Municipal water users are currently spared. While normally this would give Scottsdale clarity on its water We will see newly built and soon to be built projects as we discuss the growth and [], On Tuesday, January 14th several hundred REALTORS from across Arizona came together at the Arizona State Capitol for REALTOR Day at the Capitol. They also have larger shares of higher-priority Municipal & Industrial (M&I) pool water that wont be impacted until a deeper Tier 3 shortage is declared. WebThis August, the Bureau of Reclamation declared a Tier 2a for the Colorado River system for calendar year 2023. WebARIZONA STRONGER TOGETHER In August 2021, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior declared the first-ever Tier 1 shortage for Colorado River operations. (ADWR), 41% of the states current water supply comes from groundwater, 36% from Colorado River, 18% from in-state rivers, and 5% from reclaimed water. The City of Surprise Property Maintenance Ordinance (PMO) WeSERV Comments and Suggestions, CFPB Bulletin Updates: Distressed Borrowers and New Fair Debt Collection Rule Affecting Tenant Evictions Under CDC Moratorium, We are now to the point in the legislative session when bills are either progressing through the system or they are stalled and wont see a floor vote. The rules governing how water is distributed from the Colorado River focus on Lake Mead water levels. Arizona in 2018opened the door for cities to use direct potable reuse, also known as toilet-to-tap, a term that makes its advocates wince. 2023 Cable News Network. Holly Irwin, a district supervisor in La Paz County, home to Cibola, is fighting the plan. The plan shows the various lakes in the upper and lower basin systems, the amount of water in each lake as of September 2020, and the system storage capacity and amounts. So what does this mean for the people of Arizona? One major challenge to recovery, she said, is where the water storage facilities are located in relation to the cities looking to extract their water. Theres no clearer example of this phenomenon than what is currently happening at the Colorado River and its two reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are the primary water supply for Arizonas 7 million residents. The federal government has approved about 40 such settlements with tribes, some of which include more than one tribe. But Arizona was hit hardest by the declaration with nearly one fifth of the states water supply being cut off. According to the Water Banks annual report, a Tier 3 status, which could be less than two years away, would trigger the maximum release of 120,000 acre-feet per year, split among tribes, municipalities and industrial users. Recovery has always been discussed from the minute the Water Bank was created, OConnell said, but she acknowledged that efforts lagged until 2014, when the first working group was created to address the issue. The land there comes with water rights to the Colorado River, a prized possession in a drought-ravaged state. 2019 Drought Response Operation Agreement. The Bureau of Reclamation declared its first-ever Tier 1 shortage last year, sparking a series of actions intended to shore up Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dams hydropower production. For alternative water sources, there has been discussions of, pumping floodwaters from the Mississippi River basin. What impact will those additional reductions have on the cities? Considering Arizona relies more than 40% of water supplies from groundwater, lawmakers need to address the unregulated drainage of rural groundwater by industrial farms. Thats the way it works.. Grady Gammage, an attorney representing the Greenstone investment firm, told CNN that the water can be transferred to wherever the owner chooses. The tribe secured water rights to a Colorado River tributary in 2014 through another federal water rights settlement. FILE - Alyssa Chubbuck, left, and Dan Bennett embrace while watching the sunset at Guano Point overlooking the Colorado River on the Hualapai reservation Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, in northwestern Arizona. Discovery Company. Planning that Balances Natural Resources with Economic Growth, Elected leaders who are focused on the future and whose decisions match the goals & values of Arizonans. While the basins might appear as enormous swimming pools from above, AWBA officials said the designs ensure that water gets underground as quickly as possible. The AMWUA cities have committed resources to support this plan that includes sending water to Central Arizona farms. The drought-stricken Southwest got a reprieve this year with average and above-average snowfall following a year that sent many states into extreme drought. All Rights Reserved. Like much of the West the Colorado River is facing unprecedented & accelerating challenges. The region has suffered from a long-term drought, and Lake Mead water levels have declined significantly over the past two decades. We have that resource available to us, he said, as well as billions of dollars available to us for things like