As usual, City Hall was the pool for damp debate.<\/p>\n
After sharp exchanges over \u201crecycled water\u201d at previous City Council meetings, an $8 million water credits purchase contract was volleyed June 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councilman Barry Graham splashed first, with \u201cthis should have stayed on the consent agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Lisa Borowsky dunked Graham, insisting the public had the right to hear details of a complex plan.<\/p>\n
After a presentation, Borowsky was unsatisfied with the contract, pushing to add an \u201cout\u201d clause.<\/p>\n
After extensive discussion, Borowsky grudgingly acknowledged none of the other elected officials shared her concerns. So the mayor went along with a motion by Councilwoman Solange Whitehead to approve the agenda item for a contract \u201cin the amount of $8.25 million for the purchase of 15,000 acre feet of long-term storage credits in the Harquahala Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
A unanimous vote sealed a somewhat cryptic deal.<\/p>\n
Scottsdale\u2019s elected officials have had \u201cexecutive session\u201d meetings \u2013 not open to the public \u2013 about Harquahala Valley water for months.<\/p>\n
The negotiated contract was, as Graham stressed, originally on the June 23 consent agenda \u2013 meaning it was scheduled to be voted on as part of a 25-item clump, without a presentation or public questions\/comments.<\/p>\n
But Borowsky demanded the item be brought out for more information and inspection.<\/p>\n
With anticipated, deep cuts expected in the Colorado River\/Central Arizona Project the city relies on for some two-thirds of its water, Graham and Borowsky agreed adding to the city\u2019s \u201cwater portfolio\u201d is a great idea.<\/p>\n
The city typically consumes 70,000 to 80,000 acre feet of water per year.<\/p>\n
Though not quite a \u201cdrop in the bucket,\u201d the $8 million will buy \u2013 as a one-time quantity, or \u201cone and done,\u201d as Whitehead put it \u2013 less than a third of what the city uses in water every year.<\/p>\n
Are there \u201chidden costs\u201d to turn the credits into actual Scottsdale water?<\/p>\n
Responding to questions from the Progress, in a June 17 email, city spokeswoman Holly Peralta stated, \u201cThere are no transportation costs associated with this proposed purchase itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe item before City Council is the acquisition of storage credits, not the delivery of water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, the June 23 meeting featured council discussion\/debate about the transportation of the Harquahala Valley water to Scottsdale \u2013 50-plus miles away.<\/p>\n
Borowsky noted state agencies must approve the transportation of the water. The mayor asked Thyra Ryden-Diaz, the city\u2019s interim Water Resources director, how soon Scottsdale could receive the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter we built the infrastructure,\u201d Ryden-Diaz answered.<\/p>\n
However, she did not explain the cost of the infrastructure, which was also not shown in the agenda report.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comments\/discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n Betty Janik, a former councilwoman, was the only public speaker on the Harquahala deal.<\/p>\n She raised concerns that the water being purchased may have dangerously high arsenic levels and require transportation some 60 miles to Scottsdale.<\/p>\n Treating and\/or transporting the water would be expensive, Janik stated \u2013 pushing City Council to put the money toward the city\u2019s Advance Water Purification system. Graham and others have sneered at the water recycling process as \u201ctoilets to taps.\u201d<\/p>\n Graham asked Ryden-Diaz to respond to Janik\u2019s concerns about arsenic.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not have concerns about additional treatment from this area,\u201d the water director answered.<\/p>\n When Councilman Adam Kwasman followed with a similar question, Ryden-Diaz repeated, \u201cWe are not concerned about this particular location \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cAt this location there\u2019s been a considerable amount of study. We are not concerned with arsenic at this location,\u201d the interim water director stated.<\/p>\n The satisfied one representative.<\/p>\n \u201cScottsdale\u2019s not going to feed the people poisoned water,\u201d Kwasman stressed.<\/p>\n City Manager Greg Caton jumped in to provide background.<\/p>\n Though it is not in the agenda report, Caton said the purchase surfs on \u201can existing groundwater right in the Harquahala Valley in partnership with two golf courses \u2013 and that is a groundwater right to the tune of 3,800 acre feet on an annual basis.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is significant infrastructure that is needed in order to convey that water rights to get it to Scottsdale, that is a significant infrastructure cost, which could include treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n The projected infrastructure \u201cwill be used in combination with this acquisition. If it were just a standalone 15,000 acre feet, 60 miles west of here, what does that do? How does that help us?\u201d the city manager asked, rhetorically.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it’s the infrastructure for the other water right in conjunction with this that really brings it to our customers here in Scottsdale,\u201d Caton said.<\/p>\n Though again without providing construction costs, Caton said the Harquahala Valley system is coming soon: \u201cWe look to break ground in the fall of 2027 and have (an) approximately 18- to 24-month construction cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n The ordinance notes this is part of a plan \u201cto develop a diverse and resilient water supply portfolio to respond to unstable water supplies from the Colorado River.