By Philip Haldiman, Independent Newsmedia

Drought is defined as an abnormally dry time period for a specific geographic area.

No doubt it is a common experience in the desert, and in fact, the region is experiencing one now.

But what about a water shortage?

To date, Peoria has never experienced a water shortage, but that does not mean it is not a real possibility. That is one reason the city is updating its Drought Management Plan.

Another reason is the city’s renewable water supplies could be impacted by short-term catastrophic water distribution failures.

Public Works-Utilities Director Stuart Kent said the goal of the 2017 Drought Management Plan is to provide a modern, updated approach to water shortages.

Peoria City Council approved the plan, May 16.

“The city of Peoria believes in taking a proactive approach to long-term drought management, which includes a plan that describes the different stages of drought and progressive steps to mitigate the effect,” Mr. Kent said. “Peoria has developed a strong and diverse water portfolio, but living in a desert requires all of us to be vigilant of the need to protect our water resources so that we can meet our customer demands now and in the future.”

Peoria has a variety of water sources, including water from Central Arizona Project, Salt River Project, recovered water from wells, groundwater and reclaimed water.

Mr. Kent said the diversity of Peoria’s water resource portfolio helps reduce the city’s drought susceptibility.

The city used about 33,000 acre feet of water in 2016, and the total supply available is about 69,000 acre feet.
“The total available will serve us well as the city continuous to grow,” he said.

The last Drought Response Plan, which was written in 2003, focused on percentage reductions and mandated measures, while the new plan will focus on visible practices to reduce usage and include a matrix of options, benchmarked against other cities, selected by the city’s drought management team.

About 30 percent of Peoria’s water supply comes from CAP, which includes Lake Mead. In fiscal year 2016, about 10,000 acre feet or about 3.3 billion gallons of water was delivered to Peoria via the CAP system, Mr. Kent said.

The lake is in its 16th year of drought and operating at a structural deficit.

Last month, the water elevation at Lake Mead was 1,084 feet, or 40 percent of capacity. A dip to 1,075 feet would trigger a declaration of a shortage. Although a shortage at Lake Mead does not appear likely for 2018, it is a real possibly in the future. Peoria’s new Drought Management Plan includes four drought management stages to provide an approach to water shortages. Maximum flexibility in practical options is emphasized, Mr. Kent said.

The stages are on a spectrum from low to high, with Water Watch being the lowest, which would be declared if the Bureau of Reclamation modeling report issued annually in August predicts a shortage of CAP deliveries.

“This possibility includes predicted reductions in water delivery from either CAP or SRP, specifically if the August Bureau of Reclamation report predicts a declared shortage from the Central Arizona Project with a probability greater than 70 percent and/or if SRP reduces the total allocations per acre below 2 acre feet per acre,” Mr. Kent said.

Water Watch is the first stage and would be implemented when the  possibility exists that Peoria will not be able to meet all the water demands of its customers.

Water Alert is the second level, in which there is a reduction in deliveries to either Pyramid Peak Water Treatment Plant (CAP water) or Greenway Water Treatment Plant (SRP water), and an evaluation by Peoria staff that some demands may not otherwise be met. Practical measures to reduce demand would be implemented, such as reduction of irrigation for parks and landscaping, limited washing of fleet vehicles, and limiting watering of residential and non-residential grass and landscape areas to three days per week.

The third level is Water Warning, when there is an increased reduction in deliveries to either Pyramid Peak or Greenway and an inability to otherwise meet Peoria demands. In addition to seeking new water resource opportunities, the  Stage 2 measures would remain in effect or in some cases have greater restrictions such as watering residential and commercial landscape areas only two days a week. Demand reduction measures will only apply to projects that are not necessary to maintain the health and safety of the public.

Level 4  is a Water Emergency — the highest level — when there is a loss of supply, treatment, or distribution infrastructure. This would be a major failure of any supply, treatment or distribution infrastructure, whether temporary or permanent, in the water system of SRP, CAP, or Peoria that cannot be overcome by other resources.  Examples of such an issue would be if a delivery canal breaks or a water plant failure occurs that could not be overcome with existing resources.

In the case of a water emergency, water deficiency declarations would be made by the city manager, who would convene the drought management team, consisting of representatives from nine city departments, in order to recommend specific measures to curtail water usage.

Level 4 would be like a code red.

State law requires community water systems submit an updated drought preparedness plan to the director of Arizona Department of Water Resource every five years.

Jeff Tannler, the department’s Active Management Area director, said a drought preparedness plan is designed to meet the specific needs of the water system for which it supplies.

“It should include drought or emergency response stages providing for the implementation of measures in response to reduction in available water supply due to drought or infrastructure failure; and a plan of action that the community water system will take to respond to drought or water shortage conditions, including communication, development of emergency supplies, and specific water supply or water demand measurement measures,” Mr. Tannler said.

Mayor Cathy Carlat said the Drought Management Plan provides a framework to protect residents though droughts, present and future.

“Peoria’s diverse water portfolio and adherence to the Principles of Sound Water Management has allowed us to successfully plan for an assured water supply through ultimate build-out,” Ms. Carlat said. “The Drought Management Plan outlines steps to protect this critical resource if a shortage occurs on the Colorado River, resulting in curtailment of deliveries to Valley treatment facilities.”

 

Drought management stages
Peoria’s new Drought Management Plan includes four drought management stages to provide an approach to water shortages. The stages are on a spectrum from low to high, with Water Watch being the lowest and Water Emergency the highest.

Water Watch: a high probability of reductions in water delivery from either CAP or SRP.

Water Alert: a reduction in deliveries to either Pyramid Peak Water Treatment Plant (CAP water) or Greenway Water Treatment Plant (SRP water), and an evaluation by Peoria staff that some demands may not otherwise be met.

Water Warning: an increased reduction in deliveries to either Pyramid Peak or Greenway and inability to otherwise meet Peoria demands.

Water Emergency: there is a loss of supply, treatment, or distribution infrastructure.

Source: City of Peoria