Arizona Water Company outlines assured water supply designation, fees and Bartlett Dam role for Casa Grande

Arizona Water Company presented a technical briefing to the Casa Grande City Council study session, detailing the company's application for an assured water supply designation for its Pinal Valley system and answering council questions about fees, groundwater allowances and supply options.

Fred Schneider, introduced as the company's president, said the firm operates 24 systems statewide and that roughly 40% of its statewide supplies are renewable or non-groundwater. Schneider framed the presentation as a progress update toward a designation that would allow the company to be recognized as a designated water provider for the Pinal Valley service area.

Terry Sue Rossi, the company's vice president of water resources, described the Assured Water Supply program and the criteria a provider must meet: "The source of water has to be physically, continuously, and legally available," she said, and providers must meet conservation and financial-capability tests. Rossi noted that the 100-year standard for an assured supply was adopted in the 1970s to prevent land-sales fraud and to give buyers confidence about water availability.

Rossi reviewed a decades-long history of groundwater-modeling problems in the Pinal Active Management Area. She said a modeling error discovered in the mid-2010s left unmet demands that were later quantified (2019 model showing 8,100,000 acre-feet of unmet demand), contributing to an effective closure of the basin. She told council the Department of Water Resources declared in June 2021 it would not issue more groundwater-dependent assured-water-supply determinations in the Pinal AMA.

On the designation specifics, Rossi said the company's proposed designation term would be 10 years and the total designation volume "is a little over 50,000 acre feet." She said Arizona Water Company will pledge both groundwater and Central Arizona Project (CAP) water in its application and will join the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD); she estimated starting fees at about $100,000 per year for the company's membership. Rossi explained a proposed water availability fee that would apply to new connections unless developers secure alternate supplies (effluent or extinguishment/groundwater savings credits).

Rossi also discussed Bartlett Dam expansion as a long-term supply option. She said the expansion project would create about 330,000 acre-feet of capacity but that capacity does not equal yield; she estimated yield nearer 8,000 acre-feet and cited an estimated project cost of about $3.7 billion (roughly $19,900 per acre-foot of capacity). Rossi said Arizona Water Company has been recommended for an allocation of about 27,000 acre-feet of Bartlett capacity and described a portfolio of groundwater allowances and extinguishment credits that would make early supply acquisition more affordable.

Council members asked technical questions about acre-foot conversions, how certificates apply to subdivided versus non-subdivided property and why the 100-year standard exists; Rossi and Schneider answered with historical context and clarifications. The presenters said EPCOR had received an executed designation order in October 2025 and that Arizona Water Company filed soon after and hoped to receive its designation by February.

Council thanked the presenters and closed the study session; staff and the company indicated they would follow up on formal designation paperwork and fee details as they become available.