This Stakeholder Spotlight post was created in collaboration by CAP and the Town of Cave Creek
Note: CAP delivers water to approximately 60 water users, and Cave Creek is one that receives its CAP water through a unique partnership with the City of Phoenix.
When completed this summer, the new interconnect site between the City of Phoenix water system and the Town of Cave Creek will have created a new critical backup water supply for Cave Creek’s 4,500 water customers.
The site will have new booster pumps and a new one-million-gallon storage reservoir to help ensure water deliveries to customers and improve the town’s ability to provide fire protection.
“It’s not an understatement to say that water from the Colorado River is our town’s lifeline,” said Cave Creek Mayor Robert Morris. “We know reductions to our water supplies are coming, so having the confidence that we have a backup system to keep water flowing to our residents removes a lot of stress.”
Currently, the town’s water system relies on a single 12.5-mile pipeline with four inline booster pump stations to deliver untreated Colorado River water from the Central Arizona Project canal to its treatment plant. Up to 95 percent of the water supplied to customers and needed for fire protection is dependent on this supply system. Problems with the pipeline, booster stations, or the treatment plant quickly impact the town’s ability to supply water. The new water interconnect site with Phoenix will greatly reduce this risk.
“The need to create a backup to the town’s CAP delivery pipeline was identified as a critical need even before the town purchased the Cave Creek water system in 2007,” said Shawn Kreuzwiesner, utilities director for the town. “I am proud to be part of the team that helped accomplish this goal and create a new backup that improves the reliability of the town’s water system.”
The new site will begin operating before August of 2026. It is the conclusion of more than seven years of cooperative work between the agencies. Phoenix is completing pipeline and booster improvements to its distribution system to ensure it can reliably provide the town with up to 1,000 gallons per minute, or 1.4 million gallons per day, of treated water – meeting about half the town’s peak summer demand. During the winter months, the town can run the water system off the interconnect site, allowing for major maintenance and repairs to be completed on the CAP pipeline and treatment plant – something the town could not do before.
The new interconnect site received almost $4 million in federal grants, and the town received a $13.2 million low-interest WIFA loan to help fund approximately $22 million in design and construction costs.
KRA: Public Trust, Partnerships & Leadership
Earning and preserving public trust, building and maintaining partnerships, and providing informed water management leadership