Plans & Reports
Each year, the AWBA prepares an Annual Plan of Operation and an Annual Report. The Annual Plan of Operation is prepared in the last quarter of each year and adopted by the Commission at its December Regular Quarterly Meeting. The Annual Report is prepared for the previous year, adopted by the Commission at its June Regular Quarterly Meeting and submitted to the Governor's Office and the Offices of the President of the Senate the Speaker of the House no later than July 1 of each year.
The Annual Report details the AWBA's activities for the previous calendar year.
The AWBA had no excess CAP water supplies available for storage in 2022. As a result, the AWBA continued to make progress on its firming goals and obligations through the purchase of 1) LTSCs and 2) Intentionally Created Surplus (ICS) firming credits. In 2022, the AWBA purchased 13,273 acre-feet of LTSCs: 10,358 acre-feet in the Phoenix Active Management Area (AMA) and 2,915 acre-feet in the Tucson AMA. Cumulatively, the AWBA has accrued or acquired 4.37 million acre-feet (MAF) of LTSCs. Of this amount, 3.76 MAF are for Arizona uses and 0.61 MAF are interstate credits stored on behalf of the State of Nevada. Additionally, in 2022 the AWBA purchased 2,822 acre-feet of ICS firming credits pursuant to its 2019 agreement with the Gila River Indian Community (Community). Cumulatively, the AWBA has purchased 26,320 acre-feet of ICS firming credits.
The Plan of Operation describes the AWBA's planned activities for the upcoming year.
In 2023, the Colorado River will operate under a Lower Basin Tier 2a shortage condition, which effectively reduces Arizona's Colorado River entitlement by 592,000 acre-feet. Accordingly, there will be no excess CAP water available to the AWBA for storage. While significant, the reductions in Colorado River supplies in 2023 will not impact supplies available for CAP M&I subcontractors and on-River M&I contractors. However, the reductions will impact supplies made available to Tribes under the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004. As a result, the AWBA will have its first-ever firming requirement. Absent excess CAP water supplies, the AWBA will continue to make progress on its firming goals through credit purchases.