Oro Valley staff report rising static water levels at more than half of production wells; operations guided by monitoring and periodic rehabilitation

Oro Valley Water Utility Director Peter Abraham told the commission on Feb. 10 that staff saw static‑water‑level recovery in nine production wells in the most recent year, up from eight the prior year, and that ongoing monitoring and targeted rehabilitation guide well‑field operations.

Abraham said staff collect monthly data from 16 production wells in the main well field, two production wells in the Countryside service area and monitoring data from six nearby non‑Oro Valley wells and additional monitoring wells across the service area. He described the town’s principal groundwater production area as the Big Wash / CDO Wash corridor, where hundreds of feet of alluvial sand and gravel provide transmissivity and higher quality water.

“Once we commissioned the NWRDS and we start bringing in additional sources of supply, I’m really excited to see a couple years of that to see how many more of our wells show recovery,” Director Peter Abraham said, referring to planned new supplies and regional wheeling agreements. Abraham said he expects to see additional recovery over time as imported water reduces demand on local aquifers.

Key technical findings and operational…