Salt River Project outlines pumped‑storage and Verde Reservoir sediment projects to boost capacity and reliability

Patrick Siegel, director of water and natural resources law for Salt River Project (SRP), described SRP’s century‑long reclamation history and presented plans to expand hydropower and storage capacity to meet future water and electricity demand in central Arizona.

Siegel said SRP manages seven dams and reservoirs holding about 2,300,000 acre‑feet of storage and delivers roughly 800,000 acre‑feet annually to shareholders and contractors. On the power side, he said SRP’s generation portfolio includes hydropower and that the utility is exploring a pumped‑storage hydropower project that could provide “up to 2,000 megawatts of power for 10 hours,” which Siegel said would serve the equivalent of about 500,000 homes. He described the project as a way to store excess renewable energy during low‑demand periods and release it during peak demand.

Siegel also described a Verde Reservoir sediment mitigation feasibility study, conducted with 23 water providers and federal partners, that is evaluating options such as enlarging Bartlett Dam and Reservoir. He said enlarging Bartlett could more than double capacity and add about 350,000 acre‑feet of storage—enough to support roughly 1,000,000 American homes under the terms used in his testimony—and that some reservoirs have lost roughly 50,000 acre‑feet of capacity to sediment since construction.

Siegel urged continued federal‑regional collaboration and supportive congressional policy and funding to help SRP and other operators maintain and expand water storage and hydropower as demand grows.