Water Managers Say Water Restriction Are Not In Central Arizona's Near Future

By Carrie Jung
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2015 - 5:40pm
Updated: Friday, April 3, 2015 - 11:58am

As California implements mandatory water restrictions to deal with historic drought conditions, officials in Arizona say that’s not likely to happen in the Valley any time soon.

Water managers in Arizona say there are several factors behind the strength of the state’s water portfolio.

David Modeer is with Central Arizona Project, an organization that provides water to urban areas in central Arizona. He said California’s water supply is subjected to more restrictions under the endangered species act, limiting the amount of water that can be diverted for human use. He said Arizona’s water storage efforts have helped to make our supply less dynamic each year.

"The storage in Lake Mead and Lake Powell and our underground storage that we’ve created in Arizona puts us in a very different situation than California," said Modeer. "The northern California water supply is really dependent on snow pack."

According to Modeer, more than 8 million acre feet of water is stored underground in Arizona. He estimates that could last the state more than 20 years.

Science