Comparison of Drought Impact on Water Utilities in the Tucson Basin

1
Comparison of Drought Impact on Water Utilities
in the Tucson Basin

• Noel McKee, Ashley Betz, Ross Richard, and David
  Rodriguez

2
Definition of Drought

• According to Arizona Drought Preparedness Plan
• A sustained, natural reduction in precipitation
  that results in negative impacts to the
  environment and human activities

3
Past Drought Plans

• Drought in Arizona was dealt with on an emergency
  basis
• Governor Jack Richard Williams
• 1968 Construction of Central Arizona Project
  (CAP) was approved
• 1973-1993 Construction in progress

4
Past Drought Plans Continued

• Governor Bruce Babbitt
• 1980 Groundwater Management Act
• to control the amount of overdraft that was
  occurring statewide
• to most effectively distribute the states
  limited supply of groundwater while considering
  the states evolving needs
• to develop the water supply to increase and
  recharge Arizonas groundwater

5
Arizona Drought Preparedness Plan

• Governor Janet Napolitanos newly implemented
  drought action plan
• Past drought actions focused on emergency
  response, this plan focuses on drought
  preparedness
• Flexible to accommodate different areas of the
  state
• Formed after considering drought plans of other
  states
• Relies heavily on scientific resources

6
Drought Response Ratings

• 0 Normal Conditions
• 1 Monitoring Unusual Dryness
• 2 Drought Alert
• 3 Drought Emergency

7
Scientific Resources

• Measurement of reservoir levels, stream flow, and
  soil moisture
• Monitoring ocean temps
• Data from U of A Tree Ring Lab (to predict long
  term climate data)

8
Arizona Drought Preparedness Plan Continued

• Implemented by the Governors Drought Action Task
  Force
• Comprised of committees of experts
• Meet regularly throughout the year to assess
  drought conditions
• Task Force members include
• State, Local, and Tribal leaders
• Officials from
• US Geological Survey
• Natural Resources Conservation Services
• US Bureau of Reclamation
• Salt River Project
• Anthropologists and Geographers

9
Materials and Methods

• Past and present state drought plans were
  researched
• A survey was created
• Five water utilities in the Tucson area were
  selected to be interviewed
• Responses were compared

10
Interviewees

• Marana Water Department Utilities Director Brad
  DeSpain
• Metro Water General Manager Mark Stratton
• Oro Valley Water Utilities Director Alan Forrest
• Tucson Water Administrator Dennis Rule
• Green Valley Community Water General Manager
  Arturo Gabaldon

11
Results
How many people is the water provided to?
Tucson Water 700,000 (80-85 of Tucson population)
Metro Water 45,000
Oro Valley 45,000
Marana 7,000
Green Valley 16,500
What is the source of the water?
Tucson Water 50 Groundwater, 50 CAP water
Metro Water Groundwater and CAP water
Oro Valley Groundwater
Marana Groundwater
Green Valley Groundwater
12
Does the company have a CAP allocation and is it
used?
Tucson Water Yes, Yes
Metro Water Yes, Yes (8,850 acre feet)
Oro Valley Yes, 65,000 acre feet, No, the infrastructure to obtain the water still needs to be built
Marana Yes, Yes
Green Valley Yes (1,337 acre feet), No infrastructure to obtain water needs to be built
How is the CAP water used?
Tucson Water All used for artificial recharge
Metro Water Artificial recharge, paper water, wet water
Oro Valley N/A
Marana In lieu recharge with Cortaro Marana Irrigation District
Green Valley N/A
13
Are there plans to buy (more) CAP water?
Tucson Water No
Metro Water Yes, an additional 4,600 acre feet
Oro Valley N/A
Marana Yes, an additional 1,500 acre feet
Green Valley N/A
Is Tucson in a drought? If yes, for how long has
there been a drought?
Tucson Water Yes, 5-10 years
Metro Water Yes, 6-9 years
Oro Valley Yes, 4-5 years
Marana Yes, 5-7 years
Green Valley Yes, 6 years
14
How long has this utility dealt with/how is it
affected by the drought?
Tucson Water Not affected directly
Metro Water Has dealt more with conservation practices than with the drought
Oro Valley Relatively new utility, had just bought all of private companies by 1996, drought hit shortly after
Marana Since drought started
Green Valley Has not dealt with drought as of yet
What has the utility done to prepare for drought
in the past?
Tucson Water Created a water bank
Metro Water Conservation tactics
Oro Valley Company is too young, has reacted to drought rather than prepared
Marana Well reconditioning phases
Green Valley Green Valley does have a Curtailment plan that limits use when in drought.
15
Does the company have a drought contingency plan
for the future?
Tucson Water No, it has not been impacted by the drought yet but all water utilities must have water plans for the next 100 years water bank, and Emergency Supply Plan
Metro Water Working with county to make ordinance or regulatory control and further restrictions, if necessary
Oro Valley General long term planning that can be pushed forward if necessary
Marana No, just monitoring and maintenance
Green Valley No, but working on one to participate in the states drought action plan
16
How does the company feel about Governor
Napolitanos new Drought Action Plan?
Tucson Water Not equally applied to all areas
Metro Water It is a good first step. Identifies a good number of conditions and concerns. Good that control lies with the individual provider
Oro Valley Good idea. Good initiative for the state, but water utilities should be provided more. Positive about proactive behavior. The more data the better
Marana Good for as far as it went but has no teeth (needs to be more aggressive)
Green Valley Likes it, but feels that there are certain changes that are required to work as well as the importance of good communication between participants and the state
17
How will the Drought Action Plan affect this
company?
Tucson Water Developers must develop drought plans that include drought restrictions for new building
Metro Water Has not been affected
Oro Valley Company must submit a drought plan.
Marana Have not been affected. Water table is going up
Green Valley Community Water will bring together 6 smaller water utilities and plan a drought action plan for their specific area. Their plan will have to be tailored specifically to them due to nature of where they get their water (from the south) and their priorities (humans vs. agriculture).
18
What revisions would your company make to this
plan?
Tucson Water Address the issue that areas with growing populations take up more water and make a distinction between growing areas and those already suffering from the drought. Require AMAs to develop a 100 year plan-if they do not, state can step in to protect water.
Metro Water Would have implemented this plan sooner. Each company should develop own drought action plan. State should develop separate office for conservation.
Oro Valley Disagree with mandates made by the state. Implemented programs should be left to the jurisdiction of local authorities rather than state. This could lead to danger if different areas are all left under state dictation
Marana More conservation. Possible statewide conservation blitz.
Green Valley The state when writing the report made the areas too big. The cells are very different and need to be dealt with individually. The drought action plan is supposed to be about conservation but really it is reallocation.
19
Useful Websites

• www.drought.arizona.com
• www.water.az.gov.gdtf
• www.arizona.org
• www.cap-az.com

20
Conclusions

• All companies believe that Tucson is in a drought
  but opinions about how long it has lasted differ.
• Bigger companies believe the drought has lasted
  longer, possibly because these areas have seen
  more population growth and have experienced more
  strain on their water supply.
• Smaller companies plan to invest more in CAP
  water, possibly because they recognize the need
  to obtain water before it is gone.
• Tucson is different from most areas because it
  relies mainly on groundwater and the drought only
  affects the groundwater in the long run.

21
Conclusions Continued

• Drought is more detrimental to CAP water than
  anything else.
• Mixed reactions about the Arizona Drought
  Preparedness Plan

22
Acknowledgments

• Thank you to the utility representatives for
  giving their time and providing information
• Thank you to Dr. Riley, our classmates, and
  everyone in attendance

23
The End