O R O VA L L E Y W AT E R U T I L I TY N E W S L E T T E R
SUMMER 2024
A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR When the summertime temperatures begin to soar across Southern Arizona, so do the demands placed on the Utility’s water system. The demands placed on the water system are directly proportional to the daytime temperature, the hotter the day, the more water that is consumed and vice versa. Thanks to our commitment to perpetually invest in the rehabilitation of our existing infrastructure our water system is able to meet the demands placed on it. Peter Abraham, P.E. Water Utility Director
In addition to maintaining a robust water system it is equally important to continually invest in our ability to access the water resources necessary to support our communities water resource needs.
To ensure that the Utility can support the future water resource needs of the community, as well as to further reduce our reliance on groundwater, the Town of Oro Valley has partnered with the Metropolitan Domestic Water Improvement District and the Town of Marana to construct a project known as the Northwest Recharge, Recovery and Delivery System (NWRRDS). The construction phase of the NWRRDS has begun and is the result of over a decade of work involving the conceptualization, planning, designing, permitting and funding of the project. Construction of the NWRRDS provides the necessary infrastructure to access and deliver additional Central Arizona Project (CAP) water resources located in Avra Valley, West of Interstate 10, to our service area. The Utility currently delivers approximately 25% of its annual CAP allocation. By the end of 2026 when the NWRRDS is commissioned into service the Utility will have the capability to deliver up to 65% of its annual CAP allocation. In addition to the increased CAP deliveries, the NWRRDS provides a means for the Utility to recover and deliver decades worth of CAP water stored in underground aquifer storage facilities in Avra Valley, if needed in the future. Once completed the NWRRDS infrastructure will have taken over a dozen years to go from a concept to a fully functional water recovery and conveyance system and will have cost over $100 million of which $50 million is paid for by the Oro Valley Water Utility. The Utility is paying for the NWRRDS from two revenue sources. Development impact fees, paid by new development, is funding 60% of the project and groundwater preservation fees, paid for by existing customers, is funding the remaining 40%. The Utility projects that $18 million in borrowing will be necessary. The debt service will be paid by both impact fees and groundwater preservation fees. Water Utility staff continuously look for ways to reduce the cost of water infrastructure to the community. In fact, the Utility’s recent $1.64 million Water Conservation Grant Fund awarded by the Water Infrastructure Financing Authority will be applied towards the NWRRDS project and will reduce the debt service burden on water utility customers. In closing, the NWRRDS project is an important part of the Utility’s water infrastructure that will ensure our community’s water resource sustainability into the future by delivering additional CAP water supplies while at the same time reducing groundwater pumping to preserve and protect this resource. Looking forward,
Peter Abraham
Peter A. Abraham, P.E. | Water Utility Director
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