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Cave Creek panel outlines regional water strategies, warns of Colorado River cuts
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Summary
Staff told the committee the Bureau of Reclamation's post-2026 EIS scenarios could reduce CAP deliveries to Arizona and described efforts to secure Arizona Water Banking Authority credits, exchange agreements with Peoria and Surprise, and other acquisition options as contingency measures.
Town utility staff gave a detailed briefing on regional water-supply risks and the town’s planning response. The agency official said the Bureau of Reclamation issued a new environmental impact statement that contained multiple alternatives potentially reducing Colorado River deliveries after 2026; staff said the town is preparing a letter to the Bureau and is signing onto Central Arizona Project-led objections.
On regional tools, staff described pursuing access to storage credits held by the Arizona Water Banking Authority through exchange agreements with West Valley cities such as Peoria and Surprise. "That 1 gives us access to those storage credits, which is about 3,000 acre feet," the agency official said, adding that amount represented roughly a year-and-a-half of the town’s supplies in current usage estimates.
Committee members pressed technical questions about recharge recovery rules, groundwater migration, and the statutory one-mile recovery limit; staff said credits are tied to physical recharge facilities and that recovery often must occur within a one-mile radius as reflected in state modeling. The briefing also covered buy-in options — including a previously considered Harquahala project — and the Bartlett Dam participation request, with staff noting rising project costs and the need to balance financial exposure.
No final policy decision was reached; staff recommended continuing interagency negotiations and preparing for possible rate or surcharge mechanisms if deeper cuts to CAP deliveries materialize.
