Posted on Dec 19, 2021
Phoenix pours $280 million into pipeline to prepare for less water from parched Colorado River
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The Colorado River is drying up — and it’s fair to say Phoenix, Arizona, would be drastically different without it.
To reach residents in the city, water goes through a 190-mile journey through a system of canals. But decades of drought, low snowpack in the mountains and overuse have put tremendous pressure on the reservoirs that supply water to 40 million people in the Southwest.
On Jan. 1, for the first time, Arizona’s supply of the Colorado River water will be cut by 18%. Farmers will bear the brunt at first, and if the drought continues, the cuts will go much deeper and eventually hit cities like Phoenix. That’s one reason behind why the city just broke ground on a $280-million initiative to address the issue.
To reach residents in the city, water goes through a 190-mile journey through a system of canals. But decades of drought, low snowpack in the mountains and overuse have put tremendous pressure on the reservoirs that supply water to 40 million people in the Southwest.
On Jan. 1, for the first time, Arizona’s supply of the Colorado River water will be cut by 18%. Farmers will bear the brunt at first, and if the drought continues, the cuts will go much deeper and eventually hit cities like Phoenix. That’s one reason behind why the city just broke ground on a $280-million initiative to address the issue.
Phoenix pours $280 million into pipeline to prepare for less water from parched Colorado River
Posted from wbur.org
Phoenix
Water
Posted >1 y ago
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Worked in Phoenix in 70's and the problems were starting even then. Hope they don't totally ruin the Salt & Verde rivers in this process.
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Each year we go to Prescott, AZ to visit our son. We try to get in some fishing, but the last few years all the lakes have been so low it was difficult to get down to the water's edge.
The article says the farmers will bare the burden, but that means we, the consumers, will.
The article says the farmers will bare the burden, but that means we, the consumers, will.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
"Planning the pipeline
The new pipeline will move that water nine miles north to part of Phoenix where 400,000 people rely almost entirely on water from the Colorado River.
“This pipeline will allow us to move that treated Salt and Verde River water up where we need it in times of drought if our Colorado River supply is cut back,” Freed, the city engineer, says.
Troy Hayes, the water services director for Phoenix, says when this pipeline was first planned in 2015, the chance of rationing river water was pretty remote — around 3% to 5% chance that “declarations of shortage on the Colorado River” could occur, he says.
But just six years later, that’s exactly what happened.
This summer, Lake Mead fell to levels not seen since the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s. And the Bureau of Reclamation declared the first-ever shortage on the Colorado River."...
"Planning the pipeline
The new pipeline will move that water nine miles north to part of Phoenix where 400,000 people rely almost entirely on water from the Colorado River.
“This pipeline will allow us to move that treated Salt and Verde River water up where we need it in times of drought if our Colorado River supply is cut back,” Freed, the city engineer, says.
Troy Hayes, the water services director for Phoenix, says when this pipeline was first planned in 2015, the chance of rationing river water was pretty remote — around 3% to 5% chance that “declarations of shortage on the Colorado River” could occur, he says.
But just six years later, that’s exactly what happened.
This summer, Lake Mead fell to levels not seen since the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s. And the Bureau of Reclamation declared the first-ever shortage on the Colorado River."...
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