Strong Valley monsoon season results in extensive runoff into SRP reservoirs
Sep 16, 2021, 4:15 AM
(SRP Photo)
(SRP Photo)
PHOENIX — A strong monsoon season in the Valley has helped replenish Salt River Project reservoirs that dealt with an abnormally dry winter season.
The monsoon season, which ends Sept. 30, has provided about 250,000 acre feet of inflow into the SRP-managed Salt and Verde river reservoirs.
The winter season, typically the main supplier for the system’s water supply, provided only 103,000 acre feet of water.
An acre foot of water is equal to about 325,000 gallons, enough to supply about three metro Phoenix homes for a year.
“We know we have great climate variability in the Southwest,” Charlie Ester, manager of SRP Watershed Management, said in a press release.
“The past two seasons demonstrate that by producing the second driest winter season ever followed by the second wettest summer season ever.”
Phoenix recorded 3.88 inches of rain during the monsoon season, which starts annually on June 15 and ends Sept. 30.
SRP provides water for about 2 million Valley residents and accounts for about half of the metro’s supply.
The water is stored in seven SRP lakes in the system and is delivered through a series of canals to metro Phoenix cities where it is treated and made available to customers.
The Salt and Verde watersheds, located on protected forest lands in northern and eastern Arizona, encapsulate 8.3 million acres.
