Another dry winter could hurt Arizona’s water supply

PHOENIX — Arizona is facing the possibility of a third consecutive dry winter — that’s not good news for the state’s water supply.

Mark Hubble with SRP said the reservoirs that supply the Valley with water are below 50 percent of capacity. The snowpack in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming is half of what it should be. That snowpack runoff feeds the Colorado River, which Arizona taps into via the Central Arizona Project canal.

“[That is] A concern for us because the Colorado Basin really supplies the entire southwest. Phoenix is fortunate that we have our own watershed.” But the runoff is still needed.

Another dry winter could tax the water supply starting late next summer but it’s too soon to start discussing cutbacks and possible rationings.

“If we have another dry winter again I think you’ll start hearing some rumblings about the surface water supply,” Hubble said.