Hunter: Where does water come from and where does it go?

Do you know where your water comes from and where does it go?

Not surprisingly, there is a considerable amount of misinformation that have appeared in the media and from residents toward the Property Owners and Residents Assocation Water Committee regarding these questions.

All the water we use in our homes, businesses and for recreation comes from an aquifer lying about 600 feet below ground. It is pumped out at high rates via large, high horsepower pumps. This is our only source of water for Sun City West.

Thanks to Del Webb’s vision and planning, Sun City West has a robust water supply, treatment and distribution system and a parallel wastewater system to collect, treat and recharge water from the community. These systems have been maintained and improved over the life of our community by Webb, Citizens Utility, Arizona American Water and now EPCOR. There is no outside water source and there is no wastewater disposal to another place.

Now, our aquifer is quite large. However, it is being depleted faster than it can be recharged. Think about this — the water in our aquifer is sometimes called “fossil water” because the source is largely from melting snow and ice from the last ice age about 9,000 years ago. Another ice age is pretty unlikely, so we need to take care of what we have now. Water conservation is the key for the future of Sun City West. We have no outside water source, such as the Colorado River or Salt River, etc. Conservation must be done on a volunteer basis because we are an unincorporated community and cannot enforce conservation rules and regulations. This could be done by Maricopa County but will likely be a slow process.

So, as mentioned in my recent commentary, please be aware of fugitive water violations and report to the PORA office so they may be addressed quickly.

The PORA Water Committee is chaired by a board director and includes representatives from EPCOR, the Organization of HOAs, the Central Arizona Project, the Recreation Centers of Sun City West and public members. The committee meets monthly to report and discuss conservation efforts (fugitive water), changes in service and maintenance for water systems, irrigation on golf courses, billing and metering issues, etc. Information is also provided about regional issues with water supply and regulations. The PORA Water Committee has become a de facto Sun City West water authority, providing a liaison with the water utility for our residents and monitoring of the increasing concerns over county and state water issues.

The committee deals with resident concerns and questions to PORA regarding billing and other water issues, directing residents to the correct local, state, county or utility personnel who can handle their problems. The committee also provides a forum for HOA representatives who are concerned with water metering and conservation methods, such as grass to rock conversions that they can bring to their associations. Proposed water and sewer rate increases and responses from EPCOR are also discussed in general. However, these issues are normally referred to the PORA Government Relations Committee, where they can be expertly handled by a dedicated team.

More recently, the water committee has spent considerable time reviewing fugitive water issues. These involve ways to reduce water lost from poorly managed irrigation systems that flood sidewalks and streets. Another topic to be discussed in future commentaries is the source of water for Sun City West. Do you know where it comes from? Will it last?

The public is encouraged to attend the PORA Water Committee meetings, open to the public, 9:30 a.m. the third Tuesday of the month — subject to change without notice. The committee will take a 2-month break and resume Tuesday, Sept. 19.

Call 623-584-4288.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.