"Oro Valley is among the most water-resilient communities in the Southwest..."

Peter Abraham, Oro Valley's Water Utility Director, weighs in on the drought, and what it means for Oro Valley:

Here is a quick overview, but for more information please see the two links below-

"In general the facts are:

1. We are in the midst of a 22-year drought.

2. Since the late 90’s most forward thinking water providers have been planning for water shortage since that time (Oro Valley Water Utility included).

3. Oro Valley never really had a “Drought Contingency Plan” per se’. It is more appropriate to say that Oro Valley developed a “Water shortage plan” beginning in the year 2000.

4. The proposed 2022 Tier 1 CAP shortage is something that water professionals have been expecting for several years now. None of what you read in the media is a surprise to us. We have been preparing for this day for over 2 decades.

5. As a municipality Oro Valley is among the highest priority CAP users. Municipalities see NO curtailments to their deliveries in a Tier 1 shortage or Tier 2 shortage. I would expect a less than 10% cut to deliveries if we ever saw a Tier 3 shortage. At a Tier 3 shortage the CAP reduction is large enough to offset the estimated over-allocation of the river and we would not expect further reductions, but further reductions are possible.

6. Oro Valley can maintain its current water resource utilization plan with CAP cuts to municipalities greater than 10% without additional groundwater pumping.

7. Oro Valley is well positioned to support the communities water resource needs in the face of challenging water resource times."

For more information please click here for the video