City of Phoenix on tight water restrictions despite feds recent cutback - Arizona's Family

City of Phoenix on tight water restrictions despite feds recent cutback

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - This year’s wet winter has been good for us. The above-average winter snowpack has improved water levels for the country’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

That’s why the United States Bureau of Reclamation is easing water restrictions on the Colorado River, returning to a Tier 1 Shortage.

The City of Phoenix will keep its Stage 1 Water Alert despite this. “Right now, even though we have a short time reprieve on the Colorado River and were not going to experience dramatic cutbacks in Colorado River supplies in the short-term, this is not a long-term solution,” said Cynthia Campbell, the water resources management advisor for the City of Phoenix.

The city has been under the alert since June of last year and doesn’t expect to change that plan anytime soon. “We would have to see a situation in which our Colorado River supplies are restored in the long-term, and I frankly don’t see that happening anytime in the short-term in the next several years,” Campbell said.

Nearly 40 million people across seven states are sucking the Colorado River supply dry. Right now, Lake Powell is 39% full, and Lake Mead is 33% full.

That’s why the city is helping find creative conservation efforts. “The city is making efforts to reduce inefficient fixtures in its buildings. It’s looking at removing non-functional turf. We’re doing some serious efforts on cooling towers,” Campbell said.

Over 60% of the water used in the City of Phoenix is used outside, mostly at residential homes. Campbell said residents only really need to water their landscape two times a week.

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