Expanding the Bartlett Dam? SRP study exploring how it could save more water - Arizona's Family

Expanding the Bartlett Dam? SRP study exploring how it could save more water

SRP estimates an additional 100 feet of concrete could mean water for an additional 345,000 Valley homes per year.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (3TV/CBS 5) -- From recycled wastewater to spending millions on water rights, cities across Arizona are racing to find long-term solutions to our state’s water crisis. It comes amid an ongoing drought and cuts to our Colorado River water supply.

What long-term solutions are being considered? One idea includes making the Bartlett Dam about 100 feet taller to store more water from the Verde River. SRP is now part of a four-year federal study to see if it can physically be built and safely operated.

Arizona’s Family recently got a tour of the dam. Ron Klawitter, a manager of water system projects with SRP, says the expansion would mean storing two and a half times more water than the dam does now. He says that would mean saving enough water for an additional 345,000 homes per year in the Valley. As of mid-June, Bartlett Lake was 100% full, according to Klawitter. He thinks water for one million homes would likely have been saved under the proposed infrastructure if the expansion had been in place over our wet winter.

SRP officials don’t think the lake would look different, just bigger. How it would impact the surrounding plants and animals is unclear and is part of the current study. “Those who love to recreate and love the beauty of Bartlett Lake will likely only like more afterward just based on how it will look,” Klawitter said.

There are more than 20 Arizona cities and tribal communities taking part in the study. That includes Queen Creek, which needs to find a renewable water supply for about 10,000 lots that have yet to be built. Here is the full list:

- Arizona Water Company
- Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District
- Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District
- Apache Junction
- Avondale
- Buckeye
- Chandler
- El Mirage
- Glendale
- Goodyear
- Mesa
- Peoria
- Phoenix
- Scottsdale
- Surprise
- Tempe
- EPCOR Water
- Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
- Pinal County Water Augmentation Authority
- SRP
- Carefree
- Gilbert
- Queen Creek

Similar changes were made to the Roosevelt Dam in the 1990′s. “In the desert, water is one of our most precious resources. So we have enough to use in Arizona but certainly not enough to waste,” Klawitter said.

What is the project timeline? It would cost about a billion dollars per SRP, which would be paid for by those cities using it and possibly federal funding. Klawitter says Congress would need to approve the project. However, it wouldn’t be online until 2032 at the earliest.

In about a year or so, Klawitter says the public would get to weigh in when there is a more solid design. Read more about it here.

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