recycling, augmentation and other solutions that may be on the table.. Under the current framework for managing the River, the August 24-Month Study determines what level of shortage the River will be in based on the projected levels of Lake Mead for January of the following year. Water levels on Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, is currently experiencing historic low-water levels, caused by the ongoing 20-year-long megadrought in the US West, as well as reduced snowpack in the Rocky Mountains where it usually provides a steady supply of water as it melts. Lake Powell was at 26% of capacity, 168 feet below its full elevation of 3,700 feet above sea level at the time. Participants in the program include large and small cities on the Colorado River, irrigation districts, tribal nations and even private businesses, like Resolution Copper Mining. One of the measures that Biden (AP Photo/John Locher, File), Phoenix Fire responds to another school after students allegedly took edibles, Some 300 campers stranded at an Arizona park due to flooding, Wednesday morning Arizona forecast 1-18-23, a whole-of-government approach to drought mitigation, Feds declare water shortage for Colorado River, cut allotment to Arizona. Ultimately, Reclamation must fulfill its leadership responsibilities and determine what actions must be taken to prevent the Colorado River system from reaching such low levels that water is unable to pass through Hoover or Glen Canyon Dams. WHAT DOES THE 2022 TIER 1 SHORTAGE MEAN FOR AMWUA Since the beginning of 2022, Arizona has been in a Tier 1 shortage condition, which has required Arizona to leave 512,000 acre feet of its annual 2.8 million acre-foot allocation in Lake Mead. In June, the Commissioner said water usage in the Basin had to be reduced by 2 to 4 million acre-feet in 2023. 2. Confirm Logout The potential for falling below the minimum power pool increases to 25 to 35% beyond 2022. Not only is Lake Powell's water level plummeting because of drought, its total capacity is shrinking, too, We are what I call the sacrificial lamb for the bigger areas, Irwin told CNN. 181,000 acre-feet is enough water to supply over 5,400 average US households for an entire year. According to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, 1 acre-foot of water or the amount of water required to fill a single acre of land to a depth of 1 foot is enough to serve up to 3.5 single-family households annually. A statement from ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke and CAP General Manager Ted Cooke in response to the U.S. Department of the Interior announcement of actions to protect the Colorado River system and 2023 Operating Conditions for Lake Powell and Lake Mead is available HERE. There is a 22% chance that water levels will drop 1,000 feet the same year. The Cities along the river currently use less than half of their existing municipal entitlement. Outside the city limits of Scottsdale, where the asphalt ends and the dirt road begins, is the Rio Verde Foothills community. But to build such a pipe would cost USD$8.6 billion, and potentially raise water prices from less than $200 for an acre-foot to $1,700. Protecting & enhancing Arizonas water supplies for current and future generations. So what does this mean for the people of Arizona? The Water Bank relies on 26 storage facilities across the state. A small city might operate a site on one-tenth of an acre, while the Central Arizona Water Conservation District operates multiple 20-acre basins. For more water information, visitwww.amwua.org. In 2020 and 2021 Arizona has operated at the Tier Zero Colorado River status meaning we do not take 192,000-acre feet of our allocated 2.8-million-acre feet annual Lake Mead entitlement. (Rebecca Slezak/Dallas Morning News/AP). Water availability is a high concern. Reach reporter Joshua Bowling atjbowling@azcentral.comor 602-444-8138. Though Phoenix has more than an adequate supply of water in non-shortage years, residents and business owners are encouraged to embrace a desert lifestyle. WebThe AMWUA cities have committed resources to support this plan that includes sending water to Central Arizona farms. Hotter days and climates increase evaporation rates as a result, leading to water bodies and sources becoming more stressed, and threatening availability. The writing has been on the wall for years that the Colorado Rivers yearly overallocation would eventually catch up to it. A Tier 3 shortage would impact the amount of water available to Arizona cities and tribes, according to the Central Arizona Project. The briefing outlined the water shortage issues along with what declaring a Tier 1 shortage will mean for Arizona. Apparently, the state has also stored nearly 3 trillion gallons of water for future use or non-rainy days, which is equivalent to serving the city of Phoenix for 30 years, according to the ADWR. Every water user in all sectors within each state must be a part of the solution by contributing to the protection of this shared river system. 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