City Of Phoenix: Arizona Cities Helping Farmers During Shortage

Phoenix AZ

01 September, 2021

4:49 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Phoenix: September 1, 2021 10:30 AM The city of Phoenix will join several other valley cities in helping provide water to Arizona farmers impacted most by the drought. Agricultural water users in Pinal County will be among those most impacted by the federal government's declared Tier 1 water shortage on the Colorado River. The city of Phoenix developed a robust water resource portfolio over many decades with water coming from many sources. This means the Colorado River shortage won't impact the City's ability to provide clean and reliable water to its customers without interruption. Two years ago, in anticipation of the Tier 1 shortage, the city of Phoenix worked with other cities and entities to create a plan to deliver their own Colorado River water supplies to agricultural irrigation districts in Pinal County used for farming. As part of the Arizona implementation of the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan, several cities and entities agreed to the Underground Storage Facilities (USFs) to Groundwater Savings Facilities (GSFs) Program. The program works much like a savings account. Phoenix and other cities make "deposits" by giving water to farmers to use now in exchange for "credit" down the road to access ground water. This program will alleviate some pressure to farmers due to the Colorado River reductions. The Tier 1 reductions will cut water from Colorado River supplies by 30% or 512,000 acre-feet (af). Central Arizona Project (CAP) which delivers the water uses a priority system. This means agriculture users in Pinal County will see significant reductions in water supplies soon, while cities like Phoenix will not see an immediate reduction in water available to customers. The following pledges have been made to agriculture irrigation districts: *One acre-foot of water would serve approximately three Phoenix homes for a year. The following agricultural irrigation districts will receive: The water provided by the cities and entities through the CAP will be used by the agricultural irrigation districts to irrigate crops instead of using the districts' local groundwater. The cities and entities earn long-term storage credits that go into a "savings account." Those credits will be stored in Pinal County. The Arizona Water Bank has agreed to exchange the credits earned in Pinal County for existing credits in Maricopa County that supplies cities and entities water. This innovate thinking allows farmers to get the water needed immediately without straining cities and entities in the future.  Media Contact:   Athena SanchezPublic Information Officer, Phoenix Water Cell: 602-621-0507Email: [email protected] ###​ Related Social Media Hashtags and Handles: Phoenix Water Colorado River Keywords: Phoenix Water Services, Colorado River, Arizona Water This press release was produced by City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author's own.