Goodyear presents updated Integrated Water Master Plan; recommends plant expansions, recharge and policy work

Goodyear staff presented an update on the city’s Integrated Water Master Plan (IWMP) during a March 3, 2025, council work session, outlining infrastructure needs, resource projections and policy steps to keep pace with rapid population and development growth.

The IWMP update, delivered by Barb, water resources staff, said the city’s water portfolio is diverse — including Colorado River surface water, groundwater from several sub-basins, reclaimed water and long-term storage credits — but that growth has consumed system capacity faster than previous plans anticipated. “We now bring that [Colorado River] water into the city,” Barb said, describing the city’s surface water pipeline and treatment facility that came online in January 2022.

The report recommends multiple near- and mid-term actions: expand the surface water treatment plant from its current 8,000,000 gallons per day (gpd) capacity to 16,000,000 gpd by 2030; increase storage and create a pressure-zone break in Planning Area 2 to stabilize pressures across a wide service area; expand groundwater treatment at certain wells; and expand the 150 Seventh Avenue Water Reclamation Facility and the Rainbow Valley Water Reclamation Facility to meet rising wastewater loads.

Why this matters: The IWMP guides capital investments, rate and impact-fee studies and future ordinances. The city’s prior master plan was expected to carry capacity through 2026; staff said the city has outgrown that designation and has already submitted a modification application to Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) after council approval in March 2024.

Key findings and recommendations

- Resource portfolio and shortage scenarios: The IWMP shows surface water (Colorado River supplies under contract) as the largest single component of available legal supplies, supplemented by groundwater in the West Salt River Valley and Rainbow Valley sub-basins, reclaimed water the city controls, and long-term storage credits. Staff modeled an extreme scenario — a 65% reduction in Colorado River supplies — that would materially constrain growth.

- Surface water treatment and storage: Staff recommended doubling the surface water plant’s capacity from 8,000,000 gpd to 16,000,000 gpd by 2030 and adding storage tanks to meet rising peak demand and firefighting needs.

- Pressure management: Planning Area 2 (between I-10 and the Gila River) is currently a single pressure zone; staff recommended creating a pressure-zone break to avoid over-pressurizing lower-elevation areas while maintaining pressure during peaks.

- Wastewater and brine handling: The city operates three wastewater treatment plants and several lift stations. Staff recommended implementing a brine (byproduct) separation project to remove salty concentrate from the reclaimed system, expand the 150 Seventh Avenue Water Reclamation Facility and continue design-build work at the Rainbow Valley facility. Barb said the brine stream averages about 800,000 gpd (peaking up to 1,500,000 gpd in summer) and that removing the brine will “buy us time” before expansions are required.

- Reclaimed water and recharge: The IWMP encourages maximizing beneficial uses of reclaimed water, improving recharge basin capacity at the city’s SAT (surface application and recharge) site, and exploring direct reuse opportunities (parks irrigation and other nonpotable uses) once brine is removed and water quality improves. Staff flagged opportunities to increase recharge in Planning Area 3 to help sustain future Rainbow Valley groundwater use.

- Rainbow Valley and sub-basin status: The presentation clarified that ADWR’s moratorium on new groundwater-reliant growth applied to three Phoenix AMA sub-basins but did not include the Rainbow Valley sub-basin. Staff said the city has submitted a modification to its Certificate of Assured Water Supply that includes Rainbow Valley groundwater, a process that can take months to years depending on ADWR workload.

Council questions and follow-up directions

Council members pressed on conservation and implementation. Councilwoman Dills noted turf conversion as a conservation strategy and asked whether the city requires or incentivizes such measures; Barb replied the city runs a residential turf-conversion rebate program and pursues WIFA (water infrastructure) grants when available and that the development design guidelines are being updated to discourage nonfunctional turf.

Council member Cano asked about timing for ADWR’s ruling on the city’s certificate; Barb said the process “can take up to a couple years” but that if ADWR meets its timelines an answer could come within a few months. Cano also asked if conservation and advanced water purification would remain priorities; staff answered “Most definitely.”

Council member Gills asked about hydrant testing and maintenance; staff said the city’s hydrant maintenance program inspects and exercises 50% of hydrants each year, so every hydrant is touched on a two‑year cycle, and that private providers (e.g., Liberty, EPCOR) maintain hydrants in their service areas.

Next steps

Staff said it will return with a formal water-resources policy for council direction, proceed toward adoption of the IWMP, and later bring ordinances needed to enforce the policy. The IWMP will also inform an upcoming rate study, impact-fee updates and the five-year capital improvement program. Staff said they expect to present the policy in a future work session and seek adoption in subsequent regular meetings.

Quotes

“We want to maximize that reclaimed water. It is something that we own and we have full control of, so we want to seek beneficial uses for this resource,” Barb said.

“It will buy us time,” Barb said about the brine separation project’s ability to delay larger expansions.

Ending

Council members thanked staff and asked to be kept apprised of ADWR’s review of the certificate modification, brine-project timing, and other near-term steps. No formal council motions or votes were taken at the work session on March 3; staff identified follow-up items that will return to council for policy direction and eventual formal actions.