The u.S. Bureau of Reclamation has started examining the environmental impacts of a project designed to reduce sediment in Verde River reservoirs.
The Verde Reservoirs Sediment Mitigation Project aims to restore capacity at Bartlett and Horseshoe lakes.
As water travels down rivers, it picks up the sand and rock below and carries it downstream until the sediment starts to build up at reservoirs.
"When sediment takes up the space behind a dam, that means that water cannot be stored there. So what we see on the Verde is extreme variability of these wet cycles and these dry cycles. So you try to capture the water when it's available during the wet years," said Olivia Galvan with Salt River Project.
Galvan says the water lost from the two manmade lakes would be enough to supply 150,000 homes for a year.
"So what happens is when you get to those dry years, there's less water available to deliver," Galvan said.
While the Bureau of Reclamation is handling much of the project, SRP operates the Verde Watershed where the dams are located.
The federal agency will start holding public hearings on July 28.
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