U.S. Water News Online
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- "Central Arizona Project (CAP) water deliveries have become a vital component of sustaining Arizona's economic growth and stability" said David O'Neal, president and chief executive officer of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. "The availability and use of CAP water helps position Arizona as one the most desirable locations to live, work, and play in the nation,"
For the third consecutive year, CAP water deliveries set a record, according to CAP General Manager David S. "Sid" Wilson, Jr. CAP provided 1,115,862 acre-feet of water during 1996, to cities, industries, farms, Indian communities, and groundwater recharge projects in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties. This compares with 952,539 acre-feet in 1995, the former record year. One acre foot of water contains 325,852 gallons, enough to meet the needs of a family of five people for a year.
Deliveries in 1996 included 578,273 acre-feet to non-Indian farmers and 455,583 acre-feet to municipal and industrial (M&I;) customers. The M&I; use included 56,558 acre-feet to direct groundwater recharge projects as well as 176,243 acre-feet of in-lieu recharge water. CAP also provided 81,983 acre-feet to the Ak-Chin Indian community in Pinal County.
"The one million acre-feet of CAP water delivered in 1996 is an important achievement for Arizona's water management picture. The deliveries move Arizona closer to utilizing and preserving its full, annual entitlement of Colorado River water," Wilson said.
CAP water is a renewable resource delivered in place of dwindling groundwater resources or used to replace surface water supplies that were not available due to dry conditions within the state in 1996. CAP is a 336-mile long system of aqueducts, siphons, and pumping plants starting at Lake Havasu on the Colorado River and ending south of Tucson. CAP is the single largest resource for renewable water supplies for the state of Arizona.
Return to the U.S. Water
News Archives page
Or
Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage