Salt River Project has received the go-ahead to hold water longer at Roosevelt Dam during high runoff seasons, the Tempe-based utility announced.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved SRP’s proposal to temporarily extend the amount of time SRP can hold water in a portion of the flood control space at Roosevelt Dam from 20 days to 120 days.

The plan, which would authorize the temporary extension to occur once a year for three out of the next five years, will allow farms and communities downstream to use the water and reduce releases of flood water from Roosevelt Dam into the normally dry Salt River,  according to an SRP release.

Last year, a productive winter for water, SRP was required to release the water within 20 days into the normally dry Salt River., utility officials said.

If SRP had been able to hold the water for the newly approved 120 days, about 109,000 acre-feet of the flood water that was released could have been used in the SRP system - enough water to support about 330,000 households in the Valley for a year, the release stated.

“SRP recognizes the need to carefully manage every drop on the watershed while maintaining the safety of dams for our communities and protecting the environment,” Leslie Meyers, SRP’s chief water resources executive, said.

“SRP will continue to find ways to improve infrastructure, policies and technologies to ensure water reliability for Central Arizona.”

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