Clearly defined service areas are essential for the operation of any utility. By plainly indicating where cities can build infrastructure and develop water resources, they help ensure that cities...

The Phoenix metropolitan area is blessed with surface water made available through canals operated by the Salt River Project, and both the Phoenix and Tucson regions are fortunate to receive water...

The AMWUA Blog recently hit a significant milestone – our 500th edition. Since 2014, we have aimed to take the mystery out of complex water issues by providing valuable facts, numbers, or...

Our cities’ infrastructure is vital to making our daily lives function smoothly. Of all infrastructure types, water systems are the most fundamental to life by delivering safe and clean water...

Leaders from Valley communities gathered with U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema at AMWUA last week to discuss the water challenges they collectively face as the Colorado River situation escalates. City...

As the new legislative session begins, Governor Hobbs has made water a priority. In her State of the State address, she boldly shined a spotlight on Arizona's water challenges and encouraged...

What does a Tier 2a Shortage mean? The US Bureau of Reclamation declared a Tier 2a Shortage for the Colorado River in 2023 with its August 24-Month Study publication. Under the current framework...

For decades, each of our ten desert cities – Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe – have methodically, proactively, and...

Our cities’ infrastructure is vital to making our daily lives function smoothly. Of all infrastructure types, water systems are the most fundamental to life by providing the delivery of safe...

There are so many components that go into running a water utility, especially with the additional challenges that come with being in the desert. A key element to ensuring we have safe, reliable,...

In Arizona, it’s essential to understand water and realize that our daily choices affect our collective future, especially in our desert climate. That is why being more water aware will...

The AMWUA cities understand that our resiliency depends on long-term planning and investments in diverse and reliable water portfolios. By investing in and protecting their rights to these multiple...

Planning for the future is vital in the water world. That is why water providers look at all elements of their operations, including what would happen if a worst-case scenario arose. Having a...

As discussed last week, recent announcements of a new governmental water agency have grabbed headlines and attention. The Governor and Legislative Leaders should be commended for wanting to make a...

Finding new water supplies is an increasing area of focus for state leaders, decision-makers, and the water community, as highlighted by the recent announcement to create an Arizona Water Authority...

Arizona’s leaders are looking for water solutions, which became even more evident with Governor Ducey’s recent proposal to spend $1 billion on augmentation projects to supplement...

Cities recognize that conditions on the Colorado River are serious and that the evolving situation will most likely worsen. Fortunately, the AMWUA cities and their water managers understand the...

Arizona’s water story will become more complex as we head into a Colorado River Tier 1 Shortage in 2022.  To offer insight into what the Colorado River Shortage means for Arizona,...

The August 24-Month Study was released by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation today, and the details within that study confirm that a Tier 1 Shortage will be declared for 2022. This Colorado...

We live in the desert, so extreme heat, limited precipitation, and stressed water supplies can be expected. That is why the cities plan decades in advance, enabling us to weather times of prolonged...

The marathon, six-month 2021 legislative session officially concluded after over 1,700 pieces of legislation were introduced. As always, water was a prominent topic, with more than 60 individual...

The terms drought and shortage are routinely used together when talking about Arizona's hot and arid climate. While both drought and shortage involve a lack of water, their...

Only tap water delivers public health protection, fire protection, support for our economy, and the quality of life we enjoy. Any measure of a prosperous society – low mortality rates,...

With the significant amount of conversation about drought and shortage in Arizona, many people wonder why we do not have any water restrictions imposed in our arid State. While many things...

We use water every day, which is why it’s essential to realize that those daily choices affect our future. As we recognize Water Awareness Month, we are reminded that we must be conscious of...

Over a month into the 2021 legislative session, Arizona’s lawmakers have introduced a record number of bills – more than 1,700. Included in those bills is legislation proposed by AMWUA...

For some around the world who suffer from a lack of water, their situation seems hopeless because they face a critical scarcity of food, energy, and water. The reality is there is no substitute for...

Our cities’ infrastructure is vital to making our daily lives function smoothly. Of all infrastructure types, water systems are the most fundamental to life by providing the delivery of safe...

It’s not often that we get an inside view to a portion of the impressive infrastructure that makes up the Central Arizona Project (CAP). This rare occurrence took place at the Salt River...

