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Mesa reviews water budget, highlights reclaimed-water exchanges and Bartlett Dam feasibility work
Summary
City staff presented the Water Resources proposed budget and described portfolio actions including using Roosevelt Dam storage (NCS) to reduce expensive CAP purchases, the Bartlett Dam feasibility study, and a proposed SRP'CAP interconnect feasibility project (SCIF) to reduce treatment costs and move water more efficiently across the city.
Mesa's Water Resources staff presented the proposed FY2026 operations and maintenance budget and an update on the city's water portfolio during the April 17 study session, focusing on reclaimed-water use, new conservation storage behind Roosevelt Dam and feasibility work on Bartlett Dam and a proposed SRP'CAP interconnect.
Seth Weld, deputy director of enterprise finance, said the utility department measures several operating performance metrics and aims to maximize use of reclaimed water. "When we're talking about reclaimed water ... our goal is to stay close to 100%," Weld said, noting reclaimed water is used for recharge, exchange agreements and industrial uses.
Staff described one near-term shift in resource strategy: drawing down Roosevelt Dam'related new conservation space (NCS) water rather than ordering the highest-cost CAP (Central Arizona Project) municipal and industrial water. Staff said NCS is roughly $42 per acre-foot compared with CAP municipal and industrial water prices that have risen to roughly $300+ per acre-foot; staff said replacing a portion of CAP orders with NCS could save several million dollars in the coming year.
Staff also described an ongoing city role in feasibility studies for Bartlett Dam reservoir expansion. Mesa officials said the city is participating in planning and funding feasibility work so it can be at the table for potential future capacity increases and access to additional acre-feet, but any construction would require a federal environmental review and likely congressional approvals. City staff estimated that the city's potential allocation from Bartlett would represent tens of thousands of acre-feet in storage; they emphasized that storage availability varies year to year.
The proposed SRP'CAP interconnect facility (SCIF) feasibility study was presented as another tool to reduce treatment costs. Staff explained SCIF would allow Mesa to move storage from SRP canals into the CAP canal, then treat it at downstream facilities that are less expensive to operate than sending SRP water to some higher-cost treatment routes.
On regulatory priorities, staff said lead-and-copper sampling and new PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) monitoring will continue to require staffing and lab costs. Weld said the water department plans a combination of in-house and outside lab testing and requested funding to continue compliance work. Staff also described a proposed capacity-fee approach (a replacement for earlier impact fees) directed at new development to pay for incremental growth-related capacity rather than spreading the cost across all ratepayers; staff said a draft concept modeled on other Arizona cities will be brought to a council subcommittee first.
Council members asked for more detail about how development would be charged and how the funds would be restricted and spent. Staff said the fee would be designed to demonstrate a clear link between new development and the incremental capital required and that collections and spending would be phased with development.
