City of Prescott water staff on Jan. 7 presented the subcommittee with semiannual and annual breakdowns of water allocations for 2024 under the amended 2022 Water Management Policy (guidelines 11–14).

Staff reported a total of 65.49 acre-feet allocated in 2024 across 98 requests. Residential projects accounted for about 66 percent of that total, and nonresidential about 34 percent. Of the annual total, staff said 27.31 acre-feet (about 42 percent) were allocated under existing contracts, 21.53 acre-feet (33 percent) from the residential water budget, and 16.65 acre-feet (25 percent) from the nonresidential budget.

The subcommittee was shown that 79 residential requests generated 42.94 acre-feet: 20.58 acre-feet for single-family allocations (48 percent of residential) and 22.36 acre-feet for multifamily (52 percent). Staff emphasized multifamily allocations are used to encourage infill housing and increase rental stock. One residential project that moved through the committee in the reporting period was the Lafferty Apartments (82 units), described by staff as potential workforce housing.

For nonresidential allocations (22.55 acre-feet), staff grouped projects into hotels, restaurants and bars, office, retail, industrial and storage; staff said industrial projects appeared in 2024 after limited activity the prior year. Staff noted one hotel project tied to mall redevelopment and the Aspire Sports Complex promotion.

Staff also summarized existing contracts: 34 projects totaling 16.38 acre-feet, with a veterans housing multifamily project accounting for 10.73 acre-feet of that figure. The veterans housing allocation is recorded by staff in an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) because portions of that VA campus lie inside and outside city limits; staff thanked county and federal partners for coordinating the IGA.

Staff said an Embry-Riddle student residence application (about 34 acre-feet) had been delayed from the period under review and would be considered at a Jan. 14 meeting; staff characterized that application as an appeal and said it would not come from the residential budget within the earlier reporting window.

Staff compared allocations to 2023 and reported fewer new permit applications requiring water in 2024; existing-contract allocations accounted for a large share of 2024 water, and staff said the city remains a regional water supplier for areas outside municipal limits, including parts of Yavapai County and Chino Valley. The subcommittee had no further action on the report and took no formal vote beyond discussion.