It was a celebration of statewide sustainability as Arizona Forward held their Annual Environmental Excellence Awards this past weekend highlighting exemplary projects that have directly impacted...

Arizona water professionals are always looking for the next big bucket of water for residents and businesses.  However, a new study shows that instead we may need to pursue smaller buckets and...

Every day, millions of gallons of treated water courses through miles of pipes buried deep under our feet. The water circulates through tanks and pumps, and through miles and miles of service lines...

An unusually wet winter combined with the impact of the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP), which improves the overall management of the over-taxed Colorado River and ensures more water remains in Lake...

Earlier this month the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) released its latest projections that shows a reduction in the risk of shortage triggered by declining water levels at Lake Mead. The status of the...

Our economy, communities, and families all depend on infrastructure. It’s personal. No matter where you live, your age, your education, if you drive a car, peddle a bike or take the bus,...

Water is essential for life. It is engrained into our daily lives and is part of almost everything we do. Yet we tend to forget the complex process and the extensive team of people it takes to get...

On March 19th, representatives from the seven states that rely on the Colorado River met to celebrate their collective agreement on the Drought Contingency Plans (DCP). In a letter to Congress, the...

Cities keep water flowing into your home and business and whisk away wastewater 24 hours a day – every day. This daily convenience that you and your family take for granted requires cities to...

It happens every day, in every city around the country. A firefighter opens a hydrant to stop a fire from spreading. A surgeon washes his or her hands. A hiker turns a spigot to refill her water...

Setting water rates is never easy. There are two overriding considerations for a city when calculating a new rate structure. First, city water departments need to cover service costs. These costs...

Many of us will be cooking more and hosting more company than usual as the holiday season begins this week. The holidays are fun, fattening, exhausting and hard on your plumbing. It’s not...

Technology is now available to transform wastewater into a purified drinking water source. This advanced water recycling could provide millions of gallons of drinking water a day for urban centers...

The number of gallons of drinking water a utility produces each month is not the same number of gallons paid for by its customers. Each month, a certain percentage of drinking water produced...

It seems unlikely that divers would be in demand in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, but cities call on them regularly to help keep their water treatment plants operating reliably and efficiently....

Flood irrigation can be a surprising sight in a desert Valley. Water comes pouring out of ditches, covering large parks, ball fields or yards in what looks like deep storm runoff. While the rest of...

A couple dozen Arizona craft breweries will bring their beers to Phoenix in September to vie for a professional judge’s choice award and a people's choice award. Here's why this...

The City of Phoenix has 6,922 miles of water lines and 4,865 miles of sewer lines buried about four feet under our feet. It wouldn’t be hard for a contractor digging a pool in someone’s...

Skilled people who treat and distribute drinking water and collect and treat wastewater are retiring at a high rate. Jobs are opening up in Arizona’s small towns and big cities. It takes...

You may have noticed from time to time changes to your city's water bill. A city makes adjustments to water and sewer rates to ensure the rates charged to homes and businesses cover the...

It is not easy for cities to build, staff and operate water and wastewater treatment plants and still maintain water and wastewater rates all residents can afford. That’s why Central Arizona...

When it comes to meeting the water needs of a thriving desert economy, the amounts can really add up. Communicating these amounts in a way we can relate to sometimes misses the mark. We've all...

Your city's water department does a great job using science and engineering, muscle and skill to get drinking water into your home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The water professionals at...

When someone asks Sal Correa what he does for a living, he answers this way: “You know the water you drink? I make sure it gets to your house.” That’s a pretty good description....

Since 1998, the City of Scottsdale has been treating about half of its wastewater to near drinking water standards. It's an expensive process that uses reverse osmosis technology, but the city...

Luiza Yordanova appreciates the Valley's winter weather as much as we all do but winter makes her job as supervisor of a City of Tempe drinking water treatment plant a bit more complicated. She...

This month, former Senator Jon Kyl told a gathering of elected officials and water professionals that Arizona's past water successes had one thing in common: the willingness of competing forces...

In 2009, I was a new member of the Board overseeing the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and energy, not water, was the primary focus. I was surprised with my sudden immersion into the ins and outs of...

