You can contact Jason at jhauter@akingump.com.
Dave Roberts is the senior director of water resources at the Salt River Project, the largest provider of water and power to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Dave has worked on the Gila River Water Storage, LLC since its inception, and was recently appointed to Governor Ducey’s Water Augmentation Council. You can contact Dave at dave.roberts@srpnet.com. 29
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Reusing Water for 90 Years By Guy W. Carpenter INTRODUCTION In 1926, Grand Canyon Village developed the first dual distribution system in the United States. The term dual distribution refers to the distribution of potable water through one dedicated delivery system and nonpotable effluent water from sewage treatment through a separate delivery system. For Grand Canyon Village, the water was considered highly treated even by today’s standards, undergoing conventional activated sludge, rapid sand filtration, and disinfection with chlorination. Water from the dual distribution system was pumped for 2 miles and used for toilet flushing at the El Tovar Hotel, boiler feed, stationary engines in the power generating plant, and makeup water for steam locomotives. Today, Arizona derives water from four sources: the Gila River and its tributaries, the Colorado River, groundwater, and reclaimed water. Arizona has invested significant public and private funds in constructing dams and reservoirs, canals, aqueducts, wells, groundwater replenishment projects, and treatment plants to develop and deploy these resources. Although it is difficult to quantify the actual percentage of water recycled in Arizona because of the way reuse applications are permitted, an estimated 90 percent of wastewater in the state is reclaimed and intentionally reused. Thus, Arizona serves as an example of a state that has honored its water sources in the best way possible, through conservation and reuse. THE EARLY YEARS Before significant population expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, the beneficial use of effluent was limited to agricultural irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers—primarily for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS). Beginning in the 1930s, Arizona began the irrigation of nonconsumptive agricultural crops, such as cotton and corn, and fodder crops, such as alfalfa, with treated and disinfected effluent. Today, approximately 20 percent of the Phoenix Active Management Area’s agricultural water demand is met with reclaimed water. In the city of Phoenix, a portion of the treated effluent from its two wastewater treatment plants is 32
Scottsdale’s water campus produces different qualities of recycled water, tailored for a variety of intended uses.
used for crop irrigation, and Phoenix benefits from exchanges of surface water that can then be treated for drinking water purposes. Beginning in the 1970s, the PVNGS has used approximately 75,000 acre-feet per year of effluent from three municipal-owned reclamation facilities. Arizona Public Service, the operating entity for the PVNGS, owns a 30-mile pipeline to deliver the effluent to a water reclamation plant that further treats the water to reduce ammonia and hardness. The reclaimed water is then used as cooling tower make-up water for the largest nuclear generating station in the United States, which is capable of producing 4,000 megawatts of energy. POLICIES AND CASE LAW PROVIDE FRAMEWORK FOR WATER REUSE In the 1980s and 1990s, Arizona’s significant increases in population resulted in rapid urbanization. Concurrently, Arizona developed policies that incentivized water reuse. The first policy was the 1980 Groundwater Management Act (GMA). Essentially, this policy limited groundwater consumption and incentivized the use of reclaimed water to meet long-term demands. The second policy was established by the Arizona Supreme Court case, Arizona Public Service Company v. John F. Long, which changed the way effluent was regulated. The GMA had three primary goals: control severe overdraft throughout Arizona, allocate the state’s limited groundwater resources to meet its changing needs, and augment the state’s groundwater through water supply development. To accomplish these goals, the GMA instituted a comprehensive management framework and established the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to administer the GMA’s provisions. The GMA established three levels of water management to respond to various groundwater conditions. The lowest level of management included general statewide provisions; the second level applied to irrigation nonexpansion areas; and the highest level, with the most provisions, applied to active management areas, where groundwater overdraft is most severe. For active management areas, the GMA required that any entity offering subdivided land for sale or lease demonstrate Municipal Water Leader
an assured supply of water to the ADWR before marketing land to the public. This means that the Arizona Department of Real Estate cannot record a subdivision plat without the applicant demonstrating a 100-year assured water supply. Alternatively, the developer can locate the proposed development within the service area of a city, town, or private water company with a designation of assured water supply from the ADWR, which demonstrates a 100-year assured water supply for an associated projected population. In this case, the developer needs only a written commitment of service from the water provider. In 1986, two legislative acts significantly incentivized the expanded use of reclaimed water: the Lakes Bill and the Underground Water Storage Act. The Lakes Bill prohibits the construction of new private bodies of water larger than 12,320 square feet used primarily for landscape, scenic, or recreational purposes within an active management area. In the same year, the