October at Steam Pump Ranch

Happy October, Oro Valley! 

With monsoon season over and temperatures more moderate, the Oro Valley Historical Society invites residents to visit historic Steam Pump Ranch. The Pusch House Museum is open each Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, where visitors can see artifacts uncovered during the Society’s summer digitizing project. Self-guided tours are free, and volunteers are available to answer questions and provide additional information. Donations are gratefully accepted to help keep Oro Valley history alive.

A busy October 10 at the Ranch
October 10 will bring several activities to Steam Pump Ranch. The first-place prize in the Jim Click Raffle for Millions, a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X Roush Edition, will be on display. Raffle tickets are $25 each or five for $100, and all proceeds from tickets sold by Oro Valley Historical Society volunteers go directly to the Society. More information is available at millionsfortucson.org.

Helping foster children
Gap Ministries will also participate October 10 as part of the Historical Society’s Be Our Ranch Guest program, which invites nonprofit organizations to connect with the Oro Valley community. Requested donations to help foster children include condiments, spices, peanut butter and jelly, syrup, and canned and boxed goods. Donations may be dropped off at the Pusch House Museum. Learn more at gapmin.com.

Explore the Ranch with a naturalist
Visitors can also take a gentle one-hour guided tour of Steam Pump Ranch with a naturalist who will share information about the area’s plants, wildlife, geology and people. Tours begin at 9:15 and 10:30 a.m. and conclude at the Society-maintained Heritage Garden, where visitors can see a replica Hohokam pit house.

Artists capture Steam Pump Ranch
The Sonoran Plein Air Artists will be at the Ranch from 8 a.m. to noon October 10, creating paintings inspired by the Catalina Mountains, historic buildings, farmers’ market activity and Heritage Garden. Visitors will have an opportunity to watch the artists work in real time. More information is available at Sonoran Plein Air Painters.

Day of Caring comes to the Heritage Garden
On October 17, the Historical Society will participate in the United Way Day of Caring from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. United Way volunteers will join Society volunteers in the Heritage Garden to plant, harvest, prepare beds, dig irrigation holes, spread wood chips and perform other work that helps the garden grow. Those interested in participating can learn more at United Way of Tucson.

More art on October 24
Artists from the Southern Arizona Arts Guild will visit Steam Pump Ranch on October 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., using the Ranch as inspiration for their work. Two Guild artists have previously donated artwork to the Oro Valley Historical Society, and those pieces are displayed in the Museum. Additional information is available at ovhistory.org.

Growing roses in the desert
On October 26, the Tucson Garden Club will meet at the Parks and Recreation office at Steam Pump Ranch for a presentation by Terry Swartz of the Tucson Rose Society. Attendees will learn how to select, plant and care for roses in the desert and will take a short walk to the Heritage Garden to see the rose garden created through collaboration between the Historical Society and Tucson Garden Club. The presentation is free, with donations accepted. More information is available at tucsongardenclub.com.

A not-too-scary Halloween visit
The month ends October 31 with another opportunity to visit the Pusch House Museum and see its historical artifacts. The Historical Society promises the visit will not be scary, although it notes that previous investigations of the nearly 150-year-old house have suggested visitors and volunteers may not always be alone.

Laugh and learn at the library
One October event takes place away from Steam Pump Ranch. On October 7 at 1 p.m., the Oro Valley Historical Society will present a program at the Oro Valley Public Library featuring Roger Nichols, a Society Board member and Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona. Nichols will share a collection of American Indian cartoons gathered over 30 years in a presentation designed to be both informative and entertaining. The program is free, with donations accepted to support the Society’s work preserving Oro Valley history. More information is available at ovhistory.org.

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Oro Valley Can Cover the 2027 CAP Cut. But Can It Cover Future Growth?

The 14% CAP 2027 and 2028 delivery cut can managed...
Last week, LOVE reported that the proposed State Trust Land annexation could eventually require roughly 1,000 acre-feet of water a year, about 10% of Oro Valley’s current CAP allocation. We also noted that CAP conditions have worsened since Water Utility Director Peter Abraham raised concerns last year about supplying that land. 

