Municipal Water

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.

The Arizona Colorado River Visualization Enterprise (CuRVE) is an interactive tool for exploring how Colorado River supplies are used in Arizona, the impacts of Colorado River shortage and water users' options for responding to future cuts in supply. 

Learn how and why land use choices such as agriculture, industrial enterprise, housing and natural open space are the primary factors in defining demand for water in central Arizona and explore the interactive map showing the average water-use intensity of community water systems throughout the region. 

Within Arizona's Active Management Areas (areas in which groundwater use is highly regulated) there is a cap and trade system for groundwater, and cities, Tribes and other entities can accrue and exchange long term storage credits for water that is stored in underground aquifers. This report explains how these credits are accrued and accounted for and how they have become an integral tool for water providers. It includes a dashboard of long term storage credit accounts in Arizona. 

Understand how Colorado River supply cuts will impact residential water use, groundwater pumping, utility costs, urban growth and economic development in central Arizona. 

Central Arizona cities, towns and industries that rely on water conveyed via the Central Arizona Project anticipate future cuts in response to declining Colorado River supplies. But cuts will not be felt equally across all users. This tool provides reasonable estimates of how Colorado River shortages will impact individual communities and other entities. 

To ensure long-term supplies, Arizona has imposed limitations on future housing developments in the Greater Phoenix area that rely on local groundwater. This report explains these limitations and explores whether and how these limits will impact housing affordability.

The prospect of deeper cuts of Colorado River supplies looms for Arizona water users. This report explains what those cuts will mean for water availability, water prices, growth and the economy. 

This report addresses the challenges and trade-offs involved in achieving water equity within community water systems. It is crucial to balance universal access to safe, clean water with the financial realities of maintaining such systems. Water equity is not just about access, but also involves careful consideration of infrastructure and financial sustainability.

Access to safe, reliable drinking water is the foundation of public health, economic opportunity and quality of life. Keeping water affordable is key to ensuring that it is accessible. But most community water system rely on revenues from rate-payers to cover operations and infrastructure cost. This report explains the tensions between keeping water affordable and recouping sufficient revenue to keep a public water system well-maintained. In addition, it analyzes the affordability of rates of over 600 Arizona community water systems.