Phoenix area water reservoirs near full after wet winter
PHOENIX (AP) - Reservoirs have reached near capacity along the Verde and Salt rivers after a wet season caused rain and snow runoff across central Arizona mountains.
The Salt River Project’s system of six reservoirs is now 98% full, its highest level since 2010, the Arizona Republic reported. In comparison, the reservoirs stood at 79% of their full capacity in 2019 and 60% full in 2018.
“The short-term drought for Arizona, I think, is over after a couple years of wet winters,” said Charlie Ester, SRP’s manager of surface water resources. “But are we out of this multidecadal drought that we’ve been in since the mid-90s? Now, that’s the big question.”
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“We’ve been in this drought for so, so long that having full reservoirs is reason to celebrate,” Ester said, adding that the Colorado River remains over-allocated and its two largest reservoirs are less than half full despite the success seen near Phoenix.
“A year of good precipitation, we’ll take it. … But it doesn’t solve any of the problems on the Colorado River. And the Colorado River remains over-allocated. And that is still a major concern,” said Kathryn Sorensen, director of Phoenix Water Services.
Most of north Phoenix depends entirely on water from the Colorado River.
A $300 million project is ongoing to build large water mains and pump stations to bring in water from areas that rely on the Salt and Verde rivers, city officials said, adding that it could add resilience to the water system in Phoenix.
The Salt River Project services more than 375 square miles (971 square kilometers) across the Phoenix metropolitan area, including Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Peoria, Chandler and Gilbert.