Tucson Waters Drought Preparedness: Past, Current and Future Jeff - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Tucson Water’s Drought Preparedness: Past, Current and Future

Jeff Biggs, Tucson Water US-Mexico Border Water Summit April 24, 2019

Tucson Water Service Area

• 730,000 customers

§ Main potable system § Nine isolated systems § Reclaimed system

• 35% of customers are outside the City

limits

• 390 Square Miles
• Semi-arid climate

§ Sonoran Desert § <12 inches/year rain

Avra Valley Ci City of

Tu Tucson

T I A

Sandario Rd.

Oracle Rd. 22nd St. Speedway Blvd. Houghton Rd. City of Tucson Boundary Tucson Water Service Area

Tohono O’Odham Nation Tohono O’Odham Nation

Ajo Highway

A F A F B D D M M

Avra Valley

Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Isolated Water Systems Isolated Water System Isolated Water System

Roskruge Mountains

Isolated Water Systems Isolated Water System

Tucson Mountains Santa Catalina Mountains Rincon Mountains

Water Resources

Groundwater

• Water stored in aquifer sediments
• Pumped from well fields

Remediated Water

• Contaminated groundwater, cleaned to

drinking water or higher standards

• TARP / AOP

Colorado River Water

• Colorado River water delivered via the

Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal

• Recharge and Recovery

Recycled Water

• Direct use as reclaimed water
• Recharged at various facilities

Rain/Stormwater

• Active systems
• Passive systems

Colorado River Water Remediated Water Recycled Water

Reclaimed Water

Rain/Stormwater Groundwater

Water Production: 1940-2018

• Supply Diversification
• Supply Transition
• Conservation

Year

CAP Groundwater TARP Reclaimed 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 Water Production for TW Service Area (Acre-Feet) 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2018 2018

CAP Reclaimed Water TARP/AOP Groundwater Rainwater Harvesting (Unmetered)

Rainwater Harvesting (Unmetered)

Colorado River and Tucson

Santa Cruz River

Storage and Recovery Projects Arizona C e n t r a l Project Hayden/Udall WTP Reservoir

C

• l
• r

a d

• Grand Canyon

Lake Havasu Hoover Dam T

• M

e x i c

• R

i v e r

Rocky Mountains

Glen Canyon Dam

• City Of Tucson’s CAP

Allocation is 144,191 AF/YR

• Partner’s CAP Storage is

25,000 AF/YR

• Total 169,191 AF/YR
• Tucson Area’s Largest

Renewable Supply

Benefits of Recharge and Recovery

• Soil aquifer treatment (SAT) to

remove pathogens, suspended solids, and

• rganics
• Short- and long-term storage
• Resiliency against outages on

the delivery canal versus a surface water treatment plant

• Multi-benefit facilities
• Consistent water quality

Pathways to Resiliency

• Conservation: Live within our means
• Diversification: Optimize and expand supply
• Banking: Store for the future (5 years stored)
• Partnerships: Seek win-wins
• Preparedness: Identify decision points and solutions
• Quality: Monitor and protect water quality
• Groundwater: Tucson’s “back-up plan” (30-40 years)

Water Level Declines 1940-1998 Water Level Recovery 2000-2016

How is Tucson’s Water Situation