Updates

Part 1: What is water augmentation?
augment (verb): to make greater, more numerous, larger or more intense
augmentation (noun): the act or process of augmenting something
Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2022.
 

The Kyl Center for Water Policy introduces a new blog series featuring updates on Colorado River, groundwater and other water policy issues in Arizona. The next two years will be pivotal as stakeholders negotiate the reservoir operating rules that dictate Colorado River shortages in our state, and these shortages will impact our groundwater. We will try to bring some clarity through light-hearted updates featuring a movie theme. We hope you enjoy it!

As we work to reduce water use on the post-2026 Colorado River, two paths lie open before us.

The Kyl Center for Water Policy introduces a new blog series featuring updates on Colorado River, groundwater and other water policy issues in Arizona. The next two years will be pivotal as stakeholders negotiate the reservoir operating rules that dictate Colorado River shortages in our state, and these shortages will impact our groundwater. We will try to bring some clarity through light-hearted updates featuring a movie theme. We hope you enjoy it!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Groundwater is water found in the cracks and small spaces between soil particles and fractured rock beneath the Earth’s surface. An underground layer that is saturated with water is called an aquifer.

The Kyl Center for Water Policy’s new report and interactive map allow you to explore the water use intensity, that is, average water use per acre, of many Central Arizona cities and towns. Although water demand is commonly thought to be tied to population, it is more directly linked to land use. Local decisions on density, industrial and agricultural patterns and the amount of irrigated or natural open space all greatly impact a community’s water use intensity. 

Because of the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act, the Valley of the Sun is one of the few areas in the world where groundwater stocks are not in steep decline.  However, the future for the Valley’s groundwater is less bright.

For nearly thirty years, Arizona's innovative system for creating Long Term Storage Credits (LTSCs) has allowed water providers to store vast amounts of water in local aquifers. Discover the fascinating world of water banking and Long-Term Storage Credits (LTSCs) in Arizona through our engaging and informative story map.

View the Story Map

Key Points

•To ensure long-term water supplies for current residents, the state has imposed limitations on some new housing subdivisions and other types of development.

•While the new limitations may increase the costs of new homes in some parts of the Greater Phoenix area, cities have a variety of strategies available to encourage lower cost development to mitigate those impacts.

Key Points 

• Results of a new groundwater model show that all of the physically available groundwater in the Greater Phoenix area is fully allocated. 

• This will not impact new development within the service area of water providers with a Designation of an Assured Water Supply (DAWS), the vast majority of Phoenix-area communities. In addition, the model results will not impact subdivisions with a Certificate of Assured Water Supply.