The agreement also provides revenue for the maintenance and technological enhancement of a wastewater treatment plant with the capacity to treat more than 200 million gallons of raw sewage every day. The agreement now goes before the city councils of Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe for final approval.
The water agreement provides up to an annual allotment of 26 billion gallons of treated effluent to Palo Verde, a nuclear power plant. Because of its desert location, Palo Verde uses treated effluent. The treated effluent is piped from the 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant in Phoenix to Palo Verde, where it is further treated and recycled to meet the nuclear energy plant’s cooling needs.
The treated effluent will be purchased according to a negotiated fee structure from Sub-Regional Operating Group (SROG), comprised of the cities of Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe. The effluent is initially priced at approximately $58 per acre foot, which will be adjusted annually to approximately $300 per acre foot in 2026. Thereafter, the price adjustments will be tied to a basket of three water- and power-related indices that are part of the consumer price index.
Additionally, the contract contains a $30m up-front payment, which will be paid beginning in 2010 in four annual installments of $7.5m. SROG is responsible for the ownership and operation of the 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City of Phoenix oversees the wastewater plant’s daily operations.
The agreement was negotiated over several years and replaces the original water pact signed in 1973. Water deliveries under terms of that agreement began in 1985 when unit 1 at Palo Verde began operations. It was scheduled to expire in 2027.
