The Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board (CAWCD) met on Thursday, March 5 at Central Arizona Project (CAP) headquarters in north Phoenix. The meeting began with a recognition of eight employees celebrating 35, 30, 25 and 20 years of service. Board President Terry Goddard recognized the President’s Award lunch held in February to recognize more than 70 employees who volunteer with the CAP Turnouts program and on their own time with various community organizations. He also recognized the work done on CAP’s comments on the federal government’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Following a report from the CAGRD and Underground Storage Committee, the Board approved a purchase and sale agreement for long-term storage credits between CAWCD and the Vail Water Company in the Tucson Active Management Area (AMA).

On Consent Agenda, the Board approved:

• Professional services contract for the design of an Aqueduct Hydrology Improvements Program
• Equipment purchase for the Electro-Mechanical Relay Replacement Project Phase 2 at Black Mountain and Snyder Hill Pumping Plants
• Equipment purchase contract for replacement of a heavy-haul transport truck
• Equipment purchase contract for replacement of two fleet maintenance service trucks
• Equipment purchase contract for a high-capacity forklift
• Contract for security services at CAP Headquarters and remote locations

In addition, the Board heard presentations on:

• Urgent necessity contract for pool 1 embarkment – Darrin Francom, assistant general manager – Operations, Power, Maintenance and Engineering
• Stakeholder briefings and roundtable on the SRP-CAP Interconnection Facility – Natalie Mast, manager – Resource, Planning and Analysis
• Water operations, Marcus Shapiro, supervisor – Water Systems
• Yuma-area infrastructure – Vineetha Kartha, manager – Colorado River Programs
• Colorado River conditions – Nolie Templeton, PhD, senior policy analyst – Colorado River Programs
• Colorado River discussions (and DEIS comment review) – Jay Johnson, general counsel

The CAWCD Board of Directors is a popularly elected 15-member board. Ten members are from Maricopa County, four from Pima County and one from Pinal County. Members serve six-year, unpaid terms. The board typically meets publicly the first Thursday of each month to establish policy and set rates and taxes for CAP. Meetings are open to the public – in person and via livestream.

For additional details on the March 5, 2026 board meeting, take a look at the agenda. Board minutes and video will be posted here, as well.