Scottsdale recently approved an $8.25 million purchase of water credits from Harquahala Valley, through the Central Arizona Project.
It’s part of the city’s plan to diversify its water portfolio as Arizona’s future access to the Colorado River remains uncertain.
Scottsdale says the credits act as a kind of savings account, as they represent water stored underground for future use.
The city says its recent purchase amounted to about 15,000 acre feet of water, enough to provide 45,000 homes with water for a year.
It brings Scottsdale’s total long term water credits to just under 300,000 acre feet.
Other municipalities have also been looking at Harquahala Valley’s groundwater basin — about 60 miles west of Phoenix — to support their water systems. Buckeye and Queen Creek approved water purchases from Harquahala in the last year.
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