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Oro Valley water director says townis in strong position; seeks revised 100-year designation near 12,889 acre-feet
Summary
Water utility staff told the council Oro Valley's application to modify its 100-year assured water-supply designation is based on a 2013 hydraulic model and recent pumping; staff expect a new designation near 12,889 acre-feet per year while the town continues recharge and reclaimed-water efforts to reduce groundwater reliance.
Oro Valley's water utility leaders told the Town Council Tuesday that the town remains in a reliable long-term water position while staff pursue a modification of the town's 100-year assured water-supply designation.
Mr. Abraham, the town's water utility director, explained how Arizona's assured-water-supply program counts a community's groundwater "savings account" and divides the total by one hundred years under current rules. He said Oro Valley's 2013 hydraulic model supported a prior designation; staff subtracted the groundwater pumped during the intervening decade and submitted an application in December 2023 that estimates a revised designation of about 12,889 acre-feet per year for 100 years.
"Subtracting the groundwater we pumped between 2013 and 2023 leaves a future town designation of 12,889 acre feet of groundwater available for 100 years," Mr. Abraham said, and added that Oro Valley currently pumps just under 5,000 acre-feet a year. He noted the state process is conservative and does not directly credit natural or artificial recharge in the same way the town's internal accounting might.
Councilors pressed staff on trends and what the designation means in practice. Vice Mayor Barrett asked whether the town's designation is declining simply because the accounting treats pumped groundwater as a drawdown of the 100-year entitlement. Mr. Abraham confirmed the characterization: the ADWR method treats the total as a finite volume and counts the town's withdrawals against it even when some monitoring wells show localized recovery.
Mr. Abraham said Oro Valley is reducing groundwater reliance through projects such as the Northwest Recharge Recovery Delivery System and reclaimed-water deliveries, both of which will allow the town to pump less groundwater over time and better preserve the designation for future use. He said the town's annual water-use reports to ADWR have shown Oro Valley remains in compliance with its current designation.
The presentation closed with staff offering more technical documentation and the hydraulic model data to council; members requested copies of the hydrology report and monitoring-well readings to understand local recovery patterns.
What's next: Staff said they expect ADWR review to continue through the year and will report final designation results when available; council asked for additional technical detail at a follow-up meeting.
