With cuts expected to Colorado River water supplies, Valley cities are partnering to have more flexibility in water supplies.
The city of Phoenix helped to devise and last week joined a new program called SWAP, the Secure Water Arizona Program. It would never force water reallocation but would connect willing buyers and sellers in the spirit of mutual aid.
“It’s a practical program that will allow our state the flexibility to weather the uncertainties in the Colorado River basin,” Mayor Kate Gallego said during the July 1 council meeting.
The federal “preferred alternative” identified in the Post-2026 Guidelines for managing Colorado River water includes water cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet annually to the Lower Basin States of Arizona, California and Nevada for 10 years.
Low water levels at Wahweap Bay at Lake Powell along the Upper Colorado River Basin are pictured, June 9, 2021, at the Utah and Arizona border at Wahweap.
(The Associated Press/Ross D. Franklin)
City council voted 9-0 during the meeting to become a member of SWAP for a term of up to 10 years with the possibility to enter into two five-year extensions. The contract will pay up to $10 million to the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, which will be responsible for the program's administration.
SWAP's three primary functions are to create an emergency reserve for participating cities, incentivize water conservation by collaborating on reduction offset programs, and to encourage water transactions between cities.
“As Phoenix and communities across Arizona face significant cuts to our Colorado River resources, we need increased flexibility, water sharing options and options to encourage creative conservation projects,” Gallego said
Those water sharing transactions can be things like swapping rights to water in the Salt River Project system, Central Arizona Project system or groundwater in a way that would be more convenient for the cities. For example, if one water source would have easier transportation to water users.
Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington, who is Phoenix’s representative on Arizona Municipal Water Users Association board, said these transactions will make cities “more nimble” on their approach to water issues.
“We must and we continue to be innovative in our approach and work with our partners throughout the region to provide real solutions to this very real challenge ahead of us,” Hodge Washington said.
Council members did not mention other cities that have joined yet, though Gallego mentioned she had heard from other cities that wanted to partner with Phoenix and said it was a point of pride for her that the city was a leader in creating this program. In a past meeting, Tucson was mentioned as an architect of the program as well.
Any water user who receives Colorado River water from the Central Arizona Project can become a member of SWAP, including public and private municipal water providers, Native communities, water organizations and regulatory agencies.
“This is a step forward not just for the city but for the region as a whole,” Hodge Washington said.
In that spring meeting, Water Resources Management Advisor Maxwell Wilson emphasized the importance of cities providing an emergency source of water for any city or community that is facing an emergency shortage — lending cities would have that water paid back later through SWAP. Wilson said the region learned from the Rio Verde Foothills water crisis a few years ago that any Arizona community facing a water crisis “can have an enormous impact on public perception and economic development for all of Arizona.”
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Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Phoenix
mcarlisle@iniusa.org
Meet Mark
Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.
Community: Mark enjoys taking his young son to BabyTime at the Phoenix Public Library, to the OdySea Aquarium and to various sporting events around the Valley.
Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.
Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.
Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, son and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.
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