U.S. Water News Online
TUCSON, Ariz. -- As Tucson officials examine their options
for utilizing the
city's water allocation from the Central Arizona Project (CAP), one
thing is
essentially certain: Tucsonans are likely to resist any rate
increases for
the CAP water. If the additional water supply were fully utilized,
Tucson is
looking at rate increases ranging to $116 a year by the year
2000.
A survey has determined that most residents "may be unwilling to
pay even
small rate increases" for CAP water because it is harder and saltier
than
Tucson's existing groundwater supply. The surface water supply, which
is
transferred from the Colorado River via open canal, is of such poor
quality
that it actually has caused damage to water lines in the city.
The Tucson CAP plan, scheduled for adoption later this year, will
take
five years to fully implement. In basic terms, the city's four
options range.
from fully utilizing the additional supply for groundwater recharge,
to
continuing Tucson's status quo of total reliance on its groundwater
supply
Maintaining the existing groundwater supply is the cheapest alte
resulting in a projected rate increase of only $48 a year. On the
other hand
if all CAP water is recharged, household water bills in the year 2000
would
increase between $106 and $114 a year, according to a report by
the
consulting engineering firm of Dames and Moore.
An effort also is under way to place an initiative on the November
ballot
specifying how CAP water is to be used.
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