Summary:
In September 2023 the City of Peoria (“Peoria”) entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) with the City of Tucson (“Tucson”) for a mutually beneficial exchange of Central Arizona Project (“CAP”) water. The exchange agreement enables Peoria to store a portion of its CAP allocation underground in Tucson during years when it is available. During years with large reductions to Peoria’s CAP allocation, Tucson can pump water previously stored underground by Peoria, in exchange for a portion of Tucson’s remaining CAP allocation to be delivered to one of Peoria’s water treatment plants. Implementation of the IGA requires Peoria to enter into an Exchange Implementation Agreement with Tucson and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (“CAWCD”).
Use of the CAP canal system must be compliant with the terms and conditions defined in the CAWCD and Bureau of Reclamation (“BoR”) 2017 “Central Arizona Project System Use Agreement.” The System Use Agreement specifies that exchanges are pursuant to both an IGA between the exchanging parties and an Exchange Implementation Agreement that defines the terms and conditions under which CAWCD will deliver the exchange water.
The Exchange Implementation Agreement with Tucson and CAWCD affirms that the exchange is compliant with Peoria and Tucson’s individual CAP subcontracts, the CAP System Use Agreement, and confirms the terms and conditions of the IGA between the parties as acceptable for delivery of the exchange water.
The CAWCD Board approved the Exchange Implementation Agreement at its May 2, 2024 meeting. The City of Scottsdale (“Scottsdale”) and the Town of Gilbert (“Gilbert”) entered into nearly identical IGAs with Tucson in 2023. The Gilbert Town Council approved the Exchange Implementation Agreement on May 7, 2024 and Scottsdale authorized entry via a Council Resolution at the time its IGA was approved.