Lake Mead agreement will save Glendale 17% of annual citywide water use
Colorado River Basin federal program conserves more water in Mead
Special to Independent Newsmedia
Posted 6/15/23
The Glendale City Council on Tuesday entered into a System Conservation Implementation Agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.
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Glendale has agreed to leave some of its Colorado River allotment in the river for the next three years, becoming among a group of cities aiming to keep water levels stable amid a more than two decade drought.
The Glendale City Council on Tuesday entered into a System Conservation Implementation Agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.
This agreement helps to protect Glendale’s water supplies.
Participation in this agreement under the Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program supports the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River system.
Eight Colorado River users in Arizona, including the city of Glendale, recently entered into agreements to conserve up to 140,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead in 2023. Through 2025, these eight agreements will contribute up to 393,000 acre-feet of water to Lake Mead.
“Glendale takes the protection of the Colorado River System very seriously and that is the reason why we are participating in this program,” Glendale Water Resources Program Manager Drew Swieczkowski shared in a statement. “Glendale’s supply of Colorado River water makes up about 45% of our annual supply, so it is essential we stabilize water levels in Lake Mead.”
The city of Glendale plans to conserve up to 7,000 acre-feet of water per year for the next three years. That saving represents about 30% of Glendale’s Colorado River allotment, delivered through the Central Arizona Project.
One acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons of water and one-acre foot of water can serve three average single-family homes for one year.
“The city of Glendale has multiple water supplies – Colorado River water, surface water from the Verde and Salt rivers delivered through the Salt River Project and groundwater,” Swieczkowski added. “Water customers served by the city of Glendale typically use 41,000-acre feet of all water sources per year. Therefore, conserving 7,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water equates to a 17% savings of the citywide water use per year.”
Glendale had great precipitation in the watershed this past winter, which helped the city use its SRP water and save Colorado River water for this agreement.
Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the three-year agreement provides $400 for each acre-foot of Colorado River contributed to this program. The funds that Glendale receives from this program will be used for infrastructure improvements to further the city’s resiliency and redundancy of water supplies, such as in times of Colorado River shortages.
