No news is bad news when it comes to Scottsdale’s reliance on water from the Colorado River.
The area’s in a drought, it’s likely to remain in a drought and a process called aridification of the soil is preventing water from snowpacks in the Rocky Mountains getting into the river system.
Even with the wet winters in the last couple of years in Arizona being above average — about 160% compared to the 30-year average — and the fact the lower basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada have taken less water than their allocated amount over the past couple of years, the entire Colorado River reservoir system remains at only about 43% of capacity, Scottsdale Water Policy Manager Gretchen Baumgardner told the city council June 25. So even with amazing snowpacks, the system levels are less than half.