legislature passed the Underground Water Storage Act, which provided a regulatory framework to allow nongroundwater supplies to be stored in underground aquifers and recovered later through recovery wells, while not being accounted for as groundwater. The other major policy to influence widespread practice of water reuse is the Arizona Supreme Court case, Arizona Public Service Company v. John F. Long (1989). According to this case, effluent is not to be regulated as either surface water or groundwater until the legislature declares otherwise. Until effluent is discharged into a surface water channel, it is owned by the entity that generates it. While finding beneficial uses for effluent, as opposed merely discharging to the environment, had been practiced for years before this case, it is often referred to when determining whether an entity has a right to put reclaimed water to beneficial use. ARIZONA REUSE PRACTICES TODAY After the GMA was enacted, and as cities grew and their demands exceeded their legally and physically projected available supplies, effluent was recognized as the only locally available and locally controllable water supply that would increase in volume as the population grew. To help demonstrate a rolling 100-year assured water supply for projected populations, municipal utilities began to invest in water reuse programs that included direct deliveries (purple pipe, or nonpotable, systems) to meet nonpotable demands such as turf irrigation, ornamental lake make-up water, and industrial needs. Through aquifer protection permits issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and water storage and underground storage facility permits issued by the ADWR, municipal utilities also began developing groundwater replenishment projects to accumulate credits derived from recharging aquifers with reclaimed water. With these measures, many Arizona municipalities achieved nearly 100 percent water reuse, with reclaimed water constituting as much as 30 percent or more of current and future water resource portfolios for some designated water providers. Municipal Water Leader
Snowmaking with recycled water in Flagstaff, Arizona.
CITY OF FLAGSTAFF Although Flagstaff is not in an active management area, it has a limited availability of groundwater and surface water. As a result, the city began reusing water nearly 45 years ago by delivering effluent to the Continental Country Club. Today, approximately 20 percent of all water used in Flagstaff is direct-delivered reclaimed water, with the remaining reclaimed water used to unintentionally recharge the local aquifers. Reclaimed water is applied to industrial use, toilet flushing, residential lawn and garden watering, snowmaking, park and golf course irrigation, and habitat replenishment along the Rio de Flag. In fact, Arizona is the only state with a ski resort using 100 percent reclaimed water for snowmaking, using water provided by Flagstaff. CITY OF GOODYEAR Like many growing cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Goodyear initially constructed a purple pipe reclaimed water distribution system to meet nonpotable demands from common areas in residential subdivisions and turf irrigation for golf courses. Since then, the city has faced significant limitations on the long-term availability of groundwater and surface water supplies. In response, Goodyear changed its policy on the availability of reclaimed water for nonpotable demands, deciding to recharge the regional aquifer with all available reclaimed water. Goodyear coupled this policy change with an aggressive water conservation program that aims to ensure the highest and best use of available water supplies for the community’s benefit. By recharging available reclaimed water, Goodyear is accumulating groundwater credits that can be pledged toward its 100-year assured water supply. CITY OF SCOTTSDALE Since the early 1990s, Scottsdale has provided nonpotable water to 23 golf courses in north Scottsdale through a public-private partnership known as the Reclaimed Water Distribution System (RWDS). When the RWDS was first established, Scottsdale pumped untreated surface water from the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal to member courses. When the city’s water reclamation plant came 33
online in 1998, the courses began to receive a combination of untreated CAP water and tertiary-treated effluent. Because of the salt content of the source water and additional discharges of salt from water softeners, the reclaimed water delivered to the golf courses had high salt content, which created challenges with turf germination. In response, the RWDS courses worked out an agreement with Scottsdale to blend a portion of ultrapure water from the city’s advanced water treatment facility with the CAP water and effluent to significantly reduce the levels of total dissolved solids (primarily sodium) in the delivered water. To accommodate the additional water, the RWDS golf courses purchased capacity in the advanced water treatment facility, ultimately paying an additional $22.5 million to expand the facility’s capacity from 14 million gallons a day to its current capacity of 20 million gallons a day. In addition to reducing salt concentrations in water delivered to golf courses, the advanced water treatment facility treats effluent from the city’s water reclamation plant to ultrapure levels utilizing ozonation, microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet disinfection before recharging the local aquifer through injection wells. CITY OF TUCSON Since 1984, Tucson has produced and delivered reclaimed water to nearly 1,000 sites, including 18 golf courses, 50 parks, 65 schools (including the University of Arizona and Pima Community College), and more than 700 singlefamily homes. Recycled water is one of two renewable water resources (the Colorado River is the other). Producing and using