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...

“NIA water” stands for Non-Indian Agriculture water. It is a name assigned to Colorado River water delivered by the Central Arizona Project (CAP) that was originally bought by...

AMWUA cities routinely build partnerships to make sure they can deliver safe, reliable and affordable water to their residents all day every day. The cities share the cost of building and expanding...

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...

Various races are competing for your attention on the ballot this election season. You know the high profile races for President of the United States, the U.S. Congress and the State Legislature....

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...

Monsoon storms brought temperatures down and brought more desert dwellers out to their patios. It's the time of year when homeowners begin to reimagine their yards: a new tree here, some...

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...

As you fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport bright blue dots mark thousands of backyard pools. For decades, backyard pools have been as common as sunshine in Valley neighborhoods. Many...

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...

In writing about the monsoon season, I'm hoping we do not jinx having more storms. The monsoon season in the Valley is a great time of year for suddenly cooler temperatures and extraordinary...

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...

In a 3.2-acre space hemmed in by traffic noise, office buildings and warehouse construction sits a living classroom. The University of Arizona's Maricopa County Cooperative Extension is a place...

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...

Many Southwest cities help their utility customers pay for long-term water-saving changes they make to their homes and yards. These changes can include buying a more water-efficient toilet or...

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....

If you're working to make your landscape more water efficient, don't forget to add one of many drought-tolerant trees that thrive in the Metro Phoenix area. Trees can raise property value,...

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)...

Twenty-five sixth graders did a little plumbing for the Town of Gilbert last month. Drew Goodman and his classmates installed 42 aerators on faucets in 11 bathrooms inside the town's Court and...

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...

Drought-tolerant plants and trees require less maintenance and water than a lawn. Yet, how do you remove grass, whether at your home, an HOA's common space, an apartment complex or a business?...

Homeowners Associations (HOA) face a difficult balance trying to keep their common areas looking attractive while also keeping water bills under control. The City of Phoenix is the latest AMWUA...

February in the Valley of the Sun means spring weather, golf tournaments, rodeos and our State's birthday on Valentine's Day. February also means the State Capitol is abuzz with Legislators...

A week ago Sunday, the day after moving to Phoenix, I woke up in my new place to find no water. I was reminded of how easy it is to take water for granted and to underappreciate the thousands of...

The AMWUA Blog marked 100 posts last week. We launched the weekly blog in March 2015 with a post that introduced readers to Tres Rios. This wetlands project on the west edge of Phoenix is home to...

Carol Ward-Morris, AMWUA's Assistant Director, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE). The Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to...

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...

"Lead" is a verb. It means to guide, to show the way. Protecting Arizona's water future will require our elected officials to lead us forward the way past generations took charge when...

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...

Cities need trees, including our desert cities. Trees help to mitigate the heat island, reduce ground temperatures in the evening and remove pollutants from the air. Trees raise property values,...

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...

The Town of Gilbert is helping businesses brag about what they are doing to save water. You'll know a business is conserving when you see a Water Wise Gilbert decal in its window or yard sign...

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...

Arizona desert cities have a distinctive style. There are few other cities where you'll find mesquite and palo verde trees in parks, giant blue agaves and golden barrel cactus in yards,...

AMWUA started its weekly blog posts in March 2014. This is our 83rd message to a growing audience. The AMWUA Blog is designed to explain where the Valley's water comes from, how cities deliver,...

The people who keep school buildings operating have a big job, and data from the City of Phoenix show they're doing it while saving water. Numbers from the city indicate that the volume of...

Grass does have a role in our desert environment with proper care and appropriate irrigation. There are heat-tolerant and less thirsty varieties of turf for those who love that patch of green in...

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...

Homeowners are quick to blame water meters when their water bills escalate. Water meters can malfunction, but an overcharge is rare. Water meters usually slow down with age. That means a faulty...

So you've selected desert-adapted plants and trees and installed a beautiful water-saving landscape. The key to maintaining your landscape's health, beauty, and longevity is watering...

We've all seen desert yards where three or four cactus plants are scattered across a sea of gravel. (We may see one when we look out our windows.) Then we've seen those dramatic desert...

