Project will receive $154 million from the Inflation Reduction Act.The existing connection allowed only one-way transfers.Surplus water in wet years can be captured instead of released downstream.Two of Arizona’s largest pieces of water infrastructure are linking up.A coalition of 14 central Arizona municipalities and water companies is working to complete the interconnection between the Central Arizona Project and the Salt River Project, two water systems that collectively serve more than 80% of Arizona’s population. While water can flow from one to the other, the new project would make transfers available in both directions.Local governments say the new project will make them better equipped to handle a less predictable water future as the Colorado River suffers the effects of climate change and overuse. It is the largest of several projects that received federal funding this month.The project, which partners began exploring in 2022, received $154 million in federal grant money on Jan. 15, approved through the Inflation Reduction Act. Stakeholders will cover the rest of the projected $247 million cost.“(It is) essential that we create opportunities to capture excess water during wet periods, and put it to use across central Arizona. To get the most out of every single drop of this precious resource,” said Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz in a statement on Jan. 15.Stanton said he had pushed federal officials to fund the project, saying it was a “perfect candidate” for drought resiliency funds under the IRA.The project will fully connect central Arizona’s massive and complex system of dams, canals, and underground water storage. While the administration of the two projects and their associated water supplies will remain separate, the physical infrastructure will link so that users can get water from either project transferred to them through the other, with some legal limitations.“It will create flexibility and efficiency in the future, which is going to be important as the valley continues to grow and we have more and more concern regarding climate change and climate variability,” said Jacob Rodriguez, a senior manager of water system projects at the Salt River Project. Water infrastructure:SRP’s ‘smallest employees’ are relocated during annual canal cleanupHow a pipe and pump will connect CAP, SRP canalsThe CAP and SRP both deliver river water to Arizona’s largest urban centers, as well as some farms. The CAP brings water to central Arizona from the Colorado River, while SRP brings water from the Salt and Verde watersheds, northeast of the Phoenix area. Together, they represent billions of dollars in federal investment and serve more than 6 million people. An connection to move water from the CAP to SRP was built in 1990, but transferring water in the other direction is not possible. The new interconnection — a pipe and a pump connecting the CAP canal with SRP’s south canal north of Mesa (near the Granite Reef dam) — will allow water to move in both directions between the two systems.In exchange for federal funds, SRP could leave an average of 1,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead each year over the next 50 years, though the number is up for negotiation. The lake, which lies on the overburdened Colorado River, dropped to record low levels in 2022 before states and the federal government acted to conserve water and prop up the reservoir. SRP’s contribution would be practically negligible for the reservoir and a tiny portion of the total water Arizonans have conserved in the Colorado. In 2023, Arizona farmers conserved over 1.2 million acre-feet of water in Lake Mead, more than SRP’s entire average annual water delivery (around 1 million acre-feet).While the project may not mean much to the Colorado River, it could make central Arizona communities better prepared as climate change and fierce competition make the Colorado less reliable. As Colorado River water becomes more scarce, the interconnection will give communities more access to stored groundwater under the SRP system and new water storage at a planned expansion of the Bartlett Dam on the Verde River.A ‘big deal’ for Queen CreekPaul Gardner, director of water resources for Queen Creek, said his …
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