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Oro Valley commissioners report on Tucson Water recharge tour and long-term storage credits
Summary
Commissioners described a field trip to Tucson Water’s SAFSR recharge and recovery facilities, saying Oro Valley delivered roughly 3,500 acre-feet of CAP water for recharge in 2024 and recovered about 2,600 acre-feet, producing long-term storage credits.
Oro Valley’s Water Utility Commission on Wednesday summarized a field visit to Tucson Water’s Southern Aquifer Storage and Recovery (SAFSR) facility, where town and Tucson staff showed commissioners how Central Arizona Project (CAP) deliveries are recharged, stored and recovered for later use.
Commissioners said Oro Valley delivered about 3,500 acre-feet of CAP water to the SAFSR facility in calendar year 2024 and recovered roughly 2,600 acre-feet for delivery back into the town’s service area. The difference between deliveries and recoveries, after a stated 5% aquifer cut and small evaporative and operational losses, becomes long‑term storage credits that Oro Valley can draw on in later years.
Commissioners and staff described seeing recharge basins in operation and a booster/reservoir complex operated by Tucson Water roughly 25–30 miles from Oro Valley. Staff said not all sites are suitable for managed aquifer recharge; successful recharge depends on subsurface geology and infiltration rates. Basin maintenance includes periodic scarifying or removal of surface fines to restore infiltration rates.
Town staff framed the regional practice as a key drought‑resilience tool: Arizona utilities that can document recharge and recovery under state rules are able to bank water underground and claim long‑term storage credits, a mechanism not widely available in many other states. Commissioners said Tucson Water’s program has evolved over decades from an interim idea into a major storage asset for southern Arizona.
Commissioners and staff also discussed technical limits: recharge basins must be sited where subsurface conditions permit rapid infiltration, and recovered water generally serves local service areas rather than flowing long distances through the aquifer. The commission did not take formal action on the tour report; it was presented as an informational briefing.
The commission said the trip showed the scale of infrastructure and interagency arrangements needed to implement managed aquifer recharge and underscored the operation and maintenance needs that keep recharge systems effective.
