The Truth About Scottsdale’s Water “Surplus”: Debunking Tall Tales

By Councilwoman Solange Whitehead

Scottsdale Councilmembers Barry Graham and Jan Dubauskas’ comments at this week’s Council meeting on water made one thing clear: they either do not understand – or they do not want the public to understand – the truth about Scottsdale’s water challenges.  

After nearly two years of their blocking public meetings on water, we finally held a water work-study session. What should have been an honest discussion about preparing for reduced Colorado River supplies became something else entirely.

Graham, Dubauskas and the City’s interim water director made some bold, inaccurate statements about “Scottsdale water abundance”. Let’s look at the facts.

The Colorado River is overallocated.  That means, cities like Scottsdale have legal entitlements to water quantities that the river can no longer supply.  

Scottsdale is over-reliant on the Central Arizona Project delivered Colorado River water. It’s seventy-one percent of our water.

 Scottsdale has no secret, unlimited stash of extra water underground.

Steeper cuts to our supply of CAP water are coming.  Scottsdale’s job is to conservatively prepare for the worst-case scenario, while working diligently to deliver the best. But this Council majority has us going in the opposite direction:

• Water use is rising.
• Water fund balances have sharply declined from $222 million to a projected $80 million.
• An unprecedented number of water technical, policy, and operations staff have left.
• Ratepayers are funding one-time groundwater purchases while Advanced Water Purification (AWP), a renewable, cost-effective water source, remains defunded.

Now let’s unpack their bold claims; claims that do not “hold water”:

Scottsdale has and will continue to have a 141,000 acre feet (AF) annual water supply.

This is not true.  Scottsdale’s previous 100-year Designation of Assured Water Supply (DAWS) which ended December 2025 was based on the likelihood that Scottsdale would have access to this amount of water during normal times.

These are not normal times.  Today’s drought is not speculation.  The river’s hydrology, not legal water entitlements or past DAWS, dictate our access to water.  

Scottsdale has a 50,000+ AF annual water surplus? No!

Scottsdale has approximately 280,000 AF of water stored in its aquifer today. It took years to build that reserve and it represents about four years of water at current usage.

And there will be no future CAP surplus to replace water extracted. This is not a renewable water source, it’s an emergency “piggy bank”.

Scottsdale’s Advanced Water Purification (AWP) will cost $6,900–$8,400 per acre-foot. Really?

That figure is so far above estimates for comparable projects that it appears to be a political talking point instead of a fact-based estimate.

Advanced Water Purification (AWP) has long been recognized as the cost-effective, renewable water source. Scottsdale’s Water Campus has been treating recycled wastewater to drinking-water quality for years. New ADEQ requirements call for additional investments to allow purified water to be blended directly into our drinking water supply—but Scottsdale is not starting from scratch.

New treatment facilities being built from the ground up are estimating costs of roughly $1,000–$2,500 per acre-foot. Given our infrastructure, costs should be substantially lower.

Scottsdale is in a strong position today because decades of past elected Scottsdale leaders adopted sound water policy and made necessary investments. Our adopted Water Strategic Plan charts a path to a diverse water portfolio that keeps water safe, secure, and affordable.

Yet this Council majority continues to override that plan—at residents’ expense.

Our generation must protect the Colorado River and our own water future. It won’t be free or easy, but we can achieve both. Scottsdale water is too important to sacrifice for political agendas. We need a City Council that will put science, sound policy, and our residents first.