Apache Junction relies entirely on Colorado River water, and city officials say that dependence is about to get expensive. As federal shortage rules squeeze supplies flowing through the Central Arizona Project canal, water prices are rising for residents across Arizona, even as local leaders insist there is no danger of taps running dry.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, municipalities that depend on the Colorado River are facing impending federal water cuts that will force expensive infrastructure investment in the years ahead. Apache Junction, a fast-growing city with significant new development, is among the communities racing to adapt, and officials there maintain they already have solutions in place for the coming reductions.
A $60 Million Expansion Already Underway
The centerpiece of that response is a major upgrade to the Superstition Area Water Plant. Apache Junction Water District’s governing board approved a $2.7 million construction administration contract in October 2025 as part of a roughly $60 million project that will boost the plant’s treatment capacity from 4 million to 10 million gallons per day, according to YourValley.net. FOX 10 Phoenix reports the expansion is being funded initially by developers building the 10,500-home Superstition Vistas community, easing pressure on existing ratepayers even as the district plans ahead for growth.
Apache Junction Deputy Water Director Brian Draper says the city is also looking at technology that would have sounded unthinkable not long ago: turning wastewater into drinking water. Advanced water purification can augment water supplies and lower reliance on Colorado River water, Draper said, per FOX 10 Phoenix’s reporting, and officials plan to pilot the process locally. The city also has groundwater supplies not currently in use, giving it another layer of backup beyond the river.
Why the River Is Shrinking
The pressure driving all of this comes from Lake Mead. Under federal Tier 1 shortage guidelines that remain in place through 2026, Arizona faces an annual cut of 512,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water — an 18% reduction in the state’s total allocation and a 30% cut to normal Central Arizona Project supply, according to the Central Arizona Project. Those reductions trace back to a decision Arizona made decades ago: to secure federal funding for the CAP canal in 1968, the state accepted junior water rights status, meaning its supply absorbs shortages before senior rights holders in California face mandatory cuts, as KTAR News has reported…