July 2004 – City of Phoenix Municipal Water Planning

• Ray Quay

  Assistant Director, Water Services Department, City of Phoenix

• Tom Buschatzke

  Water Advisor, Phoenix City Managers Office

• Steve Rossi

  Principal Water Resources Planner, Water Services Department, City of Phoenix

DCDC partners from the City of Phoenix provided in-depth background on their water resource planning process. The City of Phoenix has a diverse water portfolio that includes surface water from the Salt and Verde Rivers, Central Arizona Project water, reclaimed water, and groundwater. As a result, the City’s water resource managers face complex challenges that impact decision-making. Factors that drive these decisions include uncertainties such as growth, drought, acquisition challenges, the assured water supply rules, fees, and regional and institutional developments. In order to approach these uncertainties, the City performs scenario development and modeling, futures analyses, and strategic concept development that are incorporated into the Water Resources Plan. Based on the current population projections generated by Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the City is confident that there are sufficient water supplies to meet its needs even if a prolonged drought continues. A drought response scheme was also presented.

Presentation (2 MB pdf)