Local opinion: The realities of providing water service in Tucson

In response to the objections of those who live outside the Tucson city limits about paying more for water, there needs to be a presentation of the facts about providing water to the community.

First, unlike phone service and cable service, products that are nearly weightless, and natural gas, which has barely any weight per hundreds of cubic feet, water is very heavy comparatively. A cubic foot of water weighs about 62 pounds. A ccf of water weighs 6200 pounds. The average household uses about 3 ccfs/month, nearly 19,000 pounds per month or 228,000 per year. Those outside the city limits average more water usage per year than those in the city.

Second, for every 10 feet in elevation, water pounds per square inch (psi) level drops about 4.5 psi. If you provide water at 45 psi at meter level and your home is 50 feet above the meter, your pressure is then about half of the meter pressure.

Because of this, there are zones about every 100 feet of elevation. Those in the western part of the city are mostly in zone A, about 2,500 feet above sea level. As the elevation increases, so do the zones. B zone, 2,600 feet, goes central to north central parts of the city, etc. Zones up to E cover most of the city of Tucson and some outside of the city limits.

But the water must be pumped uphill above those zones. For example, there are large reservoirs at Golf Links and Kolb and Golf Links and Harrison that provide water to much of the city.

To provide water to customers outside the city limits, Tucson Water has had to build dozens of reservoirs in the Catalina, Rincon and Tucson Mountains, all of which are outside of city limits. If west Tucson is about 2,500 feet and Ventana Canyon is at 3,000 feet, there will be huge amounts of power needed to push the water above Ventana Canyon to a reservoir. Dove Mountain is at about 3,400 feet. Houghton Road ending at the Santa Rita Mountains is nearly 4,000 feet. This is why most water companies are also electric companies — in order to have the cheapest possible power for the huge amount of energy needed to pump the water uphill above the service zone areas.

In 1976, the city council adopted a zone fee that charged the higher elevation users the real cost of service. In response, since the 1977 recall “coup” of the city council by Catalina Foothill residents, “postage stamp” pricing on water was instituted. It is blatantly unfair for someone in west Tucson at 2,500 feet to pay the same for water for those over 3,000 feet, but that has been the present system since 1977.

About a third of the Tucson Water customers live outside the city limits, but by my calculation, about a half of water infrastructure is also outside the city limits. In addition, per state law, Tucson Water was obligated to spend millions of dollars to provide water to Forty Niner Country Club and its residents. Diamond Bell Ranch near Three Points would have died out if not for the city residents paying millions for upgrading and maintenance of that area. The pygmy owl was not Ironwood Ridge High School’s biggest problem. Luckily for the Amphi School District, Tucson Water came in to provide the water and fire service that other area water companies could not.

So yes, city residents since 1977, in my ballpark calculations, have subsidized those living outside the city limits at least $500 million in improvements, maintenance and operation, and power in 2025 dollars above what those living outside have paid in TW bills. This is unfair. This water-providing welfare to non-city residents needs to stop.