AMWUA has been the go-to source for desert landscaping guides since desert landscaping was a novelty. Plant selection information remains the runaway favorite destination on our website. This...

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...

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...

Businesses that use an exceptionally high volume of water and want to set up shop in the City of Chandler will have to prove they bring significant benefits to the city, or pay more for their...

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...

Along with thirty conservation leaders and experts in the southwest, I've been wrestling with a project since 2013. It's part of the Moving Forward effort initiated by the Bureau of...

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...

During the last few decades, cities in the Phoenix Metropolitan area became bustling economic centers providing jobs and homes for millions of new residents. Development spread across what had been...

The cities of Mesa and Chandler provide the Gila River Indian Community with reclaimed water to irrigate its growing farm industry. In exchange, the Gila River community gives Mesa and Chandler...

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...

Are you paying more for your water than your neighbor? It's a real possibility. All 10 AMWUA member cities have tiered residential water rates. That means the more water you use, the more...

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....

Do you remember the old low-flow shower heads? Some of them were awful, weren't they? Those old shower heads began to give water-efficient fixtures an image problem that was hard to shake....

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...

Etched on the wall at the entrance of the City of Scottsdale's Xeriscape Garden is this: "Demonstrating the Beauty of Saving Water." That is a lovely explanation of why some cities...

Tired of winter guests? How about inviting some colorful visitors to your backyard who can entertain you instead. It could be time to turn that bit of grass and gravel, with its smattering of...

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...

Cities in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area are willing to give you money and free experts to make water-saving changes in your home or business. But each city creates a different package of...

Fix a Leak Week is a big deal around here. This year it's even bigger for City of Goodyear baseball fans. Fix a Leak Week is a funny name for a serious campaign. The U.S. Environmental...

"In the depths of the Great Recession, the hardest hit state agency was the Department of Water Resources. A wealth of institutional knowledge, vital to maintaining Arizona's relative...

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,...

In the last 22 months, the Phoenix Zoo reduced its water use by 20 percent. That saved the zoo $80,000 on its water bill over the past two years and conserved 19,500 million gallons of drinking...

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...

The Town of Gilbert helps homeowners associations take the guesswork out of irrigation costs. The town's voluntary program keeps landscapes looking lovely, saves money and water, and maintains...

The wrong tree in a desert yard can get ugly fast. Then, too, if the right tree is not correctly planted, nurtured or maintained it can die, grow in tortured directions, or fall over in a hard...

Desert shrubs do not thrive when homeowners and landscapers shear them into geometric shapes, such as balls, squares or inverted pyramids. Regular shearing weakens these shrubs, detracts from their...

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...

Valley homeowners use as much as 70 percent of their water outside, particularly during the summer months. Here's the frustrating part: many homeowners can grow the same lovely outdoor spaces...

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...

If your kids are spending even more time in the bathroom this school year, they may be doing homework. Really. The homework is part of the Water Investigations Program, a yearlong learning...

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...

A recent article in "Environmental Leader" magazine cited a study that called water conservation "low-hanging fruit" often ignored by property managers looking to save money....

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....

Charlene Kelly lives on Phoenix's Westside with her daughter and a grandchild who likes to flush toilets just for the joy of it. Mrs. Kelly and her late husband bought their home 30 years...

It took until June 12, 1980 for Arizona to decide it was not ok for farmers, cities, developers, and businesses to pump as much groundwater as they wanted,whenever and wherever they needed it. By...

MYTH 1: A desert garden means replacing grass with ugly gravel. Plants, not gravel, dominate the loveliest desert gardens. Gravel is a low-maintenance ground cover, or rock mulch, that reduces...

Every fourth grade scientist wants to be the Bucket Master. Who wouldn't? The Bucket Master is in charge of using a red bucket to catch water that is dripping from a perforated plastic jug...

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...

A 6-acre lake in the middle of Peoria's Pioneer Park opened to fishing in September. It will draw an estimated 3,000 anglers a year. These urban anglers will catch and keep about 80 percent of...

When are you willing to pay a little more? Perhaps you’ll pay more for steak that is a little better grade, a contractor who is licensed or a car that saves gas. What about a reliable water...