...but it requires a new water utilization strategy
Beginning in 2027, Oro Valley is expecting about a 14% reduction in CAP deliveries. At the September 14 Water Utility Commission (WUC)  meeting, Mitch Basefsky, Stakeholder Outreach Coordinator for the Central Arizona Project and Abraham explained how that reduction is expected to affect Oro Valley. Abraham said the Town anticipates losing a little more than 1,400 acre-feet of CAP deliveries in 2027. But he does not expect that reduction to create an immediate water shortage for current customers. Here's how Abraham plans to manage the reduction.

The Arizona Water Bank is expected to make Oro Valley whole
Oro Valley already has an agreement with the Arizona Water Banking Authority (AWBA) that allows the Town to obtain replacement water during shortages. Abraham said more than 600,000 acre-feet is stored in the Tucson Active Management Area and that Oro Valley has access to a portion of that water. His current plan is to use the Water Bank to offset the projected CAP reduction and effectively restore the Town to its full 10,305 acre-foot CAP allocation for planning purposes.

Oro Valley also has substantial stored water of its own and NWRRDS will help bring in more
Abraham said Oro Valley currently has just under 30,000 acre-feet of long-term storage credits in the Tucson Active Management Area and expects that amount to continue growing. The Northwest Recharge Recovery Delivery System is also expected to begin operating in early 2027, reducing groundwater pumping and giving the Town additional flexibility in how it uses its CAP supply. 

But NWRRDS is not a quick fix. First, NWRRDS does not increase Oro Valley’s water entitlement. It gives the Town a better way to recover and deliver water to which it is already entitled, reducing reliance on groundwater and improving flexibility in how the Town manages its existing supplies. Second, as we reported in August, it will take time for the Town to introduce NWRRDS water into the Oro Valley water system because it has different water chemistry than the groundwater currently delivered to customers, requiring the Utility to carefully blend and monitor the new supply as it is introduced into the distribution system. 

These protections are intended to buy time... they are not permanent solutions...
The important point is that Abraham, speaking at the commission meeting, did not describe these measures as a permanent answer to declining Colorado River supplies. He said the Town’s firming strategies (backup water-supply measures) were created for situations like the one now developing and are intended to “buy us the decades we need” to develop the next set of water supply solutions.

Replacing or augmenting any significant piece of the CAP water supply is decades off

Arizona is actively studying long-term water sources, including desalination, imported water, reuse and brackish groundwater. But projects capable of replacing a meaningful share of Colorado River water remain in the study and planning stages. State planning documents have acknowledged that some projects could take as long as 30 years to implement. That means Arizona may have to manage declining Colorado River supplies for many years before any new source can replace or augment a significant portion of CAP water.

That brings the 852 State Land annexation question back into focus
The September discussion does not change what LOVE reported last week. Oro Valley appears well positioned to manage the expected 2027 CAP reduction given what Oro Valley  is today. The longer-term question is different. 

Why should Oro Valley make a permanent commitment to supply water to a new area at a time when CAP deliveries are being reduced, future CAP projections remain challenging, long term solutions are decades away and the Town will be increasingly reliant on stored water and other firming strategies to protect its existing customers?

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Publisher Note: The agreement requiring the CAP reduction must be approved by the Arizona Legislature. As of this date, that approval has not occurred. 

Flock Cameras in Oro Valley: Safety, Surveillance and Safeguards

Flock sits at the center of a growing privacy-versus-public-safety national debate

There is quite a bit of discussion about traffic surveillance systems going on both nationally and locally. The main character in that discussion is a company called Flock Safety. It is one of several companies that provide automated license plate reader systems that photograph passing vehicles, record plate and vehicle information, and make those records searchable by law enforcement. The debate centers on whether collecting and sharing this information on large numbers of people who are not suspected of a crime intrudes on individual privacy and constitutional rights, or whether the systems are a reasonable and useful law-enforcement tool. Oro Valley is one of Flock’s many customers in Arizona.

One view has been presented to council at almost every meeting for the past two years…Flock is “bad”
For about two years, two speakers affiliated with Deflock Tucson have regularly appeared during the call-to-audience portion of Town Council meetings. Deflock Tucson’s objective is to end the use of Flock and similar automated license plate reader systems, which it considers a form of mass surveillance. At meeting after meeting, the speakers have made essentially the same points: The cameras record the movements of people who are not suspected of crimes, the data can be shared across jurisdictions, the systems can be misused, and existing safeguards and audit procedures are not sufficient to protect privacy. So far, their appeals have not led the Town Council to change course, but they have remained steadfast in their effort to have Oro Valley discontinue the system.

