1. Salt River Project (SRP) water - SRP is currently Mesa's largest water supplier providing Salt and Verde river water to meet about one-half of Mesa's demands.  Current demand for SRP water is approximately 56,000 acre-feet per year.  
   
   
2. Central Arizona Project (CAP) water -  CAP is a Federal reclamation project authorized by Congress in 1968.  Water is diverted from the Colorado River near Lake Havasu and flows through Yuma, Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima Counties to its terminus in Tucson.  The open concrete-lined canal is expected to deliver an average of 1.2 million acre-feet annually over a period of 50 years.  
   
   Mesa has a CAP contract for 36,388 acre-feet, almost 30 percent of the City's water supply.  This water is used primarily in the eastern portion of Mesa's service area.  Mesa also makes use of CAP water by storing it underground for future use. Currently, Mesa has stored approximately 350,000 acre-feet of water underground. This water can be used to provide for future demands and also to protect Mesa during drought.
   
   
3. Roosevelt Water Conservation District (RWCD) water - This water can only be used on RWCD lands.  Mesa has approximately 8,000 acres in the RWCD service area.  In most years, Mesa is entitled to about 3,200 acre-feet of surface water from its lands within RWCD.
   
   
4. Reclaimed Water - Mesa currently produces approximately 40,000 acre-feet of reclaimed water every year.  Because public acceptance of drinking reclaimed water is extremely low, Mesa's direct uses for reclaimed water are limited to non-drinking water purposes such as irrigation and industrial uses.
   
   Reclaimed water can also be recharged artificially into the aquifer and recovered as groundwater for later use.  By recharging this water to the aquifer, Long Term Storage Credits are created.  Later, groundwater is pumped from a permitted recovery well, and the Long Term Storage Credits are recovered.  Mesa has approximately 70,000 acre-feet of Long Term Storage Credits for reclaimed water.
   
   Mesa recently signed an agreement with the Gila River Indian Community through which Mesa ultimately will deliver 29,400 acre-feet per year of reclaimed water to the Gila River Indian Community and receive in exchange 23,530 acre-feet per year of CAP water.  This agreement allows Mesa to exchange what is essentially a non-potable water supply for a supply that can be used for domestic purposes.
   
   
5. Groundwater - Use of groundwater is subject to the Groundwater Management Act of 1980, which set a goal of balancing groundwater withdrawals and recharge in the Phoenix area by 2025.  The Groundwater Management Act also set conservation requirements for Mesa and other Valley cities.  It requires Mesa to prove that enough water will be available to serve projected growth for the next 100 years.
   
   

For more detailed information on the City of Mesa's water sources and how Mesa plans for the future, see the Water Resources Plan.

Questions?  Contact our Water Resources Office at 480-644-3306.