SE Valley Times

Water companies are disputing the conclusion that Pinal County will not be able to meet demand for the resource in 100 years.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) is predicting an eight million acre-feet shortage by 2115, but the assumptions that this number is based on are being questioned.

It is argued that the department, in its Pinal Active Management Area model, underestimates resources and overestimates use.

"We definitely need to be using our water as effectively as we can,” William Garfield, member of Arizona Water Company’s board of directors, told In Maricopa, a news outlet. “That comes across all water-using sectors. Agriculture has come a long way in improving farming practices. Within our service area in Casa Grande, for example, over the last 20 years, single-family use has dropped 40 percent.”

According to In Maricopa, experts from the ADWR updated their model and concluded that PInal County would be ten percent short of meeting demand in 100 years.

“Looking out 100 years, there is insufficient groundwater in the Pinal Active Management Area to support all existing uses and issued assured water supply determinations,” ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke said.

Jake Lenderking, director of the Water Resources Department at Global Water Resources, told In Maricopa that the ADWR assumes they will use about three times the water they are using today. 

Global Water is allowed to a maximum water supply of 23,000 acre-feet per year.

“We use about 7,000, so we have lots of room to grow in that proven designation,” Lenderking said. "The problem is that ADWR’s hydrologists feel impelled to state Global’s current use as 23,000 acre feet."