Phoenix spent decades storing water underground and hundreds of millions of dollars building pipelines, wells and treatment systems for a future in which the Colorado River could no longer supply all the water the city had come to expect.
That future is getting closer.
A sweeping federal decision issued Friday will substantially reduce Arizona’s Colorado River supply beginning next year, and Phoenix says it is preparing to operate its water system differently — potentially drawing more heavily on stored water and other backup supplies while accelerating development of new sources…