Scottsdale City Council approved at its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 23 the updated Integrated Water Resources Master Plan, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, according to a city …
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Scottsdale City Council approved at its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 23 the updated Integrated Water Resources Master Plan, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, according to a city staff report, city council approved an engineering contract with Carollo Engineering Inc. to perform the services associated with the preparation of the IWRMP update. The IWRMP was initially scheduled to be completed in 18–24 months.
The evaluation looked at current conditions, and as a result, the current drought developments as seen developing this summer are not a part of the document.
The IWRMP was necessary to update the previous master plan adopted by the council in 2015. Periodic updating of the master plan ensures responsible planning for the city’s water management and systems.
In summary, the master plan presents information on population growth, water supply and demand, wastewater flow and reclaimed water production. It also includes an evaluation of Scottsdale’s water distribution system infrastructure, wastewater collection system infrastructure, water quality and project planning recommendations.
Fourteen recommendations were provided to guide the city with respect to water resources planning.
The staff report listed planning challenges that the city will most likely face in the future:
Increased growth potential in the Greater Airpark, Old Town, Scottsdale and McDowell roads corridor
Future water quality regulations from the United States Environmental Protection Agency including the recent Lead and Copper Rule Revisions
Pending Colorado River shortages, the single largest source of supply for Scottsdale
Impacts of the pandemic which changed how and where many people live and work
“Despite a strategic planning approach that employs best practices, all utility master plans on the scale of Scottsdale Water’s have inherent limitations based on the window of time the plan is prepared and the changing conditions,” the staff report noted. “Accordingly, the IWRMP is not intended to be a plan that addresses immediate drought conditions, impending CAP water shortages, future changes in planned development patterns, or currently unknown long-term impacts of COVID-19.”
An analysis of the normal year water supply and demand stated that the city has sufficient renewable supplies to meet the projected demands for each planning period through the year 2055.
In severe and moderate water shortage scenarios, there are not sufficient renewable supplies to meet demands for any planning year. However, there is sufficient groundwater supply available to meet these demands.
The analysis stated, “From a renewable supply standpoint, this is a ‘worst case’ condition for the city that represents a year in which there is no surface water available from the Salt and Verde watersheds. Because groundwater could be used to provide a physical supply, the primary impact of this scenario would be reductions to the city’s long-term storage to replenish pumped groundwater.”
The city’s ability to continue to use remediated groundwater pumping will be critical during years when on-project surface water is reduced, to limit the impact to the city’s long-term storage.
The city is actively pursuing opportunities to add water supplies to its portfolio. Opportunities to mitigate water shortages and increase water supply resilience were listed in the staff report.
The IWRMP identified a total of $578 million in candidate capital project improvements required by year 2055.
City council discussed and asked questions about the presentation of the IWRMP at the Aug. 23 meeting. It was unanimously approved with a 7-0 vote.
MacKenzie Brower Lead News Reporter | Town of Paradise Valley @mbrowerjournombrower@iniusa.org
MacKenzie Brower has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northern Arizona University and specializes in visual storytelling. She was previously the director of photography and Editor-in-Chief of The Lumberjack at NAU, breaking news intern for The Arizona Republic and column writer for FlagLive!
MacKenzie studied abroad in Prague at the beginning of 2021, where she practiced landscape and portrait photography. She is passionate about protecting the world’s environment and human rights and hopes to inform social change through reporting. You can find her portfolio at mackenziebrower.photoshelter.com.
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