SRP prepares to store as much water in Arizona as possible in watersheds

PHOENIX - Another wet winter has led to high water levels across the Salt River Project watershed system.

SRP's director of water supply, Charlie Ester manages the water and snowfall that melts down from the mountains in the northwest part of the state and into the system.

The precipitation eventually becomes drinking water and SRP is doing its best to store as much of it as they can.

What we learned on a fly over tour of the system

A helicopter taking off from Sky Harbor Airport took off heading north along the Verde River.

Ester acted as a type of tour guide, describing what the company monitors.

Ester says there is more water flowing out from the river than it takes in.

"You can still expect there to be more shortages in the system that will affect the cap to a great degree," Ester said.

The Verde River is a different story, however.

Although it's not at capacity, the system was designed to shift water between lakes to prevent them from filling to the brim.

"Right now, we are storing some water in the horseshoe because there were some endangered fish stocked in the reservoir," Ester said.

How they determine where the water needs to be directed

Just a few months ago, SRP crews flew over areas to the north that experienced heavy snowfall to help prepare schedules for when timed releases would be needed at the dams.

"By knowing how much snow is in the watershed, we are able to generally forecast to a high degree or high accuracy how much water will get into the reservoir system when the snow melts," he said.

"When you look at the shoreline, it's effectively full."

Current situation and future outlook

Roosevelt Lake is at 97% capacity and SRP is considering expansion in the form of a new reservoir that would pump water uphill.

"We would use renewable energy to pump that water up," Ester said. "Basically wind or solar and then at night we would release that water to generate electricity."

It would generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity for 10 hours, according to Ester. That is more than current battery technology can provide. 

He said the project is still a few years off, but the water can still be managed and diverted through the canal system.

For now, Ester is happy with the water levels following two successful winters.

"We can rely more directly on our reservoir system for our water supply," he said. "We don't have to pump groundwater."