Arizona's largest wastewater treatment plant already cleans and re-uses nearly all of the waste it receives from 2.5 million people in five AMWUA cities. Now, the cities that own the treatment...

Many people are wondering what this rainy, snowy winter means for Arizona after more than two decades of drought. Here are five things we know right now. 1. It's raining and snowing in the...

Grease sent down drains in restaurant kitchens has plagued city sewer systems since they were built. The Tempe Grease Cooperative takes an artful step toward better controlling the ugly problem....

Like you, AMWUA and its member cities already are working toward 2017 goals. At the same time, we're reviewing what went right in 2016. A look back provides a boost of confidence for us and we...

There wasn't much David Iwanski didn't know about Arizona water when he joined AMWUA's Board of Directors in 2014. Avondale Councilmember Iwanski trained as an attorney, spent four...

When I meet people and they find out I work in water, they always ask me this question: When are we going to run out of water? Arizona legislators - particularly those who were just elected - have...

When City of Chandler Councilmember Rick Heumann joined the AMWUA Board of Directors six years ago he knew this about water: "I drank it." He knew Chandler had a water treatment plant and...

Water is life and nowhere is that more apparent than in the desert. Fountains and pools of water were built into ancient cities, including desert cities, for both practical and aesthetic reasons....

The Salt and Verde rivers are two of the hardest working rivers in the United States.Traveling through Arizona's northern high country and onto the desert plains, the Salt and Verde provide...

Pima County's Southwest Water Campus is the winner of the New Arizona Prize: Water Innovation Challenge and it has a big job ahead of it. These creative water professionals intend to increase...

Mark Xerxis is a chemist, but don't imagine him behind a set of tubes, Bunsen burners and microscopes. Mark runs the metals lab within Scottsdale's Water Quality Laboratory, which means...

Cities in the Phoenix Metropolitan area are experimenting with building methods to slow storm runoff and allow more of it to be absorbed into the ground instead of rushing into streets and down...

Imagine watching your water consumption online in real time as easily as you access your checking account or medical records. By Spring 2017 about 5,000 City of Tempe homes and businesses will have...

When media reports mix together the words "water" and "toxic" it's no surprise the public would have concerns. Throw in a reference to an award winning film with Julia...

Here's a dare: Spend a day without water. The truth is you can't. Even if you are willing to give up showering, brushing, flushing, washing your hands, doing laundry, using your dishwasher,...

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recently confirmed Arizona would not face a declared shortage of Colorado River water in 2017. This is good news but Arizona's cities, farmers and industry...

It's no surprise that demand for water in the Phoenix Metro area reaches its peak during the summer months. What may be surprising is that demand nearly doubles from the winter months to the...

Jim Lane's resume is packed with past and present memberships on important governing boards, such as the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and Maricopa Association of Governments. After...

For many years, the State of Arizona has been storing water underground to prepare for times of drought. One way Arizona has accomplished this is through the efforts of a little-known state agency...

In the early 1990s, Arizona was not using all the water it was legally due from the Colorado River. Instead, much of Arizona's unused water flowed down the Colorado River to California....

The goal of safe-yield has motivated Arizona's cities to maximize their use of renewable water supplies - such as river water or recycled wastewater - and to minimize pumping groundwater....

A likely shortage of Colorado River water in Arizona is big news. It should be. Colorado River water makes up 44 percent of the state's water supply delivered through 336-miles of canals and...

Independence Day. However you celebrate - whether by the pool or watching fireworks with your favorite drink in hand - it is an excellent opportunity to contemplate what we often take for granted,...

The important role of water professionals as first responders was a lesson relearned after 9/11 and, again, after Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012. These events prompted many water...

Recently, Phoenix announced a water-bottling plant was opening in a vacant warehouse on the city's west side. The plant reportedly will bottle about 35 million gallons of Phoenix tap water a...

AMWUA works to provide reliable and useful water information and now we have help from a new website called Arizona Water Facts. The website offers a realistic guide to where the state's water...

Lake Mead has dropped to a historic low with a Colorado River shortage declaration looming as soon as the next couple of years. Arizona's water managers have planned and prepared for a Colorado...

