Ripple Effect: Blending tradition and technology for a water-resilient future

In Tucson, water stewardship is a centuries-old tradition. From ancient irrigation systems to today’s advanced digital solutions, local communities have long adapted to water scarcity with ingenuity. World Water Day 2025 highlights the global importance of water for community and ecosystem health, and Tucson's legacy of sustainable water management stands as a powerful example of resilience.

Despite significant growth in recent years, the city hasn’t had to use any more water than it did decades ago. This is made possible through Tucson Water’s innovative combination of modern technology and centuries-old water conservation traditions. Now, Tucson Water blends its heritage with digital solutions and community partnerships to ensure a water-resilient future.

Amanda Jones, Project Manager on Tucson Water’s digital utility analyst team, and Natalie DeRoock, Public Affairs Administrator, share how this desert utility is evolving its operations to safeguard Tucson’s water supply for generations to come.

A desert city’s water challenges

The Sonoran Desert that Tucson calls home is one of the driest places in the United States. Amidst a 22-year drought, our city relies on water from a closed aquifer system supplemented by the Colorado River. Managing these limited resources requires precision and foresight.

At Tucson Water, our approach to water management is deeply rooted in a centuries-old tradition of water stewardship. As early as the year 1,200 C.E., our region’s inhabitants used the Santa Cruz River for drinking water, irrigation, and fishing by pioneering water harvesting and creating the oldest known irrigation canals in North America.

Today, we build on this foundation, blending time-tested practices with modern innovations like aquifer recharge, acoustic fiber optic (AFO) monitoring, and data analytics. This approach is not only about conservation but also ensuring a sustainable and resilient water future for our city as stewards of the Sonoran Desert.

Modern initiatives like the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project, which restores river flow and replenishes groundwater using treated recycled water, and the aquifer recharge basins in the Avra Valley, echo the region’s ancient water-harvesting techniques. 

From 19th-century water stewards who oversaw equitable usage to today’s rainwater harvesting workshops, conserving water in Tucson has always been a collective effort. Tucson Water embodies this communal responsibility through our public outreach programs, free water audits, and rebates for water-saving measures. The success of these programs, coupled with our reuse and replenishment initiatives, ensures our enduring legacy of water stewardship in the Sonoran Desert.

Embracing technology to protect infrastructure

As we honor our region's centuries-old tradition of water stewardship, we also recognize that preserving Tucson’s water security requires embracing bold, modern solutions.

One opportunity is upgrading aging infrastructure. In 1999, the city's largest water transmission line ruptured, unleashing 38 million gallons of water and causing extensive damage to homes and roads. The pipeline was central to Tucson's shift from groundwater mining to using more sustainable Colorado River water, a transition vital to preserving the region's aquifers, reducing environmental degradation, and ensuring long-term water security.

After this experience, Tucson Water leaned into innovation. In 2005, we collaborated with Xylem to install an AFO monitoring system across 21 miles of our most critical pipelines, the lines that deliver the city’s allocation of Colorado River water.

This system transformed how we managed infrastructure risk by continuously listening for early signs of wire breaks, which can be precursors to more significant failures. 

In 2012, the system detected a near-burst event, allowing us to shut down the pipeline and avoid disaster. By proactively monitoring infrastructure, we can safeguard our community’s water supply and extend the life of our critical assets.

Connecting data for smarter decisions

Our transformation accelerated again in 2018 with the launch of the One Water 2100 Plan, which provided a more holistic approach to improving Tucson Water’s systems. One aspect of the plan focused on using data to improve water management and included new ways of utilizing water resources in conjunction with increased stakeholder engagement in the Tucson community. By addressing what needed upgrading, changing, or expanding – including customer information systems, SCADA operations, and enterprise asset management tools – we’ve taken steps for smarter, more efficient operations.

Since then, we have made huge strides. In 2022, we launched a comprehensive asset management system that brings together data across our operations. Paired with a centralized system known as a “data lake,” this approach has transformed our decision-making.

We use data to maximize efficiency, anticipate challenges, and prepare operations and maintenance teams for difficult situations.

Our data lake aggregates information from various systems – SCADA, asset management, customer data, and weather forecasts – allowing us to uncover insights and find ways to be more efficient and anticipate potential problems.

For example, SCADA systems monitor energy usage from pumps. Maintenance teams can respond immediately when an irregularity is detected and quickly fix small issues before they escalate into major problems. Similarly, by analyzing historical weather data alongside water usage patterns, we can forecast demand and optimize resource allocation.

On the customer side, we introduced an online system that lets residents track their water usage in real time. This Customer Information System (CIS) encourages people to be more aware of their water consumption and to take an active role in sustainability efforts. It is a way of encouraging water conservation to be a community effort.

Another key focus for us is minimizing non-revenue water – water lost through leaks or inefficiencies before it reaches customers. Using advanced asset management tools, we can track water flow and quickly pinpoint and fix leaks to reduce losses. These efforts conserve water and lower operational costs, ensuring more equitable access to water as an essential resource.

For us, community collaboration is a key driver of success.

We actively engage community stakeholders and residents through dialogue that promotes reusing water efficiently and using it wisely, continuing the tradition of water stewardship that dates back to the early conservation projects and water-sharing systems from more than 100 years ago. In fact, our earliest Sonoran Desert inhabitants were using water wisely through conservation efforts more than 4,000 years ago.

Building a resilient water future

This approach of combining traditional practices with modern innovation has served us well.  Tucson Water has maintained water usage at 1980s levels while serving a population that has more than doubled.  

As we move forward, affordability will always remain a cornerstone of our mission. Tucson Water uses data to prioritize improvements in areas where service disruptions would disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. We ensure that no one is left behind by integrating equity into every decision.

Our digital transformation is laying the groundwork for a resilient future. Over the next five to ten years, we will continue the integration of traditional knowledge with advanced technology. This blend of legacy and innovation ensures we can thrive even as climate pressures intensify.

The goal is to make data accessible to everyone, from utility leaders planning for long-term sustainability to field teams managing daily operations. By fostering transparency and collaboration and prioritizing water equity and affordability, Tucson Water has proven that even the most daunting water challenges can be met with creativity and care.

Modern tools like data lakes, acoustic fiber monitoring and SCADA systems mirror the precision and foresight of Tucson’s historical resource managers, ensuring that every drop counts. By drawing on centuries of water stewardship and equipping its community with advanced tools, Tucson Water ensures that our desert city thrives.

Learn more about water utilities adopting digital solutions to become climate-ready.