Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation were in Tucson this week to mark the beginning of two new water-saving projects in Arizona.
Local and federal officials gathered at Tucson's water recharge facility Sweetwater Wetlands on Wednesday morning to sign-off on the new agreements.
Both Tucson and Gilbert are getting projects funded through the Bureau of Reclamation's program to conserve Colorado River Water.
Bureau Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said they come ahead of fresh Colorado River negotiations planned for next year.
“These projects will come online at a time where we will be negotiating new agreements, but also implementing them. So when the city of Gilbert builds these out, or the city of Tucson, it means we’re leaving more water in the system,” she said.
Touton said other projects part of the program include turf removal efforts in Nevada and recycled water programs in California.
Tucson will use more than $86 million to build a water facility that will recycle effluent and convert it into drinking water. Local officials say the project is in the design phase and could be up and running by 2031. It’s slated to serve the city’s northwest side, where more than two dozen wells have been shut down due to groundwater contamination from PFAS and other chemicals. The plant is expected to save 56,000 acre feet of Colorado River water over the next ten years.
“So starting in 2026, we will be ordering lesser amounts of our river supply, but then by the year 2035, it’ll equal 56,000 acre feet,” said Tucson Water Director John Kmiec. “We’ll be looking at our ordering for future years, and each of those years we will decide how much we’re going to leave in the system at that time.”
Kmiec said Tucson currently receives a yearly share of 144,991 acre feet from the Colorado River, but consumes only about 100,000 acre feet of that.
Gilbert Mayor Scott Anderson said his town has signed two agreements with the bureau worth almost $17 million.
“Between these two agreements over the next 10 years, Gilbert agrees to conserve 8,500 acre feet of Colorado River water in Lake Mead, which is approximately 3% of Gilbert’s Colorado River allocation,” he said.
One agreement will fund new water meters to provide real-time data and monitor leaks. The other will help the town build upon its renewed water resources.
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