People like the idea of reusing laundry water to irrigate their yards. It's called a laundry-to-landscape graywater system. Installing a graywater system is part of a growing movement of...

By 1928 Arizona's farmers, miners, loggers and ranch hands were migrating into the urban areas of the state. The state's largest cities also began attracting tourists and new residents....

A small team of filmmakers, computer experts, educators and scientists at the University of Arizona is convinced that many people - including young people - are eager to learn about serious and...

The City of Scottsdale wants to create more water wonks. Scottsdale Water is giving 20 residents an opportunity to explore the science, engineering and labor it takes to keep water running day and...

Sound long-term water management is vital to ensure that Arizona has a strong economy both in urban and rural parts of the State. This is why the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA)...

Baseball players and fans want to see spring training fields covered in bright green grass ready to play ball. That means a host city must dedicate water to keep the grass green and irrigate the...

A great man passed away on January 6, 2016 just shy of his 94th birthday. His name was Wes Steiner. If you weren’t around in the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s, you might not have heard...

2015 was a big year for headlines and stories about water and, given the nearly 16-year drought, we can expect no less in 2016. That's a good thing because it keeps the momentum going for...

The cost of delivering clean water to your home or business is rising. So is the cost of treating and reusing wastewater. The increase may already be reflected in your water bill, or soon will be....

Last month, the 107th Arizona Town Hall was held in Mesa, Arizona. Arizona Town Hall is a non-profit organization that brings together diverse Arizonans to discuss critical state issues facing the...

There are many Big Government programs you've never heard of that simply work. They don't generate headlines, political debate or viral videos. They often have names that put people to...

When you pay your water bill, a big part of the charges is something called a sewer fee. If you live in an AMWUA member city, it's the responsibility of your city's water department to...

Ever wonder about the quality of water that comes out of your faucet? If you live in the City of Phoenix, most of your water comes from the Colorado, Salt and Verde rivers. Water is delivered to...

In 1973, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation broke ground at Lake Havasu for an engineering wonder that would carry an average of 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water each year across Arizona...

Some U.S. cities and towns still don't use water meters. Instead, the overall cost of delivering water and sewer services is tallied every month and divided by the number of customers. A...

Salt cedar is a bushy, invasive tree that can change the face of a landscape in a dangerous way. Three West Valley cities and Maricopa County are pushing to eradicate as much salt cedar as possible...

There are 11 neighborhoods in the Town of Gilbert where residents have collectively saved 135 million gallons of water over five years. This achievement didn't happen by accident. About 25...

Arizona has a reputation for crazy ideas. Sometimes those crazy ideas are just crazy and sometimes they turn into marvels. Take, for example, this crazy idea from 1969: Arizona knew a population...

The City of Goodyear has a 500,000 gallons-per-day brine problem. That problem will only grow as the quiet little West Valley city along the Estrella Mountains expands. Goodyear is working on an...

When it comes to water supplies in this extended drought, there seem to be two Arizonas. Most Arizona cities are reassuring their residents and businesses that water supplies are secure. In other...

Every time a truck, an ATV, or a motorbike travels along a dirt road in Arizona's high country it churns up the ground, creates ruts and gullies, and degrades the edges of the road. When there...

Remember the first time you saw Phoenix? If you weren't born here, you most likely flew in and then drove down a freeway. The desert landscaping that lines our freeways is one of those cultural...

Desert dwellers love a good rain, but cities long considered stormwater runoff a nuisance. Cities built massive infrastructures to drain it away quickly before it could flood streets and yards. In...

If you want to find out how to save water and keep a little grass in the back yard, how about asking a city with more than 400 acres of Bermuda to care for? The City of Scottsdale maintains 42...

City water managers always think ahead. That's why the Phoenix Metropolitan area has weathered a 15-year drought and is prepared for possible water shortages in the future. This habit of...

Facing unprecedented water shortages, California Gov. Jerry Brown has imposed mandatory urban water use reductions of 25 percent. The Governor's order followed years of low snowpack and runoff...

AMWUA member cities are focused on keeping water flowing in and out of your homes and businesses day in and day out. At AMWUA, we're all about solutions. Always have been. It's our job....

