Phoenix’s record rainfall on Monday isn’t expected to put much of a dent in the long-term drought. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of snowpack winter brings.
But thanks to a pair of underground storage basins—Granite Reef near Mesa and the New River Agua Fria in the West Valley—a percentage of that precipitation can be put to future use. Christa McJunkin, who’s in charge of water strategy for Salt River Project, said Arizona’s been a pioneer in water banking.