PHOENIX — As mandatory Colorado River cutbacks tighten, Central Arizona Project officials are advancing a separate voluntary plan that would let some Valley cities and private utilities conserve surface water in exchange for access to the Arizona Water Banking Authority’s underground reserves.
The idea, detailed Thursday at a CAP board meeting, sits alongside federal shortage reductions already hitting Arizona, California and Nevada. States are also stacking extra voluntary savings to help Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Many users still receive federal payments for those cutbacks; this track would swap cash for banked water instead.
Created in the late 1990s, the Water Bank stored surplus Colorado River deliveries for future drought years. CAP cities that once contributed to that underground account are now living through the shortages they once planned for. Earlier this year, Water Bank and utility leaders clashed over how much one-for-one replacement water cities should receive for forced cuts before agreeing to make utilities whole for a single year.
Greg Adams, a senior CAP attorney, told the board the voluntary-bank pathway would be modest next to the Lower Basin’s multi-year conservation target — at least 700,000 acre-feet through 2028 — but still useful. Tentative figures presented Thursday showed up to about 12,300 acre-feet of savings this year and as much as roughly 56,000 acre-feet in 2027.
“We’re looking at the couch cushions here,” Adams said, while arguing the offers still show statewide commitment. Surprise alone could conserve more than 12,000 acre-feet in 2027 under the concept; tiny systems such as Cave Creek’s Tonto Hills district might save only a few dozen acre-feet.
Arizona is aiming for roughly 300,000 acre-feet of conservation through 2028 through a mix of paid programs, western-Arizona savings and this bank-access track. For Valley households, the near-term effect is less about overnight lawn bans and more about how utilities manage portfolios — and how much backup groundwater credits remain when the river keeps falling short.