As the Colorado River continues to dwindle under the strain of a decades-long drought, municipalities across Arizona are increasingly turning to wells to secure their water future.
Cities like Gilbert and Peoria are investing heavily in well infrastructure, tapping into underground reserves and reclaimed water to offset reductions in their Colorado River allotments.
“We’re having to drill a few wells now more aggressively than the past because of the allocations of the CAP water being drought stricken,” said David Burks, Peoria’s water services director. “We’ve ramped our game up on new well-drilling locations, but it’s almost entirely based around being able to pump recovered water instead of groundwater.”
Peoria operates 29 active wells and has drilled two more, with two additional wells slated for construction this year. The city has developed a 10-year capital improvement plan to add one new well every four years.
These wells are primarily intended to recover water previously recharged into the aquifer from reclaimed sources, such as treated wastewater.
Gilbert is following a similar path.
“Given the last five years on the Colorado River and a lot of uncertainty as to how much water we’re going to have even year to year … that really pushed us into, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get these (wells) done now to give us the most resiliency to whatever may come our way,’” said Lauren Hixson, Gilbert’s water resources manager.
Gilbert is adding nine new wells to its system, supplementing its 20 existing active wells. The town has also built up a robust long-term storage credit account, with hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water stored underground.
“We have built up quite a large volume of credits,” Hixson said. “We are blessed in where we’re located within the East Salt River Basin. … It’s a very robust aquifer.”
One acre-foot of water equals about 326,000 gallons, or enough to supply two to three homes for a year.
Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, outlined the strategic nature of this shift.
“It has long been the kind of savings account for when we need to tap it because we don’t have enough,” she said. “We’re having shortages of other supplies.”
However, Porter cautioned that groundwater is a non-renewable resource in Arizona.
“If your emergency savings (are used) during an emergency, you don’t have any emergency savings,” she said. “The way Colorado River shortage is, is a groundwater problem in the Phoenix area.”
The environmental implications of increased groundwater use are significant. Over-pumping can lead to subsidence, where the ground sinks due to the compression of aquifer layers.
“Once that compresses, it’s not like a sponge will rebound,” Gilbert Water Manager Rebecca Hamel said. “It will stay compressed, and it can’t be a water-bearing layer into the future.”
Both cities are grappling with water quality concerns from wells. Peoria and Gilbert have detected contaminants such as arsenic, nitrates, and PFAS — so-called “forever chemicals” — in some wells.
“We had five of our wells have it, the forever chemicals, in them,” Burks said. “Only two of them exceeded the limit.”
Gilbert has taken two wells offline due to PFAS detections and is planning treatment options.
“Treatment comes with a cost,” Hamel said. “We’re looking at future requirements for an order of six to nine million (dollars).”
Despite the challenges, municipalities see groundwater as a critical buffer against future shortages.
“The groundwater is a really important resource for us when we don’t have access to other renewable sources,” Hamel said. “It’s kind of like our savings account.”
As the region braces for continued uncertainty on the Colorado River, cities are not only drilling wells but investing in advanced water purification and conservation efforts.
Gilbert has $692 million North Water Treatment Plant under reconstruction that is looking to be able to handle not only more water, but future increases in water quality standards. Peoria is exploring the possibility of a new plant.
“We have a great strategy behind (our water portfolio) and we’re staying on top of where to get the water from, how to use the best water for the best area and the best type of use,” Burks said.
Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here