Documents released yesterday through a public records request show Global Water Resources and the City of Maricopa have filed the first plans for a new aquifer recharge facility designed to put millions of gallons of highly treated wastewater back into the local groundwater supply.
The Maricopa Aquifer Recharge Facility would sit on the north end of the city on Powers Parkway near Lake View Park in the Rancho El Dorado neighborhood. Early plans submitted in August outline two percolation basins with the option for a third, a viewing fence and a small amenity area with educational signage explaining how recharge works.
Global Water says the plant is sized to return about 400 to 600 million gallons per year of Class A+ recycled water to the aquifer. Vice President and General Manager Jon Corwin told InMaricopa the approach “offsets a lot of groundwater pumping because of the way we were able to use recycled water to send that resource back out to the community,” adding that “we do recharge some excess recycled water” today and the dedicated facility would expand that effort.
The utility is partnering with the city and has secured grant funding to help offset costs. A construction start date has not been set. “It’s still kind of in the planning phases,” he said. “Hopefully sooner than later.”
The filing follows Global Water’s annual update to the city council in May, which reported 3.1 billion gallons of groundwater pumped in 2024 — a new high — alongside about 1.4 billion gallons of water recycled for reuse. The company said it used 9,042 acre-feet of its Designation of Assured Water Supply last year, with more than half of its long-term allocation still available, and pointed to recharge as “additive to our long-term water supplies.”
Project documents frame the facility as a local response to broader regional pressures. Maricopa relies on groundwater and sits within the Pinal Active Management Area, where a state groundwater model has projected a long-term shortfall. At the same time, Colorado River shortages have pushed nearby agricultural users to pump more groundwater from the same basin, increasing stress on the aquifer. The company says building dedicated basins to percolate recycled water back underground is a proven Arizona method to bolster supplies over time.
If approved and built, the basins would operate continuously when recycled water is available, returning treated flows to the aquifer beneath Maricopa. “I think our model is pretty advanced,” Corwin said, citing conservation tech offered to customers and leak alerts along with reuse and recharge. “It’s the combination of all those elements that help make Maricopa sustainable and preserve groundwater.”
City review of the initial submittal is underway. Further design, permitting and public updates are expected before construction can begin.
