“Questions I thought you might have on the
Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD)”
– Karen Novak Cesare
1. What is the Central Arizona Water Conservation District?
The Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) is a Multi-county Water District (comprised of Pima, Maricopa, and Pinal counties) formed to manage the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and to repay the federal government for costs of constructing the CAP. As such, the CAWCD Board is a taxing authority, sets water rates for CAP customers, and is also responsible for planning and implementing projects to supply its district with water. It is governed by a non-partisan, 15-member elected Board of Directors.
2. What is the Central Arizona Project (CAP)?
The CAP is a 336-mile-long system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants, and pipelines that forms the largest single resource of renewable water supplies in Arizona. It brings about 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River to Central and Southern Arizona every year.
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Colorado River Basin Project Act, which authorized construction of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. The system was built to provide a way for Arizona’s allotment of Colorado River water to be delivered to the most populous areas of the state and reduce the use of groundwater for agriculture and other activities.
More than 5 million people, or more than 80% of the state’s population, live in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties where CAP water is delivered. The CAP Canal carries water from Lake Havasu near Parker, AZ to the southern boundary of the San Xavier Indian Reservation southwest of Tucson. The Central Arizona Water Conservation District was formed to be the steward of central Arizona’s Colorado River water entitlement, the largest source of renewable water in the state.
3. What kind of issues does the CAWCD handle?
Among the most important topics in Colorado River water management are long-term drought, climate change, supply and demand imbalances (also known as the “structural deficit”), and the ongoing potential for reductions in river supplies for Arizona and the other states that draw from the Colorado River.
4. Can you tell us about the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan?
The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) and Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) collaboratively led efforts to finalize the Drought Contingency Plan in Arizona. They led the Steering Committee, which included approximately 40 water professionals from throughout the state, as they discussed a broad range of issues that addressed the concerns of all stakeholders across the state. The Arizona DCP was approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor on January 31st, 2019.
5. How many CAWCD board members are there?
CAWCD It is governed by a non-partisan, 15-member elected Board of Directors. Those board members serve six-year, staggered terms.
6. How many Pima County members are there on the CAWCD board?
There are four elected representatives from Pima County on the board. All four seats are up for 2020 election, Karen Novak Cesare is seeking re-election to her seat on the board.
7. Are CAWCD board members paid?
No. Board members are not paid. Each board member is performing a public service by serving on the board.
8. When does the CAWCD board meet?
The board meets on the first Thursday of every month, mostly in Phoenix, with one meeting a year in Pima County and one meeting a year in Pinal County. Additionally, CAWCD board meetings are live streamed on www.cap-az.com.