OVPD says Flock has become an important investigative tool
OVPD says its Flock system now includes 20 cameras strategically located throughout Oro Valley. The cameras are owned and maintained by Flock Safety. According to the department, the system is used to develop investigative leads, locate vehicles connected to crimes, identify wanted subjects and assist in active investigations. Lt. Kevin Peterson told LOVE that Flock also provides an officer-safety benefit by helping police locate vehicles associated with potentially dangerous individuals and can save officers and detectives significant time. He emphasized that Flock does not replace traditional investigative work, but gives officers another resource that can make that work more efficient and effective.

OVPD says safeguards are in place to ensure proper use
The department retains Flock data for 30 days, explaining that crimes are not always reported immediately and investigations may begin days after an incident. OVPD says Oro Valley data is shared only with agencies it approves, with standing access limited to local and state agencies in Arizona; requests from outside Arizona are reviewed case by case and must have a verified criminal-justice purpose. The system also includes audit tools designed to flag unusual activity, including repeated searches by an officer, searches outside the agency network and repeated searches of the same plate. OVPD says the system has assisted in cases involving stolen vehicles, arrest warrants, missing persons and other investigations, including a kidnapping solved within hours and the arrest of an out-of-state suspect wanted in connection with a double homicide.

Flock dominates Arizona’s license plate reader market
Flock is by far the largest provider of automated license plate reader systems in Arizona. A volunteer-maintained statewide inventory currently identifies about 1,920 Flock cameras in 43 Arizona communities, representing about 84% of the identifiable plate readers in those cities. The figures are not an official census, but they show the size of Flock’s footprint compared with competitors. Some other Arizona communities use similar technology from other companies. Marana and Phoenix use Motorola’s Vigilant system rather than Flock, while Tucson Police partners with Axon for license plate readers and live-video cameras.

Oro Valley’s top public safety record gives us confidence
Oro Valley also has a long record as one of Arizona’s safest communities. SafeWise ranked it Arizona’s safest city in 2025 and third safest in 2026. We have confidence that OVPD understands which law-enforcement tools are appropriate and how they should be used. Based on what we have learned, Flock appears to be a useful and properly controlled tool that fits squarely within OVPD’s public-safety mission.
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Click here to view the OVPD Flock Safety Portal

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Bits and Pieces

Town has no proof that TAC was to blame for Franke resignation

Last month, we wrote about the Tourism Advisory Commission(TAC) Then, earlier this month we reported that the Town Council had voted to dissolve it. One point we wanted to examine further was the assertion by Town Manager Jeff Wilkins and Mayor Joe Winfield that Crystal Franke, the Town’s former tourism and marketing manager, resigned to take another position because of her experience with the TAC. We had asked Franke directly, and she neither affirmed nor denied that assertion. So we specifically asked the Town for documentation showing that Franke herself had identified TAC as a reason for leaving. The Town could not provide such documentation. All it provided was an email from Wilkins to the Council attributing Franke’s resignation to TAC. We then asked a second time and were told that the town had provided all information it had on the matter. Our conclusion: Saying something is so does not make it so.

Wall Street Journal features Oro Valley as a great place to retire

A recent Wall Street Journal article on retirees moving to lower-tax states featured Oro Valley residents Earl and Pat Vittitoe, who moved here from Illinois. They chose Oro Valley after visiting Earl’s aunt and were attracted by a 55-plus community with pools, golf, Arizona’s climate and the area’s outdoor lifestyle. Earl told the Journal that they have never had second thoughts about the move. The article also profiled retirees who relocated to Lakewood Ranch, Florida; Wilmington, North Carolina; and Henderson, Nevada. Oro Valley was one of the communities highlighted as offering retirees a combination of lifestyle and financial advantages. (Source: Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2026.)

