SRP and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will lower the water level of Canyon Lake by 54 feet for approximately 16 weeks starting Sept. 16, 2026 for critical dam safety inspections and maintenance. Tonto National Forest will close the lake including all boat ramps and access points during this time to ensure public safety.
SRP and Reclamation perform these inspections and maintenance projects every 20 years to ensure dam safety and water reliability for 2.5 million Valley residents. During the project, water will continue to be stored in other reservoirs to ensure no water is wasted while the work is performed and the drawdown will not interfere with water delivery to SRP’s water customers.
While maintenance is regularly performed on the dams, some critical equipment is located underwater, which makes it inaccessible without lowering the lake level. The work will focus on the normally submerged portions of Mormon Flat and Horse Mesa dams, as well as the river channel downstream of Horse Mesa Dam.
The drawdown project has several important benefits, including:
- Supporting operational safety of the dams for water storage and flood control.
- Ensuring water reliability for more than 2.5 million Valley residents.
- Providing an opportunity for SRP and other agencies and businesses to perform any necessary maintenance work and repairs to their Canyon Lake facilities.
It will take approximately four weeks to lower the water level; approximately eight weeks to complete the inspection and maintenance work; and approximately four weeks to fill the lake back to the normal level using water from upstream reservoirs.
Canyon Lake has over 57,000 acre-feet of water storage capacity – enough to provide water for about 173,000 Arizona families for a year. SRP began building dams, creating reservoirs and managing the surface water infrastructure more than 120 years ago. SRP is committed to maintaining adequate water supplies for long-term future use.
To learn more about the project, visit the Canyon Lake Drawdown webpage.