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the contract, the credits are connected to \u201cwater stored in the Vidler Underground Storage Facility located in the Harquahala Non-Expansion Area (INA).\u201d<\/p>\n The water-rich Harquahala area is near Buckeye, far west of Scottsdale.<\/p>\n The report explains long-term storage credits \u201care water rights designated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources through a permitting process.\u201d<\/p>\n Credits are given when water \u201ccannot reasonably be used directly, the water was not recovered on an annual basis, and the<\/p>\n water would not have been naturally recharged within the Active Management Area (AMA).\u201d<\/p>\n The Phoenix area \u201ccurrently holds approximately 8.1-million-acre feet of long-term storage credits\u201d \u2013 with Scottsdale owning 277,691 of the credits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, city officials are urging City Council to add to Scottsdale\u2019s\u00a0 water portfolio by purchasing long-term storage credits from Vidler Water Company are within the<\/p>\n Harquahala area, which can be transported to Scottsdale.<\/p>\n \u201cThis allows further diversification and augmentation of Scottsdale’s water portfolio outside of the Phoenix AMA,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n Long-term storage credits do not expire and can be held by the city indefinitely, according to the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe city may also opt to either pump water to redeem these credits in the future,\u201d the report notes, \u201cor if they become unnecessary, sell the credits. The long-term storage credits offers the city a high degree of flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lexical spray<\/p>\n The day after the meeting, the Progress asked Janik if she was satisfied with the answers to her questions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt appeared that the water director and city manager had a difference of opinion on cost of water transport \u2013 especially concerning the question of water contamination and required purification as preparation for \u2018wheeling\u2019 on the CAP,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n Though she said purchasing the water was \u201ca good decision,\u201d Janik added, \u201cI was not satisfied with the answers. More information should be provided.\u201d<\/p>\n Nothing new there, she snarkily added:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, this council majority\u00a0 has avoided providing complete information on many issues of importance to our residents. Their promise of transparency rings false.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the governor\u2019s office, \u201cThe Harquahala Groundwater Basin is a massive, drought-proof water supply located in western Maricopa and La Paz counties. Designated as an agricultural transportation basin, it holds over 8 million acre-feet of water and is now used by central Arizona cities \u2013 such as Buckeye and Queen Creek \u2013 to secure long-term, drought-resistant water supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2025, the Arizona Department of Water Resources allowed Harquahala water to be purchased by outside municipalities.<\/p>\n While Queen Creek and Buckeye whipped out their checkbooks, the town of Cave Creek \u2013 bordering on far North Scottsdale \u2013 got cold feet.<\/p>\n Cave Creek was slated to spend $11 million for rights to 500 acre feet of water for 100 years.<\/p>\n After approving a tentative deal, Cave Creek Town Council ultimately voted not to proceed with the purchase due to excessive infrastructure and cost unknowns.<\/p>\n Before the vote, Graham attempted to flush away critics:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we saw here tonight was a bunch of water grandstanding \u2026 just stoking fears about carcinogenics, arsenic.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe this should have just passed on consent but you had to go through the grandstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCouncilman Graham,\u201d Borowsky responded, \u201cwhen you\u2019re looking to spend $8.25 million of taxpayer money they\u2019re entitled to at least a brief presentation and discussion on important issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Her exit spritz:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad the public got to hear about this.\u201d<\/p>\n Magic number?<\/strong><\/p>\n Curiously, the 15,000 acre feet of water being purchased matches what Scottsdale has been saving via \u201cwater banking\u201d over the last decade.<\/p>\n \u201cOn average for the last five years,\u201d Gretchen Baumgardner, then-Scottsdale Water\u2019s policy manager, said in 2023, \u201cwe\u2019ve recharged around 15,000 acre feet per year.\u201d<\/p>\n The Harquahala 15,000 purchase brings the city\u2019s water credits total to just under 300,000.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As usual, City Hall was the pool for damp debate. After sharp exchanges over \u201crecycled water\u201d at previous…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":902570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,166900,5310,60833,138901,12176,1589,46683,152497,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-902569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-barry-graham","tag-city-council","tag-councilwoman","tag-lisa-borowsky","tag-mayor","tag-phoenix","tag-scottsdale-city-council","tag-solange-whitehead","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116837843500400827","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}