Town releases simplified 2027 town budget guide

The Town of Oro Valley has released its FY 2026/27 Know Your Town’s Budget summary, a resident-friendly guide intended to make the Town’s finances easier to understand. The guide explains how the budget works, how Town funds support services and facilities, and key facts such as Oro Valley not having a municipal property tax. Town Manager Jeff Wilkins said the summary is intended to improve transparency and help residents better understand how public dollars are used. (Source:  Town of Oro Valley Media Release)

Amphi implements barrier between CDO and the Aquatic Center parking lots...creates a problem with parking for shared events
The Amphitheater School District has closed the stairway connecting the Canyon del Oro High School east parking lot with the Town’s Aquatic Center parking lot at James D. Kriegh Park. For years, with District permission, the Town has used the school lot for overflow parking during major Aquatic Center events as well as other events. Closing the stairway means visitors who park in the east lot must now walk around the school property and enter the park from Calle Concordia, a considerably longer route that will be especially difficult for people with physical limitations. The stairs have also long provided a direct route to school for students living nearby. As the panel shows, the access has now been blocked by substantial fencing. It is welded to the railing. We do not yet know why the District closed the stairway or whether the decision was coordinated with the Town. LOVE will investigate.

Aquatic Center late afternoon parking problem getting harder to ignore
Parking at the Aquatic Center is becoming increasingly difficult in the late afternoon and evening, particularly when CDO Little League is using much of Kriegh Park. During these times, the Aquatic Center lot can fill completely, forcing Aquatic Center users to compete for limited nearby parking [see panel left]. The recent closure of the stairway from the CDO High School east parking lot has made the problem worse by eliminating an overflow parking access point that had been used for years. The Town needs to address this parking problem so Aquatic Center users have reasonable and reliable access to the facility.

HallOVeen Spooktacular returns October 17
Oro Valley Parks and Recreation will hold its free HallOVeen Spooktacular on Saturday, October 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. at James D. Kriegh Park, 23 W. Calle Concordia. The family-friendly event will include a Trunk-or-Treat hosted by local businesses, music, jumping castles, food trucks, kids’ crafts and other activities.

Friday Night Concerts at Steam Pump Ranch return tonight
Oro Valley’s free Friday Night Concert series returns to Steam Pump Ranch beginning tonight. The concert features Rainy Daze. It runs from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Additional concert dates are October 2, October 23 and November 6, featuring Your Money’s Worth, Good Trouble and Ones All Band. Residents can bring a chair or blanket and their own food, while food trucks will also be available. Admission and parking are free; outside alcohol is not permitted.

Tourism consultant named Oro Valley destination marketing manager
Kevin “Addy” Coleman is Oro Valley’s new Destination Marketing Manager. Coleman brings more than 25 years of tourism marketing consulting experience, much of it with Tucson-based Madden Media, a Tucson-based marketing agency specializing in travel, tourism and destination marketing. There, Coleman worked as a consultant to destinations around the country, specializing in destination strategy, digital marketing and measuring results. The Oro Valley position is a significant change for Madden.  Rather than advising tourism organizations from the outside, Coleman will be responsible for delivering results. (Source: OV Edge September 2026, Linkedin)
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Rockin’ 4 Heroes November Concert: Free For All!

There's no free lunch
As the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But yes, there definitely is a FREE outdoor rock concert, one of Southern Arizona’s largest, right here in Oro Valley, drawing thousands of attendees from across Arizona and beyond for an afternoon of live classic rock, fun, food and heroes.

But there is an upcoming free outdoor concert

Admission to the 6th Annual Rockin’ 4 Heroes Concert, Sunday, November 8, at James D. Kriegh Park, is absolutely 100% free. And it’s all due to the generosity of many local and national businesses and private donors who believe in Rockin’ 4 Heroes’ mission to celebrate and thank the heroes who serve and protect our community and country.

Two new sponsors step up for Rockin’ 4 Heroes
Leading the roster of sponsors making this celebration possible are Presenting Sponsor HSL Properties, renewing its commitment for the 5th year in a row, and T-Mobile, joining the cause for the first time this year as Entertainment Sponsor after sending a team of spirited volunteers to work at last year’s event.

Another new sponsor this year is Tech Systems Inc. (TSI), a national company based in Georgia, which jumped on the bandwagon within a week of hearing what Rockin’ 4 Heroes is all about!

“From day one, we knew Rockin’ 4 Heroes had to be an event for the entire community. We wanted to honor our local heroes in a way that everyone could participate in, which is why keeping admission entirely free is our priority,” said Oro Valley resident Michael Quinn, who, along with his wife, Bonnie, founded the nonprofit. “We are incredibly grateful to our many sponsors who share our vision and make it possible to stage a high-caliber, high-energy musical celebration for all to enjoy.”

