February 2009

U.S. Water News Online

TUCSON, Ariz. — In an effort to raise money, the Tucson City Council has voted unanimously to sell a third of its Central Arizona Project water allocation.

The city hopes the sale will help make up for the Tucson water department's $15.4 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Tucson was set to receive a water allocation from CAP of 144,000 acre feet this fiscal year.

Instead, city water officials said they will ask CAP to resell 42,000 acre feet.

The city will keep 8,000 acre feet it had intended to resell because other southern Arizona towns have said they were interested in buying water credits.

Department Director Jeff Biggs said Oro Valley is interested in buying 4,000 acre feet in groundwater pumping credits that are more valuable than CAP water, so the city could buy 4,000 acre feet from CAP to replace that water and still make a profit.

Tucson Water will try to strike a deal on the rest of the unsold water before April, he said.

Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said in a statement the Oro Valley agreement represented "a new level of cooperation."