Tag Archive for: Central Arizona Project

Arizona’s Current Historic Drought May Be ‘Baseline for the Future’

/in , , /by /Cronkite Newsby Alyssa Marksz

Arizona and other Western states just lived through the driest year in more than a century, with no drought relief in sight in the near future, experts told a House panel Tuesday.

The period from last April to this March was the driest in the last 126 years for Arizona and other Western states, witnesses said. It caps a two-decade stretch that was the driest in more than 100 years that records have been kept – and one of the driest in the past 1,200 years based on paleohydrology evidence, one official said.

Full Story

That Mississippi River Pipeline? Bureau of Reclamation Weighed In About A Decade Ago

/in , , /by /KJZZby Ron Dungan

The Arizona Legislature wants to look into the feasibility of pumping water from the Mississippi River to Arizona.

But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has already studied the idea, and weighed in on the project in 2012.

The agency studied factors such as cost, legal issues, power use and the amount of time the project would take.

A report estimated the project could cost up to $14 billion; the timetable was around 30 years.

Full Story

Don’t Expect Miracle May This Month on the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Arizona Daily Starby Tony Davis

The Colorado River Basin appears to be out of miracles this spring.

Five years after a “Miracle May” of record rainfall staved off what had appeared to be the river’s first imminent shortage in water deliveries, the hope for another in 2021 “is fading quickly,” says the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center’s latest report, released Thursday.

That’s one more piece of bad news for the Central Arizona Project. A first-time shortage is now likely to slash deliveries of river water to Central Arizona farmers starting in 2022 but won’t affect drinking water supplies for Tucson, Phoenix and other cities, or for tribes and industries that get CAP water.

Full Story

Drought Intensifies Forcing Rationing of Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /White Mountain Independentby Peter Aleshire

The US Bureau of Reclamation last week warned water users to brace for a 500,000 acre-foot cut in water from the Colorado River as a historic drought continues to tighten its grip on the Southwest.

The cutback comes on top of a 200,000 acre-foot reduction Arizona water users agreed to last year in an effort to put off this day of reckoning. The Central Arizona Project provides more than a third of the state’s water. The reductions will mostly impact farmers.

The sparse snowpack this winter soaked into the ground during the hot, dry spring — producing little runoff.

Full Story

Arizona’s Water Supply Could be Impacted by Continued Drought Conditions

/in , , /by /ABC 15by Jorge Torres

The long-term drought and effects of climate change means more trouble for the millions of people that depend on the Colorado River.

In a statement released in early April, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, and the Central Arizona Project state that they expect the first-ever shortage declaration for the river in 2022, meaning substantial cuts to Arizona’s share of the water supply.

Full Story

Extreme Conditions Now Sparking Drought Contingency Plan for First Time

/in , /by /KOLD News 13 (Tucson, Ariz.)by Megan McNeil

Extreme drought conditions throughout the West are lowering levels in the crucial water reservoir, Lake Mead. Scars of long years of low precipitation are hard to go unnoticed at Lake Mead, and the hot, dry summers have been felt for the last several years in Arizona. 2020 was especially dry, with little monsoon. Now, the West is in uncharted territory. Lake Mead is projected to drop by several feet this year, from elevation 1,083 to about 1,068, according to officials with the Central Arizona Project. The lake is hovering around 39 percent of its full capacity.

Full Story

Agencies: Arizona Farmers Should Expect Less Water in 2022

/in , , /by /AP News

State officials are putting farmers in south-central Arizona on notice that the continuing drought means a “substantial cut” in deliveries of Colorado River water is expected next year.

A joint statement issued Friday by the state Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project said an expected shortage declaration “will result in a substantial cut to Arizona’s share of the river, with reductions falling largely to central Arizona agricultural users.”

Full Story

Tucson Official Says City Can Fight Water Cuts Despite Data

/in , , /by /AP News

Tucson’s top water official has said that the city could withstand a “worst plausible scenario” cut of 50% of its total Colorado River allocation from the Central Arizona Project canal system.

Interim Assistant City Manager Tim Thomure said much of the water that could be cut is not currently under customer use and that the city stores more than one-third of its CAP supply in large basins for emergency use, the Arizona Daily Star reported Saturday.

Full Story

Colorado River Outlook Darkens Dramatically in New Study

/in , , /by /Tuscon.comby Tony Davis

In the gloomiest long-term forecast yet for the drought-stricken Colorado River, a new study warns that lower river basin states including Arizona may have to slash their take from the river up to 40% by the 2050s to keep reservoirs from falling too low. Such a cut would amount to about twice as much as the three Lower Basin states — Arizona, California and Nevada — agreed to absorb under the drought contingency plan they approved in early 2019.

Full Story

Satellite Data, Teamwork Help Chart Future of Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Public News Service

The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West, but the viability of the massive river basin is being threatened by climate change. To plan future water use in the region — which includes Arizona — the Central Arizona Project is teaming up with NASA and Arizona State University, to evaluate how climate and land-use changes will affect patterns of hydrology.

Full Story