Salt River Project (SRP) reservoirs were 70% full on Nov. 6, up from 53% on Nov. 1. The increase came from downpours that swept through Arizona in recent days.
According to SRP, the reservoir system gained about 370,000 acre-feet of water during that time, or roughly 120 billion gallons (about 454 billion liters). SRP hydrologist Stephen Flora compared it to the amount that typically flows into the reservoirs over the entire winter, from January through May.
SRP said October and November 2026 brought record inflows in the Salt and Verde river basins. They followed three consecutive years of low runoff. Flagstaff recorded its wettest fall since records began.
To preserve space in the reservoirs, SRP increased water releases from Bartlett Dam on the Verde River and Stewart Mountain Dam on the Salt River. According to Western Water, the releases reached about 54,000 cubic feet per second. Water flowed through the normally dry bed of the Salt River in the Phoenix area, and Tempe Town Lake was closed to boating. Local media also report that the lake remains closed after the flood because of concerns about bacteria.
The downpours also had tragic consequences. Two men died in Flagstaff, and entire towns in northern Arizona were flooded. Water also damaged homes, and an emergency was declared in the state.
The rainfall does not solve the region’s drought problem. ABC15 notes that the situation depends mainly on winter snowpack, and that current supplies amount to a “running start,” or a good beginning. Water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead continue to raise concerns.
Source: AZFamily
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