Arizona cities could tap into a water savings account to help with Colorado River cuts
Arizona needs to cut back on Colorado River use, and water managers are working on a new plan that would tap into an underground water savings account to help do that. As part of its response to record-low reservoir levels, the federal government is mandating water cutbacks for Arizona, California and Nevada. On top of that, the states are volunteering to cut back more water. To do that, they’re passing the hat, getting contributions from water users — like cities and farms — that add up to a larger total. Many of those users get money from the federal government to cut back on water use. But on Thursday, officials with the Central Arizona Project laid out the details of another strategy to help reach that goal. Some cities and private utilities in the Phoenix metro could promise to conserve water and, instead of money, get access to an underground backup supply held by the Arizona Water Banking Authority.
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