Summary Sheet- WSS ISSUE REVIEW SUMMARY

MEMORANDUM – ISSUE REVIEW SESSION
TO:
Mayor and Council
THROUGH:
Tara Ford, Public Works Director, (480) 350-2855
FROM:
Craig Caggiano, Deputy Public Works Director - Water Utilities, (480) 858-2160
DATE:
5/18/2026
SUBJECT:
Tempe Water Resources
AGENDA ITEM: 4C 
PURPOSE:
Staff will present the City's water resources portfolio.
RECOMMENDATION OR GUIDANCE REQUESTED:
The presentation is to update City Council on Tempe's water resources plan and answer City 
Councilmember questions.
CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PRIORITY AND RELATED PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
4.03 Water Conservation and Efficiency
Achieve or exceed water conservation targets for Single Family, Multifamily and Landscape customer 
class water use as measured by gallons per capita per day.
4.16 Groundwater Supply
Achieve groundwater production capacity to meet the projected average for future daily demand.
4.22 Water Efficiency
Achieve efficiency gains from 80% of residential and commercial customers participating in Tempe water 
conservation programs.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Tempe has a robust and diverse water resources portfolio. In a typical year, the majority of Tempe’s 
water supply comes from renewable surface water provided by the Salt River Project (SRP). Water 
previously stored in the aquifer and recovered by Groundwater wells makes up about seven percent of 
Tempe’s supply, and the remaining six percent is supplied by the Colorado River, which is delivered 
through the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal.
For the past two decades, the amount of water available from the Colorado River has been steadily 
declining and at the end of 2026, the collection of agreements and management documents that govern 
the operation of the Colorado River will expire.
These factors create uncertainty regarding how much of Tempe’s CAP supplies will be available in the 
future. However, Tempe has a culture of conservation, a history of growing sustainably and a robust 
water resources portfolio that contains sufficient supplies to allow the community to have confidence that 
Tempe has sufficient supplies to meet all demands, regardless of shortages on the Colorado River.
FISCAL IMPACT or IMPACT TO CURRENT RESOURCES:
N/A
ATTACHMENTS:
1. WATER RESOURCES MEMO.PDF
2. 2026 WATER RESOURCES PRESENTATION.PDF