Stages of Drought and Drought Management

The 2022 Water Shortage and Drought Management Plan (WSDMP), ensures the Town of Cave Creek (Town) has planned in advance to take specific actions during Town water supply shortages or droughts. A Town water shortage can occur at any time, including during Colorado River drought shortage conditions, or when large water supply infrastructure fails. This WSDMP plan can help the Town address short-term or long-term changes in the water supply deliveries to the Town to best meet the serious challenges to maintain the health, safety, and economic wellbeing of the community. 

READ the Water Shortage and Drought Management Plan (PDF)

Stage 1 Drought Watch

STAGES OF DROUGHT- 2

Response Stage 1 (Water Shortage Percentage is 1% or Less with No CAP Water Available for Future Storage)

Stage 1 is the “Water Watch” Stage. At this stage, Town customers are expected to be able to receive most or all of the water they would take in a normal year, but the Town is unable to fulfill its future water storage goals due to CAP water shortages.


Central Arizona Project Updates

The Colorado River Basin continues to experience drought exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. Arizona has worked together to ensure stability for Colorado River system supplies currently, in the near-term and in the long-term. Colorado River Shortage FAQs

Current conditions 
The Colorado River Basin is in a Tier 1 shortage for 2025. This represents a 512,000-acre-foot reduction to Arizona’s Colorado River water supply, constituting 30% of CAP’s normal supply, about 18% of Arizona’s Colorado River supply, and just under 8% of Arizona’s total water use. Nearly all the reductions within Arizona have been taken by Central Arizona Project (CAP) water users. These reductions were determined by the CAP priority system – the result being less available Colorado River water for central Arizona agricultural users.

2025-Tier-1-Shortage

This graphic shows the CAP reductions being taken under this year’s Tier 1 shortage. Lake Mead is on the left, showing the Tier 1 shortage declaration. The CAP supply is in the middle, showing there is a little more than a million acre-feet available for delivery. And on the right-hand side, you see the total impact to excess water and agricultural supplies and the rather negligible impact to M&I and tribal supplies.