Phoenix is gearing up to approve an agreement with the Gila River Indian Community to conserve water coming from Lake Mead. The Gila River Indian Community will help conserve 40,000 acre-feet of the Colorado River water it is allotted to use this year.

The partnership will build on a current agreement between the Gila River and the Bureau of Reclamation to conserve the water, through methods like leaving farmland fallow to reduce use.

Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said partnering with tribes will be key going forward to conserve water in the continuing drought.

“The tribal entities within in Arizona, when it’s all allocated at the end of the day, will have rights to about half of the water delivered by the Central Arizona Project. So it’s not an insubstantial amount of water," Buschatzke said.

Phoenix will contribute $2 million to compensate Gila River for the water contribution.