reclaimed water for irrigation saves groundwater and Colorado River water for drinking. In 2013, Tucson Water completed a recycled water master plan, which resulted in a recycled water implementation plan that consists of public outreach, scoping an indirect potable reuse project, and researching and designing an indirect potable reuse demonstration facility. Although Tucson may not need potable reuse for decades, steady progress of public outreach and the research of evolving treatment technologies are essential to plan for a safe, reliable, and assured water supply. THE ROLE OF RECLAIMED WATER IN MEETING GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT OBLIGATIONS In 1993, the Arizona legislature created a groundwater replenishment authority that would be operated by the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD). The CAGRD’s purpose is to provide a mechanism for landowners and water providers that do not have direct access to the CAP canal, or do not otherwise have sufficient water supplies, to demonstrate an assured water supply. Essentially, landowners and water providers enrolled in the CAGRD can pump and use groundwater, which the CAGRD replenishes on their behalf. Historically, to replenish the aquifer on behalf of its members, the CAGRD used CAP water that subcontractors 34
did not use. However, as subcontractors grew into their available subcontract volumes, less excess CAP water became available, forcing the CAGRD to seek and acquire other water resources, such as reclaimed water, to meet the replenishment obligations. Currently, the state’s first-ever public-private reclaimed water recharge facility is being built through a partnership between the CAGRD and Liberty Utilities, an investorowned utility. The new recharge facility will be located in the city of Goodyear, where Liberty Utilities has 12 wells that pump from the same aquifer that this project will recharge. At the recharge facility, water will be delivered to large, shallow basins where it will percolate into the aquifer. This will also help the CAGRD meet its replenishment obligations through an arrangement that lets CAGRD own the stored water. The water supply will come from Liberty Utilities’ Palm Valley Water Reclamation Plant, which produces approximately 3.5 million gallons per day of A+ reclaimed water. It is also anticipated that additional similar partnerships and arrangements will be developed with other investor-owned and public utilities in the future. THE FUTURE OF WATER REUSE IN ARIZONA Reusing water in Arizona for groundwater replenishment and to meet nonpotable demands will continue. However, as people become more confident in the use of reclaimed water for potable purposes, and as demands consume other costeffective supplies, growing cities will be expected to turn to potable reuse as a realistic water management solution. Recent public policy reports have been explicit about the need for increased water reuse, including for potable purposes. In February 2016, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality initiated the process of updating Arizona’s water reuse rules, which will likely include rules for direct potable reuse. While there is no reported demand for potable reuse rules that would allow a utility to proceed with a potable reuse project, developing a regulatory framework now that fits into Arizona’s other water quality and water resource management regulations and rules is prudent. Arizona has a long and proud history of planning for reliable water supply in its semiarid climate. Planning for the safe and reliable use of reclaimed water as a source of supply for the production of drinking water is one of the next steps in continuing that history. Guy Carpenter is Carollo’s water reuse technical practice director. He is also president of the WateReuse Association and an elected board member of the Central Arizona Project, which delivers 1.6 million acre-feet to central and southern Arizona. Guy can be contacted at GCarpenter@carollo.com.
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The Arizona Water Banking Authority: Reserving Water Today for Use Tomorrow
By Thomas Buschatzke
T
he Arizona Water Banking Authority (AWBA) is a water management tool that provides protection to Arizona communities that are dependent on Colorado River water by providing a stored reserve of water that can be tapped in times of drought on the Colorado River. The AWBA was established in 1996 based on the recommendations of the Joint Interim Committee on Colorado River Issues, which was tasked with exploring ways that Arizona could use more of its 2.8 million acrefeet share of Colorado River water. Prior to 1996, Arizona did not use its full share of Colorado River water, and at the time, Arizona was not expected to use its full allocation until the year 2030. Leaving water unused was a benefit for the other lower Colorado River basin states but a lost opportunity for Arizona. Arizona’s unused share was being consumed primarily by California, which was using substantially more than its 4.4 million acre-foot entitlement. Nevada was also rapidly growing into its entitlement and needed to find additional supplies. Fearing its entitlement was at risk, Arizona responded proactively. The creation of the AWBA gave Arizona the ability to secure and fully use its Colorado River supplies. The AWBA has helped to effectively manage Arizona’s groundwater supplies by storing water underground and delivering renewable supplies for municipal, industrial, and agricultural use. Water stored by the AWBA can be pumped in the future to provide backup supplies to municipal and industrial water users within the Central Arizona Project service area. Cities and towns along the Colorado River and certain Arizona Indian tribes can also benefit from the AWBA. Since its inception, the AWBA has stored 3.4 million acre-feet for Arizona water users.
