City of Surprise Work Session – April 7, 2026: Audit Reports and Water Update
City of Surprise Work Session – April 7, 2026
The City Council held a work session on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 23:28 UTC. The meeting included presentations on internal audit reports and a comprehensive update on the city's water resources, featuring speakers from the City Auditor's Office, Central Arizona Project (CAP), Epcor, and the City of Surprise Water Utility. No votes were taken on the agenda items, and the session concluded with a motion to adjourn.
Discussion Items
Internal Audit Reports
- The City Auditor presented five audit reports approved by the Audit Committee, identifying 26 recommendations across categories: compliance, monitoring, and IT. Of these, 20 recommendations have been fully implemented, one partially implemented, and five are in process. All recommendations were concurred with by the departments. The auditor noted no overall trend of noncompliance. Council had no questions.
Water Resources Update
- Central Arizona Project (CAP) – Vanita Gartha: Provided an update on Colorado River conditions, noting the fifth year of shortage and the 2026 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. Under the draft EIS, CAP could face reductions of 16% to 44% of the lower basin allocation, with CAP bearing 77% to 98% of those reductions. CAP submitted comments opposing the draft EIS, arguing it fails to analyze the Upper Basin's compact obligations and unfairly targets the Lower Basin. CAP has resources to litigate if needed. Councilman Judd questioned compact history; Councilman Milton asked about legal options.
- Epcor – Victoria Samwick: Epcor, the largest private water utility in Surprise, became a designated service provider in October 2025, consolidating three service territories. Epcor's portfolio is 55% groundwater, 17% CAP allocation, and surface water from Lake Pleasant. Under a 70% CAP reduction scenario, Epcor can meet current and committed demands through additional groundwater pumping. Future growth may require new renewable resources, including effluent reuse (95.9% recycled) and infrastructure upgrades. Councilman Melton asked about the White Tanks plant and Maricopa Water District canal maintenance.
- City of Surprise Water Utility – Amy Peterson: Reported annual water use: demand grew 5% year-over-year despite 7.5% account growth, indicating improved per-account efficiency. The city has a designated assured water supply of 24,450 acre-feet, with 10,578 acre-feet available for growth. Under a 25% CAP reduction, growth capacity would be curtailed by 6,000 EDUs; under 70% reduction, by 22,500 EDUs. Current and committed customers are protected in all scenarios. The city has approximately 15 years of groundwater storage credits. Peterson also highlighted:
- An update to the Integrated Water Master Plan, recalibrating growth projections.
- Applications to increase the area of hydrologic impact for recharge facilities, potentially reducing infrastructure costs.
- A drought preparedness plan update, with stakeholder roundtables starting May 13, 2026, and a target to present to council by December 2026.
- Water conservation programs: 49 free education events, a 20-fold increase in rebate issuance, a qualified water-efficient landscaper program (now in Spanish), and nearly 4,000 leak detection home visits.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were made on the presentations. Council acknowledged the updates and expressed appreciation for the proactive water resource planning.
- The work session adjourned after a motion by Councilman Milton, seconded by Councilman Hastings, with all in favor.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everyone. I had to call this regular city council work session to order on Tuesday, April 7th at 2026. Madam Kirk, please call the roll. Mayor Sarder. Present. Vice Mayor Greenberg. Here. Councilman Haney. Here. Councilman Beffy. Here. Councilman Milton. Present. Councilman Hastings. Here. Councilman Jed. Here. Thank you, Mayor. We have quorum. Thank you. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Item one presentation and discussion pertaining to internal audit reports approved by the City of Surprise Audit Committee. I'm with the City Auditor Department. We're here to present the audits that we've completed over the past year that we have presented to the audit committee, and they've been approved. Within those five audit reports, we've identified twenty-six audit recommendations to departments in the city. The second category was compliance that has to do with complying with both external laws and regulations as well as internal city policies and procedures. We did identify some instances of non-compliance with the city policies. These were identified in areas like closing out permits in a timely manner, fees charged to facility use, and payroll. The third category we identified recommendations within our monitoring. This is part of the internal control system where management would evaluate processes to ensure that the internal controls are working and that they're operating effectively and they're achieving their objectives. We identified some needs for additional management involvement over the monitoring, including reconciliation and verification of data. IT covers general controls, access management, data integrity, and system change management. Recommendations we identified included improving the systems with some updates as well as ensuring the system access is being reviewed periodically. Of the 26 recommendations that were identified, 20 of these have already been fully implemented by the departments. One has been partially implemented, and then five of them are currently in the process of implementing the recommendations. All recommendations were concurred with by the departments. So that is our summary. Is there any questions or comments? Council. Just as the categories that we identified, every department's a little bit different. And so the recommendations were specific to the departments, but I wouldn't say that there was an overall trend of an issue of noncompliance somewhere. Okay. All right. Seeing no questions from council. Thank you for your presentation. Okay, thank you. Madam Clerk, please read item number three. Item three, presentation and discussion regarding an update on the city's water resources. Good evening, Mr. Boule.
openpublica.com