By Barbara Andersen · 5 January 2023
Water is in the news a great deal these days. If it’s not enough water, it’s too much water. If you are like me, when I came to the Phoenix area in the 1970s, I didn’t give water or the lack of it a second thought. Sure I knew Phoenix was in the desert but high temperatures were the only thing that concerned me. After all, Phoenix in the 1970s was lush. Central Phoenix contained giant trees, lush lawns and wonderful examples of color in flowers and bushes. No one had heard of the word Xeriscape.
One of my first shocks living in Phoenix, was seeing a medium size house in the middle of a green lawn and trees but completely surrounded by water. It was like the house was an island in a small pond. Before I could run to the door and warn the residents that something was drastically wrong with their plumbing, I was informed that the house’s land was only being flood irrigated. That’s when I learned about the Salt River Project and its ingenious use of canals to move water. Since the early 1900s SRP has improved, used and maintained the canal system originally built by Arizona’s Native Americans. Thus bringing life by giving water from the Salt River, first to farms and later to homes.
If you live in Central Phoenix and south of two major canals that run diagonally across Phoenix, you might still have the option to flood irrigate your land. SRP opens the gates to send water into neighborhoods but getting water to individual homes takes cooperation and financial buy-in by the local residents. The local waterways and gates are not owned by SRP and they take no responsibility in maintaining them. The water is delivered on a schedule announced to the residents on a poster at their nearby gate. Your water might be coming at 2 a.m. and it’s your responsibility to see that your individual gate is opened and closed on time so that your neighbor doesn’t miss their water. Also, their house might get flooded if they are not on the ball with timely activity. Some neighborhoods hire a professional to do this opening and closing, but some residents don’t trust anyone to do it but themselves. Just about everyone who lives in these neighborhoods has a story about the time their house got flooded. SRP doesn’t charge for the water but they do have a nominal fee around $150 a year for their services. Compare that to around $150 a month to water with a sprinkler system and City of Phoenix water. If you want to live in one of these neighborhoods, as a Realtor I can help you search for one. They are also measurably cooler in summer than non-irrigated neighborhoods.
We live in a condo complex that is in the SRP area of irrigation but our access was cut off long ago, possibly when the homes were built in the 1960s. For many years we had what looked like an ornamental well in the front of one of our houses. Thanks to our HOA President, we discovered that it was an actual well and we had rights to use that water. The water is only good for irrigation, but after purchasing a pump and building a storage tank, the HOA potentially saves $1,000 a month by not using Phoenix City water to irrigate our 5 acres.
Everyone is concerned about water these days. Our reservoirs and lakes are drastically low. None of us want to hear talk of rationing but it could be in our future. Xeriscaping and artificial lawns are big in our newer residential areas. It remains to be seen what will happen to our older residences. Arizona’s new Attorney General is going to try and rescind contracts signed with Saudi Arabia for use of our water in La Paz County. The water is being used to grow food to be sent back to that country to feed their animals. Good news for all Arizonans when these contracts are canceled.
First published in The Bodeen Team’s quarterly client newsletter, Welcome 2023.