Where does our city water come from and are we running out of water? Do we rely on the Colorado River? Do we dare grow?
Flagstaff is fortunate in several ways: (1) We do not currently rely on the Colorado River so we are not involved in the allocation battles (which are brewing rapidly); (2) We have redundant sources of water which help us be resilient to drought. Some years we get a lot of water from Lake Mary and the Inner Basin and other years we rely more on wells; (3) Our drawdown of the aquifer from use of wells is minimal overall; (4) We have little agriculture, which uses much water.
The adjacent chart shows the source of our water over the last two years. The Inner Basin pipeline has been mostly inoperable for the last two years because of the Schultz Fire/Floods. It is now back in operation. It usually supplies 15 percent during summer months. We use about 13 million gallons per day in the peak of summer. Our use drops by half in the winter.
Why is there a dam separating upper and lower Lake Mary? Because the lower Lake Mary area leaks. In abundant years, I have seen water spill over the dam into lower Lake Mary. That water is lost from the surface but goes into the aquifer.
We have adequate water for about 30 years of growth if we grow at the same rate we have been and if we conserve at the same rate we do now.
For our further extended future growth and additional water redundancy, we need to have a pipeline in place to bring water from our well field at Red Gap Ranch (30 miles east) into town. That water is good and plentiful and will serve our needs for at least 100 years. We are planning that delivery system now.
My thanks to Erin Young, city water resources manager, for help with this column. FBN
Jerry Nabours is the Mayor of the City of Flagstaff.