Desert drought conditions persist here in the Southwest. The shoreline around Lake Mead on the Colorado River, a significant water source, is ringed with 150 feet of blanched rock that used to be immersed in water. The climate change outlook does not bode well for restoration of existing water supplies.

These are facts that are alarming to many but, taken into context, they are big picture and not necessarily how individuals need to view the situation.

Drought and potential shortages are not likely to have an impact on the day-to-day water use or needs in suburban Fountain Hills, or much of Maricopa County for that matter.

That is the message that was presented to the Town Council by EPCOR Water Company officials at the June 15 regular council session. Breaking it down by the numbers, the water supply outlook for Fountain Hills over the next 15 years, and probably beyond, is quite good, according to Frank Metzler, Eastern Division Operations Director for EPCOR.

EPCOR is a private water utility that owns and operates the potable water system in the community.

While there are many other numbers to look at, the bottom line is that during 2020 the Town of Fountain Hills used 6,265 acre-feet of water, which according to EPCOR is roughly 28 percent of the total available supply of 21,567 acre-feet.

“We are in a pretty good place,” Metzler said. “Things are not as dire as they seem.”

It should be noted that EPCOR does not supply water to golf courses in the community for irrigation purposes.

Town Manager Grady Miller explained that EPCOR was invited to make the presentation to the council at the request of Councilwoman Peggy McMahon.

Councilman Alan Magazine excoriated the media for presenting the potential for water shortage in such a dire manner and challenged EPCOR to “get the message out” that things are better than they appear.

Doug Dunham, Water Resources Manager for EPCOR, explained that the picture is not all positive across the board.

The Central Arizona Project (CAP), where EPCOR gets about 8,900 acre-feet of water per year for its Chaparral District (Fountain Hills), has established allocation priorities for a municipal and industrial pool, non-Indian agricultural pool, agriculture pool and an excess pool. Dunham said the three pools other than the M&I are the most likely to experience shortages.

Water supply

EPCOR’s Chaparral operation receives 15 million gallons of water (46 acre-feet) per day at its water treatment plant off Shea Blvd. It has two wells in operation that produce five million gallons (15.3 acre-feet). That brings the company’s maximum daily production of potable water at 20 million gallons per day (MGD) (61.3 acre-feet). It has a storage capacity in eight reservoirs of 11.4 million gallons (35 acre-feet).

Currently, demand for Chapparal is an average of 5.63 MGD (17 acre-feet). During 2020 the maximum demand for a single day was nine MGD. The annual demand for 2020 was 6,305 acre-feet. The annual CAP allocation for 8,909 acre-feet.

There are two additional groundwater wells in Fountain Hills that are currently inactive. They could produce an additional 2.4 MGD but would require millions of dollars and up to a year to put into service.

Metzler said EPCOR has chosen not to bring the wells into service because the cost would need to be included in the rate structure for customers.

Conservation

Arizona has signed on to the Lower (Colorado) Basin Drought Contingency Plan which has the goal to protect the water levels in Lake Mead. Arizona and Nevada have agreed to take early allocation cuts. California is also taking cuts to its allocation.

EPCOR has its own plan in place for drought planning that includes maximizing the use of reclaimed water by storage and recovery (in Fountain Hills reclaimed recharge and recovery is done by the Sanitary District. EPCOR does not handle wastewater operations in the community).

The company also has conservation programs available to its customers. This includes self-audit kits, interior low-flow retrofit kits, landscape watering guide, desert landscaping and low water use plant guide, leak detection assistance and enhanced billing-self notification. Specifics on the EPCOR conservation programs are available on the company website, epcor.com

In response to a question from a council member Dunham noted that new technologies are lowering costs for development of desalination plants along the coast. He said one has recently come online near San Diego. Dunham also noted that the United States and Mexico are working on a plan for a desalination facility on the Sea of Cortez.