The desert is not a place where water is taken for granted. In desert cities, water must be managed. Each of the AMWUA member cities has a water management plan and part of that plan is storing...

Imagine this: A website where you could watch your home's water usage in real time. It could become a frugal homeowner's obsession. It could settle family arguments about who spends more...

A phrase "toilet to tap" has appeared in a recent spate of stories about cleaning and recycling wastewater. While the catchy phrase is irresistible to headline writers, it is not popular...

There is almost always a decision to be made in a hotel bathroom. You can save water and hang up your towel for a second day's use or throw it on the floor, signaling the housekeeper to provide...

In 1986, the Town of Gilbert began storing treated wastewater in a pond at Cooper and Elliot roads. It did not surprise town officials that the pond attracted birds, but they were surprised by how...

Each year an average family in the City of Tempe uses about 30,000 gallons of drinking water to wash clothes. Tempe is the first city in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area to help homeowners pay...

A different sort of national environmental organization has set its sights on Arizona. Change the Course wants to help maintain enough water in Arizona rivers to keep plants, birds and fish...

A mussel about the size of a dime is breeding by the millions in reservoirs fed by the Colorado River. These invasive creatures, which can grow a little larger than a quarter, threaten the delivery...

In 1978, swindler Ned Warren was convicted of 20 counts of fraud for selling land in Arizona without access to water. Two years later, the drafters of the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act...

Engineers can take salt out of ocean water and create water for drinking and irrigating crops. Desalting water on an industrial level is a great technological achievement. The process, however,...

You pay a landscaping company to save you the time and energy it takes to maintain a lovely green space. Twenty years ago, Arizona recognized that landscapers could do more. They could help their...

Tempe Town Lake is a manmade lake set in a dry riverbed in the middle of the desert. The 261 acre urban lake is a surprise to newcomers and still a marvel to those who were here when it was first...

There are many well-known names in Arizona's water history. U.S. Senator Carl Hayden and Congressman John Rhodes delivered the votes in Washington that brought Colorado River water to the...

Wildfires that tear through Arizona's north country destroy our playgrounds, ravage ecosystems, kill and displace wildlife, and pollute the Valley's water supply. If the wildfires are not...

AMWUA would like to introduce you to your plumbing and simple ways to keep it working soundly. AMWUA's new Smart Home Water Guide website is designed to help both bumbling and handy homeowners...

Last week, California finally took baby steps to manage its decades old problem of landowners drilling wells to pump groundwater whenever and wherever they pleased. The new laws could take up to...

Solving the mystery of Lost and Unaccounted for Water can save a city money and conserve water on a grand scale. Lost and Unaccounted for Water, also known as non-revenue water, is the...

Back when George H. W. Bush was president, the U.S. Congress passed a law that has helped the country conserve its water supply as we face drought and climate change. There was nothing glamorous...

It takes a lot of power to get water to every Scottsdale home and business because much of the water must be delivered in underground pipes going uphill. Fortunately, what goes up must come down....

A Phoenix baker, carwash owner or pastor can expect far higher water and sewer bills than a Phoenix homeowner. The difference is not just the higher volume of drinking water going into their...

Baby and facial wipes are one of the new problems for cities' wastewater systems. Just because a product is labeled flushable or disposable doesn't make it immediately biodegradable....

So you sit on your back porch during a good monsoon storm and watch sheets of rain fall off the edge of the roof. Where you see rain, there is a small group of people who see your watershed. These...

Green infrastructure is a vague name for a particular way of designing streets, sidewalks, plazas and parking lots to make better use of rainwater. Green infrastructure redirects more storm runoff...

Valley cities can treat wastewater to such a quality that it can be used to fill small fishing lakes in parks, to irrigate landscaping, and to be stored for later use in underground aquifers. This...

The drought and potential shortages of Colorado River water have everyone talking. That's good news because no one seems to pay attention to water issues if there isn't a crisis brewing....

As if you needed a good reason to pick up after your dog, here is yet one more: storm drains. Phoenix, a city of blue skies and sunshine, maintains an 895-mile storm drain system. Desert storms are...

There are dripping bathroom faucets and backyard irrigation puddles and then there are the big leaks. Age, accidents and weather regularly cause city water lines to break. In Phoenix water lines...