This Stakeholder Spotlight is a collaboration between CAP and Pima County water providers
A preface on wise water management: Southern Arizona has been a national leader in efficient use of water for many decades. Having been entirely reliant on groundwater prior to the arrival of CAP, water providers are well aware of the consequences of overusing that resource. Thus, they have invested in both voluntary and mandatory conservation, reuse, and building an ethic of wise water use that begins in childhood and is reinforced through ongoing education, conservation-focused water rates, and incentive programming. Combined, the CAP-using cities in the region maintain some of the lowest per-capita water use rates in the Southwestern United States.
This ethic has continued in the era of CAP water use and has in fact grown more robust over time. Cities and other water providers are expanding their use of renewable supplies. The project highlighted in this article is one example of southern Arizona’s commitment to managing all available water supplies as effectively as possible.
CAP water has long been essential to the sustainability and economic well-being of southern Arizona. That’s why three CAP stakeholders in this area have been working together on a project to deliver even more of this critical water resource to their customers.
CAP has been delivering this renewable supply to the Tucson region for more than 25 years, and except for a few years of direct delivery by the City of Tucson, every gallon intended as a drinking water supply for the utilities in the area has been recharged and stored underground for later recovery.
Since the early 2000s, Oro Valley, Marana, and Metro Water District have stored their CAP water allocations underground in Avra Valley, many miles away from where they pump groundwater for their customers.
As a result of the geographical distance between where their CAP water is stored and where groundwater pumping is occurring, the aquifer beneath their service areas has been declining at the rate of about 2.5 feet per year.
Recognizing the hazards associated with continued overpumping (including worsening water quality, reduced well efficiencies and, most importantly, land subsidence), the three utilities formed a partnership to share in the planning, construction, and operation of a system designed to make use of their recharged CAP supplies.
The Northwest Recharge, Recovery and Delivery System (NWRRDS) consists of a series of recovery wells drilled near where CAP water is recharged, and a recovery pipeline to convey that water to a shared forebay facility. From this facility, the partners will then convey the recovered CAP water the rest of the way to their respective service areas through separate transmission facilities. See the facility plan.
To form this innovative partnership, the three entities negotiated an innovative 50-year intergovernmental agreement. The IGA was unanimously approved by their respective Town Councils or Boards in 2017.
The joint portion of NWRRDS is currently estimated to cost around $43 million, and the total NWRRDS cost, including the additional piping to reach each of the partner’s service areas, is approximately $100 million.
Currently, three recovery wells have been drilled, with two of these in the process of being equipped. More than seven miles of waterline is under construction to convey this water along the shared alignment.
The construction completion and commissioning of NWRRDS is anticipated in mid-2026 and will provide more than 115,000 customers with direct access to renewable water supplies.
It’s an impressive example of the benefits of regional collaboration in resolving shared challenges.
“The NWRRDS project reflects Oro Valley’s commitment to southern Arizona’s water resource sustainability by reducing Oro Valley’s current groundwater pumping up to 80%, further ensuring the community’s prosperity and economic vitality.”
Peter Abraham, Director, Oro Valley Water
“For over a decade, Oro Valley, Marana, and Metro Water have worked to resolve localized aquifer declines caused by the hydrologic disconnect between where our water is stored and where our respective demand is occurring. NWRRDS is a shared solution for this shared problem that eliminates the hydrologic disconnect and enhances aquifer health.”
Joe Olsen, General Manager, Metro Water District
“Marana Water is working in conjunction with Metro Water and Oro Valley on the NWRRDS project to create a shared solution. Marana Water is investing in long-term water reliability, protecting our aquifers, and ensuring that future generations continue to benefit from a clean, secure, and renewable water supply.”
Heidi Lasham, Director, Marana Water
KRA: Public Trust, Partnerships & Leadership
Earning and preserving public trust, building and maintaining partnerships, and providing informed water management leadership