INTERSTATE BANKING
Nevada has also benefited from the AWBA’s interstate water-banking program. Prior to the creation of the AWBA, there were discussions underway about creating a top water bank within Lake Mead from surplus and unused Colorado River supplies. This raised serious concerns in Arizona, since a good portion of those supplies would have included Arizona’s unused entitlement. While Arizona wanted to assist its neighboring states, it
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wanted to do so within the law of the river and not risk compromising its Colorado River entitlement. The key to achieving that goal was the off‑stream storage rule adopted by the secretary of the interior in 1999, which provided the framework for interstate banking in the lower Colorado River basin. Any interstate banking arrangement between the states must first be recognized through a storage and interstate release agreement between the secretary and the authorized parties. This agreement is the mechanism that allows one state to store its own or divert another state’s unused entitlement for storage. The stored water is then made available as intentionally created unused apportionment. For example, in 2001 Arizona and Nevada entered into an interstate banking agreement whereby Nevada agreed to pay Arizona to store excess water. When Nevada requests water in the future, Arizona will reduce its diversions of Colorado River water and use an equal amount of stored water instead, while the secretary will then release Arizona’s internationally created unused appointment to Nevada for diversion and use.
THE MECHANICS OF STORAGE
Under the Underground Storage, Savings, and Replenishment Program, the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) issues credits to entities that recharge water, such as the ABWA, for an equivalent amount of water stored, less 5 percent if the water is from the Central Arizona Project. That 5 percent is what is known as the cut to the aquifer and ensures that there is no net loss to the system when credits are recovered in future years (pumped from wells). The credit is what guarantees the legal right to use that stored water in the future. When credits are recovered, although they are physically groundwater, they are legally characterized as stored water. This is significant because it allows cities and industrial water users to continue to meet water management objectives. For example, a city can store its unused water supplies today to create a renewable water supply for the future. The AWBA holds permits issued by the ADWR to store water at both underground storage facilities (USFs) and groundwater savings facilities (GSFs) located in the Phoenix, Pinal, and Tucson Active Management Areas. USFs, which can be percolation basins, injection wells, or Municipal Water Leader
Percolation basins for underground water storage at Tucson Water’s Central Avra Valley Storage and Recovery Project.
natural stream channels, are designed to add renewable supplies, known as artificial recharge, to the aquifer. GSFs, typically irrigation districts, save water that already exists within the aquifer by using renewable supplies before groundwater to irrigate crops. There is no distinction between GSFs and USFs with regard to the accrual of credits; however, storing water at a GSF is less expensive because the GSF operator pays a share of the water delivery costs. Storage at a USF is slightly more expensive because operation and maintenance fees must be paid in addition to water delivery charges. The decision to store at either facility is based largely on the amount of storage capacity that is available to the AWBA. In the Pinal Active Management Area, storage is limited to the GSFs because these facilities are the only ones that are currently available. It is desirable to store water in locations where it will be accessible in the future and where it can provide a management benefit.
FUNDING
Tucson Active Management Areas; ad valorem property taxes levied by the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, with approval of its board to devote funds to the AWBA; and general funds appropriated at the discretion of the Arizona legislature. There are restrictions on how and for what purpose they can be used. For example, ad valorem tax monies can only be used to provide backup supplies to Central Arizona Project municipal and industrial subcontractors during a Colorado River shortage and can only be used for the benefit of the county in which the funds were collected. The availability of each funding source, which can vary both annually and by region, influences where the AWBA stores water each year and which objectives can be accomplished. Tom Buschatzke is the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. He can be contacted at tbuschatzke@azwater.gov.
The AWBA is authorized to use three different funding sources: a portion of the groundwater withdrawal fees paid to the ADWR by entities within the Phoenix, Pinal, and
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Aledo Wastewater Treatment Plant Expans UTILITIES ENGINEERING PROJECT MANAGER AT FREESE AND NICHOLS, INC.
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Freese and Nichols’ Oklahoma City office is currently searching for an experienced water/ wastewater engineer to lead teams on municipal utility infrastructure projects. Since opening our office in Oklahoma City in 2014, we have secured numerous projects and are continuing to build our client base. This position presents an opportunity to join our team of highly qualified technical experts and assist in the building of a strong regional presence for the firm. Project management experience should include: • Client contact responsibilities • Project execution • Agency coordination • Proposal preparation • Project scheduling Qualifications must include: • Bachelors or Masters degree in Civil Engineering • Current Oklahoma professional engineering license • 10+ years of experience in municipal utility design • 5+ years of progressive project management experience Equal Opportunity Employer Qualified candidates are invited to apply online at www.freese.com/careers.
For information on posting to the Classified Listings, please e-mail Municipal.Water.Leader@WaterStrategies.com
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Aledo Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion
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