Scottsdale braces for Colorado River water cuts by looking for new sources

The city of Scottsdale is looking to acquire new water sources as it braces for Colorado River water cuts.

Scottsdale gets about 70% of its water supply from Colorado River water delivered through the Central Arizona Project, or CAP.

CAP is a wholesaler of Colorado River water that provides water to roughly 80% of the state’s population.

As the federal government creates a new operating agreement for the river, it’s still unclear how much of CAP’s allotment will be cut. The current agreement expires this year, and the seven Colorado River basin states failed to agree on a new plan.

Scottsdale considers buying water from Harquahala Valley

With potentially significant cuts looming, Arizona cities that receive water through CAP, including Scottsdale, are planning ahead.

The Scottsdale City Council will consider an agenda item at Wednesday night’s meeting to authorize the purchase of 15,000 acre-feet of water for $8.25 million from the Vidler Water Company, which operates a groundwater facility in the Harquahala Valley in western Arizona.

If the purchase goes through, Scottsdale will need to build infrastructure to transfer the water into the CAP canals.

CAP and the Arizona Department of Water Resources would both have to agree to the deal before the water purchased from Vidler can be injected into the canals.

The process is estimated to take about two years.

City has other ways of maintaining water supply

Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky acknowledged that that the proposed Harquahala Valley purchase isn’t significant, but she recently told KTAR News 92.3 FM that her city is in a good position because it already stores about 20% of its Colorado River allocation.

Borowsky also wants the city to create an ordinance that requires new developments to provide all or part of their own water.

“Especially new development that has an extreme amount of water use or need [that] they have some participation in sourcing the water,” Borowsky said.

Right now, Scottsdale is on the hook to provide water for new developments because the city has a 100-year Assured Water Supply designation.

Recycled water is part of Scottsdale’s plan

Meanwhile, recycled water makes up about 15% of Scottsdale’s daily water supply. The city recharges billions of gallons of recycled water into aquifers annually through a process known as indirect potable reuse.

“We’ve been treating and reinjecting treated water into the aquifer for over 20 years,” Borowsky said.

Scottsdale could replenish its potable water supply faster with a method called Advanced Water Purification, or AWP, that bypasses aquifers and sends the treated wastewater directly to homes – a concept that has received community pushback.

The latest city budget doesn’t cover implementation of AWP because of uncertainties surrounding the cost, Borowsky said.

“That’s OK with me. There’s a lot of uproar about it. Measure twice, cut once is a really good policy,” she said.

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