An amazing roster of continuing sponsors

• Advanced Sheetmetal
• Anthony and Shannon Gleckler
• Carolina Natural Resource Group LLC
• David Moyer
• Empower Coalition
• Finley Distributing
• HSL Properties
• Hughes Federal Credit Union
• Oro Valley Chamber Foundation
• Oro Valley Hospital
• Pain Institute of Southern Arizona
• Pima County Attractions & Tourism
• The Keg Steakhouse
• The Quinn Family
• The Town of Oro Valley
• TRICO
• Tucson Airport Authority
• Vetrano Financial
• Whelen Engineering

Proceeds support heroes long after the fun and music ends
The concert is free to attend, but our mission relies entirely on your generosity. Beyond the stage, your contributions fund vital year-round initiatives through the Hero Fund, providing critical scholarships, continuing education training, and emergency grants for First Responders, Active Military, Veterans, and Gold Star families.

To join an elite roster of community leaders...

...who are rockin’ for our heroes, or to pre-register for free admission and a chance to win a $500 American Furniture Warehouse gift card, visit www.Rockin4Heroes.org.

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Staff and Council Confusion Over Vistoso Trails Pond Restoration Raises Bigger Questions

Grant request opens a much broader discussion
The September 16 Council meeting included a discussion of a possible grant for recreational improvements at the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve, including the grass area around the pond. What started as a staff consent-agenda request to approve a grant application turned into a much longer discussion. That discussion revealed significant differences in Council’s and staff’s understanding of what is currently being built, what has been authorized but not yet contracted, what has to occur first, and what pursuing the new grant would delay. It also revealed the need for a broader discussion about the status of the Preserve’s overall remediation. That discussion, along with further consideration of the grant, will occur at the Council’s next meeting on October 7.

It has been four years after the Preserve came under Town ownership
It has been about four years since the Preserve came under Town ownership. That ownership followed several years of negotiations with property owner Romspen and the involvement of The Conservation Fund, which ultimately purchased approximately 202 acres of the former golf course for permanent preservation. The acquisition was made possible in part by a $1.8 million community fundraising campaign supported by more than 600 donors, while the Town separately paid $885,000 as part of the broader settlement that cleared the way for the transaction. The Conservation Fund then transferred the protected property to Oro Valley, subject to a conservation easement.

The Town accepted an obligation to maintain and restore the land
Essentially, the terms of the conservation arrangement require the Town to maintain and restore the Preserve in a manner consistent with its conservation purposes. LOVE later described that obligation as including restoration and maintenance of the property while allowing low-impact recreation and supporting amenities such as trails, benches, ramadas, restrooms and parking. Council subsequently interpreted that responsibility as restoring the former golf-course landscape toward natural Sonoran Desert conditions, including revegetation with native plants and continued control of invasive species such as Bermuda grass.

Then pond feature is in progress
The original restoration plan called for converting the pond area to a desert garden rather than restoring the former water feature. Council changed direction in April 2025, voting 4-2 to restore the full 2.5-acre pond using reclaimed water and to make the pond area a focal point of the Preserve. The broader pond-area concept included the pond itself, nearby parking and access improvements, with additional amenities such as trails, irrigation, turf, ramadas, benches, shade trees and other recreational features to be added as funding became available.

Pond construction is moving faster than the lawn
Staff said the current pond construction contract is now expected to be completed by the end of this year. The surrounding lawn is on a different schedule. Staff explained that its irrigation system cannot be installed until the area has been graded, but the current pond contract does not include that grading work. Completing the grading and irrigation will require additional funding and a change to the construction contract. Public Works Director Paul Keesler said, as a preliminary estimate, that sod could potentially be installed as early as April 2027 if funding and the preceding work fall into place.

Council had already directed money toward irrigation and ADA trails
The update surprised some Council members because, on May 6, Council had directed that approximately $150,000 in unspent Preserve funds from the current fiscal year, plus $50,000 from the following year, be used for plant and turf irrigation in the pond area. Council also directed that a $136,210 Arizona State Parks grant be used for ADA trails, with both projects to be completed in conjunction with the pond restoration.

Council wants the full picture before moving ahead
Confusion over the scope and timing of the pond-area work left Council without a shared understanding of what the current contract covered, what additional work would cost, or when irrigation and turf could be installed. Council continued action on the related grant application until October 7 and requested a full update on all Preserve restoration work, including the pond area and the sequence of the remaining work. 

