Phoenix is ready for a worst-case water scenario

For decades now, leaders of our desert city have recognized the importance of water to our economy and our public health. It’s our most precious resource.

By any measure, we have managed water wisely. Over the past 100 years, Phoenix has been proactive, implementing smart policies and forging fruitful partnerships.

Over many years, we’ve strategically diversified our water portfolio to include resources from the Salt, Verde and Colorado rivers, as well as reclaimed wastewater. And we have access to more than a trillion gallons of native groundwater, which we protect as a savings account.

Recently, we created an unprecedented agreement with Tucson that allows us to store and recover Colorado River water in times of extreme shortage. And we created the Colorado River Resiliency Fund to partner with the Salt River Project and others to improve watersheds in forests hundreds of miles beyond our city limits.

Phoenix residents have done their part, too, heeding the call for conservation.

Over the last two decades, Phoenix’s population has grown by 400,000, but today we actually consume less water than we did then. In the 1970s, nearly 80 percent of homes used grass landscaping — today, that’s down to 14 percent.

Our collective efforts have served us well. Although we have been in drought for 18 years straight, we haven’t come close to experiencing an interruption in water service.

Nonetheless, we always seem to have a target on our backs — facing much stricter scrutiny than our peer cities. Critics write books and pen essays questioning the wisdom of our very existence.

Compared to other cities — even desert cities — Phoenix is held to a higher standard.

But we’re not complaining. It has served us well. Indeed, the cries of our critics are an enduring reminder that our planning must be many years ahead of our needs.

It’s our tradition of forward-thinking foresight that has us preparing for our most serious challenge yet: Shortage on the Colorado River.

Although we have diversified our sources of water, 40 percent of the Phoenix water supply still comes from Colorado River water in Lake Mead.

The Colorado River has long been overallocated, and climate change and years of drought have created a grim outlook. Water levels in Lake Mead are at historic lows, and recent projections show a greater than 50 percent chance of a shortage in two short years.

Worse, the Bureau of Reclamation estimates the lake could reach “deadpool” in just four years — a dire situation in which water can no longer be released from the dam.

It’s a worst-case scenario but we’re preparing for it now because when it comes to water planning, we refuse to accept any level of uncertainty.

To meet this challenge, Phoenix is planning new wells to pump water stored in groundwater aquifers to use during Colorado River shortages, as well as large transmission mains to move water to city areas that are more vulnerable. And we’re preparing to do even more to contribute to Colorado River resiliency efforts.

These investments are big — but it’s exactly what our residents expect.

And they’re a resounding response to our critics that yes, even in the midst of challenges, a great desert city like ours can continue to thrive.