Arizona
Creating ‘water leaders’: CAP to open a new water education center in north Phoenix
CAWCD candidates explain what’s at stake in Colorado River fight
Central Arizona Water Conservation District candidates explain the fight over the Colorado River during an Oct. 8, 2024, Arizona Republic forum.
The Republic
Arizonans will have a new opportunity to learn about their most precious resource, potentially as soon as next year.
The board of the Central Arizona Project approved a contract Jan. 9 to build a new water education center in north Phoenix. With a multipurpose space, board room and informative exhibits, the center will open the CAP, one of Arizona’s most essential pieces of public infrastructure, to the public.
The 336-mile Central Arizona Project Canal delivers water from the Colorado River on Arizona’s western border to the Phoenix and Tucson areas. The project provides water to 6 million Arizonans — roughly 80% of the state’s population — and accounts for nearly 40% of the water used in Phoenix.
The new center will be built on a bridge over the canal, allowing visitors to appreciate the Colorado River water flowing into their communities and homes.
“Educating kids on the history of how we got where we are today is incredibly important, and this is our opportunity to do it here in Arizona,” said CAP board member Mark Taylor.
The center will include explanatory exhibits about Arizona’s water sources and the CAP’s history.
The project is expected to cost $38-45 million, which will come from the CAP’s tax-fed Extraordinary Cost Reserve Fund. The fund, with a current balance of $342 million, is designed for one-time large expenses.
‘We’re using taxpayer money’
The CAP is managed under a public entity funded through property taxes and water fees. The project is governed by an elected board with members from Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties. Board members said during their meeting that they supported efforts to cut costs on the project.
“This is a beautiful design and beautiful building, and for a number of reasons, I believe it’s necessary,” CAP board member April Pinger-Tornquist said during the meeting. “Please, every step of the way, sharpen your pencils, keep in mind we’re using taxpayer money.”
Staff have selected and pre-ordered construction materials to minimize cots, according to CAP operations director Darrin Francom.
Construction is scheduled to begin in May, and planners hope to open the center by the end of 2026. The CAP has selected national contractor Mortenson Company for the build.
The center will end almost a decade of difficulty in providing public education opportunities around the CAP, according to Bridget Schwartz-Manock, CAP’s assistant general manager for public and governmental affairs. Project officials used to provide guided tours of the control room, where operators control infrastructure across the entire project, but staff ended those tours for security reasons in 2017.
“It is the epicenter of how we operate this amazing system,” Schwartz-Manock said in an interview. “And we were bringing in Boy Scout groups and Rotary Clubs, and, you probably shouldn’t for cyber security reasons, people taking pictures of what software we use, accidentally touching buttons they shouldn’t touch, and all sorts of other security issues.”
Since then, Schwartz-Manock has had few ways to give the public hands-on experiences that help them understand their water infrastructure.
“There isn’t much,” Schwartz-Manock said.
Center will offer multiple educational points
The CAP has also continued holding public board meetings at its headquarters near Pinnacle Peak Rd and North 7th Street, causing additional security concerns. The new center will sit next to the headquarters in a separate space, allowing the public to attend board meetings and learn about their water infrastructure outside of sensitive spaces.
The building’s design, created by Tempe-based architecture firm Jones Studio, centers on the bridge over the canal.
“Spanning the canal and allowing everybody to stand above the water and really connect with it and actually feel the microclimate that’s that’s going to occur over top of the water … that’s the beating heart of the facility, connecting people with that water,” the project’s lead designer, Brian Farling, said in an interview. Farling is a principal at Jones Studio.
Guests will enter the building through a replica of a siphon, one of the massive subterranean pipes that CAP water passes through at several points in its journey through the project. On the other side of the siphon, guests will reach the board room, multipurpose room and conference room. Then, they will step out over the canal itself.
On the other side of the bridge, the educational center will include a small theater, a life-sized replica of a check gate, and a huge metal screen used to control water as it passes through the CAP system. The exhibit space is designed largely with school field trips in mind.
“We need to inspire the next generation of water professionals and water leaders,” said CAP board member Karen Cesare during the board meeting. “Kids today, who get their information from screens, need real hands-on places to go and see the real life-sized scale of things.”
For all visitors, Farling said he hopes the building reinforces the importance of water and responsible resource use in the desert. Before they reach the entrance, guests will walk past a tiered garden fed by collected rainwater from the building’s roof.
Staff hope the multipurpose space and boardroom will also provide meeting areas for Arizona’s water management community.
“We are really exploring future partnerships with other water organizations,” Schwartz-Manock said. “We hope it becomes a gathering space where all sorts of people can come and learn and discuss water.”
Austin Corona covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to austin.corona@arizonarepublic.com
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.
Arizona
Hamilton vs. Chandler: Watch live Arizona high school football showdown Friday night (11/7/2025)
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The undefeated Hamilton Huskies (9-0, 3-0) travel to take on the red-hot Chandler Wolves (8-1, 3-0) in a pivotal 6A Fiesta League regular-season finale showdown on Friday night. With both teams sporting impressive resumes, this matchup is a can’t-miss battle for supremacy in one of Arizona’s top high school football rivalries.
The Huskies have been dominant all season, most recently cruising to a 63-0 victory over Cesar Chavez. Sophomore quarterback Jax Sculley tossed three touchdown passes, while fellow sophomore Jake Disanti added two more scoring strikes, and senior signal-caller Daniel Vaita also found the end zone through the air in the rout.
Chandler enters this clash riding a seven-game winning streak after last week’s 28-22 triumph over Pinnacle. Junior quarterback Will Mencl was the catalyst, throwing for 338 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for two scores. Sophomore running back David Douglas chipped in with a rushing touchdown of his own in the victory.
Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT on Friday, November 7 with a live TV broadcast on NFHS Network.
• WATCH: Hamilton vs. Chandler football is livestreaming on NFHS Network
High school sports on NFHS Network
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Watch now
How to watch Hamilton vs. Chandler football livestream
What: Hamilton and Chandler vie for Fiesta top spot in regular-season finale
When: Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT on Friday, November 7
Where: Chandler High School | Chandler, Arizona
Watch live: Watch Hamilton vs. Chandler live on the NFHS Network
PHOENIX (AP/AZFamily) — The moon will look slightly bigger and brighter Wednesday during the closest supermoon of the year, which can be seen from Arizona!
The moon’s orbit around the Earth isn’t a perfect circle, so it gets nearer and farther as it swings around. A so-called supermoon happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA.
November’s supermoon is the second of three supermoons this year and also the closest: The moon will come within just under 222,000 miles of Earth.
Tides may be slightly higher during a supermoon because the moon is closer to Earth, said astronomer Lawrence Wasserman with Lowell Observatory. But the difference isn’t very noticeable.
No special equipment is needed to view the supermoon if clear skies permit. But the change in the moon’s size can be tough to discern with the naked eye.
“The difference is most obvious as a comparison between other images or observations,” said Shannon Schmoll, director of Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, in an email.
Supermoons happen a few times a year. One in October made the moon look somewhat larger, and another in December will be the last of the year.
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Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
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