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852 Acre State Lands Annexation Is “On The Table” Yet Again

State Lands annexation back again
The annexation of roughly 852 acres of State Trust Land west of Oro Valley is moving toward yet another Council discussion. This is not the first time the annexation has been before council. LOVE reported last October that the Town had reopened discussions with the Arizona State Land Department over the approximately 550 acres south of Tangerine Road. At that time, consultant Mark Longacre of WLB Group told Council that changes within the State Land Department made it worthwhile for Oro Valley to take another look at annexation. He said the State was moving toward a process in which the local jurisdiction would have greater control over planning and entitlement of State Trust Land. Mayor Winfield questioned whether that change was permanent, since it was administrative rather than established in law. LOVE reported on that discussion here.

Staff focus is on annexing the entire 852 acre parcel 
At last week’s annexation study session, Assistant Town Manager Carl Shaddock provided few details on the opportunity, saying staff was deliberately holding the fuller discussion for the Council’s October 7 meeting. What was new was that staff placed the total State Land area in the highest priority annexation tier. Mayor Winfield suggested separating the property: The approximately 550 acres south of Tangerine would remain a top-tier priority, while the roughly 302 acres north of Tangerine would move to Tier 3. That makes the October 7 discussion important because Council may now begin defining not simply whether to continue pursuing the 550, but how much of the larger 852-acre area Oro Valley actually wants to bring into Town.

 "The properties currently under consideration for annexation

by the Town of Oro Valley are the two State Land‐ owned sites

indicated on the map below, referred to as Tangerine North

(302 acres), and Tangerine South (550 acres)."

The State goal is to maximize the land’s value
The State’s basic objective has not changed. State Trust Land is managed to generate revenue for its beneficiaries, principally Arizona’s public schools. Last year, LOVE reported that the State’s newer approach could give Oro Valley more influence over permitted uses and planning than under the earlier process. But greater Town involvement may conflict with the State’s financial objective. 

When the property was formally discussed by the State in March 2025, the development concept included a master-planned approach, a mix of residential densities and housing types, commercial and other nonresidential uses, flexible allocation of residential and commercial development among parcels, and Planned Area Development zoning. The State also contemplated Oro Valley completing General Plan and zoning approvals before parcels were auctioned, giving future buyers greater certainty.

The development concept is still far from settled
We can trace versions of the proposed land use back eight years. In 2018, the annexation and rezoning concept for State land contemplated as many as 3,200 dwelling units, including single-family homes, apartments and townhomes. Today, OV’s Path Forward identifies the Tangerine 852 area as “Master-Planned Community” and says it is included in the Town’s Annexation Strategy for potential annexation in cooperation with the Arizona State Land Department. It also says that future land-use changes would occur through a cooperative public process. That gives the Town a framework, but it does not tell residents what ultimately would be built there.

Diminishing CAP water is big issue
Last year, LOVE published many unanswered questions that were posed by the council regarding this annexation. Providing water to the annexed land was the big one. At that time, Water Utility Director Peter Abraham told Council that full build-out of the State Trust Land could require roughly 1,000 acre-feet of water a year.  That is 10% of Oro Valley’s current CAP allocation. He said that the property would rely entirely on CAP water, not groundwater, and noted that nearly all of the Town’s existing CAP supply is already committed to current customers. Abraham warned that future CAP reductions would make that level of service unsustainable. The CAP situated has worsened since then. Last week, we reported that there is a 14% CAP water reduction starting in 2027. 

According the Abraham speaking at that time, the issue is not simply whether Oro Valley can physically deliver water. It can. The issue is committing that much CAP water when it is likely to become more scarce and at a time when the state has developed a firm plan for a sustainable alternative water source.

October 7 should move the discussion beyond where it was last year
LOVE has followed this proposal for nearly a decade, and we followed its return to Council in detail last October. The question now is no longer simply whether Oro Valley should take another look at the 550. That already happened. The October 7 discussion should tell residents whether the Town is prepared to move beyond preliminary exploration and, if so, what development, water, infrastructure and financial conditions Council would require before pursuing annexation any further. 

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Publisher Note: Town materials have historically referred to the broader property as the “880-acre” State Land area, although those same materials describe its two components as approximately 550 acres south of Tangerine and 302 acres north of Tangerine.