Oro Valley outlines $50M+ Northwest Recharge, Recovery and Delivery System plan; seeks $6M private loan and WIFA financing

Oro Valley Water Utility Director Peter Abraham updated the Water Utility Commission on the Northwest Recharge, Recovery and Delivery System project, saying the multi‑partner effort is under construction and is on track for a mid‑2026 commissioning.

Abraham told commissioners the partnered portion of the project—built under a 2017 intergovernmental agreement among Oro Valley and two partner water providers—includes two recovery wells, roughly seven miles of transmission main and a partnered 1,000,000‑gallon reservoir. He said the partnered component is largely complete in design and is in active construction while Oro Valley continues independent work to integrate that supply into the town’s system.

“The partnered piece is slated for completion in July of ’26,” Abraham said. “By the time we get done there … I’m seeing we’re going to be over a $55,000,000 project, we’re in rounding numbers, including contingency.” He also told the commission, “we’re going to be short about $6,000,000” to finish Oro Valley’s share of the partnered component and recommended a private placement loan to fill that gap.

Why it matters: the combined partnered and Oro Valley independent portions will increase local supply and distribution capacity. Abraham said the full project will enable Oro Valley to take up to 4,000 additional acre‑feet into its service area and that the mix of partner and town projects is intended to be commissioned together so Oro Valley can…