ADWR recently released reports on water supply and demand for the following of groundwater basins: Butler Valley, Douglas AMA, Harquahala INA, McMullen Valley, San Bernardino, Tiger Wash, and Willcox.
These reports, which ADWR is required to produce at least once every 5 years, focus on total inflows and outflows at the basin scale, and therefore lack the resolution of groundwater flow models. The agency’s goal is to improve its understanding of the current and future water conditions and support planning. ADWR may also use this information to inform the distribution of water conservation grant funds.
Data was reviewed and compiled to estimate supply and demand volumes in each basin and to project how these volumes change under potential future scenarios. Where practical, ADWR obtain local or specific estimates; in cases where data was unavailable, water use was estimated based on values from the literature or other types of averages and assumptions. The assessments cover the period from 1990–2022. Scenarios were based on the most likely impacts on water demands and supplies projected over 53 years (from 2023–2075). The projections indicate that only the San Bernardino Valley basin will keep up with demand most years because it lacks the agricultural demands that the other basins face (87–99% of use); all of the remaining basins that were assessed in 2023 are projects to have insufficient resources to meet demands.
To learn more or to download the reports, visit ADWR’s website, where you’ll find an interactive supply-and-demand visualization tool.
