Extended Retention Could Allow SRP to Save Enough Water for an Additional 330,000 Households

June 10, 2024

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has approved SRP’s proposal to temporarily extend the amount of time SRP can hold water in a portion of the Flood Control Space at Roosevelt Dam from 20 days to 120 days. The plan, which would authorize the temporary extension to occur once a year for three out of the next five years, will allow farms and communities downstream to use the water and reduce releases of flood water from Roosevelt Dam into the normally dry Salt River.

Last year, after a productive winter, runoff from the watershed reached the Flood Control Space at Roosevelt Dam and SRP was required to release the water within 20 days into the normally dry Salt River. If SRP had been able to hold the water for the newly approved 120 days, about 109,000 acre-feet of the flood water that was released could have been put to use in the SRP system. That would have been enough water to support about 330,000 households in the Phoenix metropolitan area for a year.

“SRP recognizes the need to carefully manage every drop on the watershed while maintaining the safety of dams for our communities and protecting the environment,” said Leslie Meyers, SRP Associate General Manager and Chief Water Resources Executive. “SRP will continue to find ways to improve infrastructure, policies and technologies to ensure water reliability for Central Arizona.”

The five-year authorization of the modified plan was determined to have no impact to the safety of Roosevelt Dam or downstream communities. The proposal is the result of a collaborative effort between SRP, USACE, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and a consortium of local cities, tribes, and agricultural districts.

“The Los Angeles District is proud to be a part of this pilot program benefiting many Central Arizona cities including the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community,” said LA District commander Col. Andrew Baker. “For more than 100 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has contributed to the security and economy of the southwestern United States through the construction and operation of dams, levees, navigation structures and other projects.”

Over the five-year period, SRP and partners will review the value of the revised operation to determine if requesting a permanent change to flood operations is warranted.

The partners that will benefit from the pilot program are the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, SRP, Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Freeport McMoRan, Roosevelt Irrigation District, and Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District.

The supplies made available during flood periods will help reduce groundwater use and supplement supplies for communities impacted by Colorado River shortages.

Climate variability is expected to bring increased temperatures and higher precipitation variability on the Salt and Verde River watersheds – resulting in drier dry periods and wetter wet periods. Successful water management of these watersheds will require operations of existing water infrastructure to be adaptable to changing drought and precipitation patterns to meet the water resource needs of Central Arizona.

SRP manages the water supply for much of the Valley – most of which comes from 8.3 million acres of land in northern Arizona. Snowfall and rain provide the water that travels through the watershed into SRP reservoirs, which is then delivered to 2.5 million homes and businesses in the Phoenix Metropolitan area via an extensive network of canals.

Click here for the USACE News Release.

About SRP

SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest electricity provider in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving approximately 1.1 million customers. SRP provides water to about half of the Valley’s residents, delivering more than 244 billion gallons of water (750,000 acre-feet) each year, and manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, canals and irrigation laterals.