CAP Deliveries

The Central Arizona Project (CAP) was, at the time of its completion in 1993, the largest and most expensive water transfer project ever built in the United States, with a capacity to deliver the state’s single largest renewable water supply. Dubbed central Arizona’s "aquifer rescue plan," the CAP is also one of the state’s most celebrated bipartisan achievements. The scale and significance of the CAP warrant a look back to see where and how its water has been used since the first CAP delivery in 1985.

Accordingly, the Kyl Center for Water Policy created a data set categorizing by use every delivery made via the CAP from 1985 to 2024. In addition, we accounted for the volumes of water that could have been delivered via the CAP but instead was intentionally left in Lake Mead. We then converted this data into a series of graphics visualizations which, together with a timeline, tell the story of CAP’s first forty years.

Check out 40 Years of Central Arizona Project Water Use, the latest addition to the Arizona Water Blueprint, our online hub of information about Arizona water resources and policy.