Irrigation System Efficiency Audit in Peoria, Arizona

An irrigation audit in Peoria measures one property against a city that tracks its water closely. Peoria delivered 34,341 acre-feet of water in 2025, plans around Colorado River shortages, and has been in Stage 1 of its Drought Management Plan since 2022. A yard-level audit is where those numbers meet a sprinkler head.

Why Peoria cares about outdoor water

Peoria's water supply page lists four sources. In 2025, Central Arizona Project water, which is Colorado River water, made up 58.9 percent of deliveries, Salt River Project water 29.5 percent, well pumping 7.8 percent and direct-use reclaimed water 3.8 percent. The city declared Stage 1, Water Watch, of its Drought Management Plan on June 29, 2022, asking residents to voluntarily cut use by 5 percent; at the time of checking, the city states there are no mandatory water restrictions. Peoria also sits within the Phoenix Active Management Area, where the Arizona Department of Water Resources pursues a safe-yield goal for groundwater. Against that background, the city's water-saving page notes that Arizona residents use about 120 gallons a day on average, with more than half outdoors. An audit finds out how much of a household's share is doing useful work. The drought stage can change, so check the city's page before relying on it. Peoria notes that one acre-foot, 325,851 gallons, is enough to serve about three average Peoria households for a year, which puts a single household's outdoor use in perspective. The city has measured the payoff on its own property: after removing 45 acres of park turf and 2,407 irrigation heads, park water use dropped from 120 million gallons in 2023 to 66 million in 2025.

What the audit measures

The audit runs each zone and records leaks, broken or tilted heads, mismatched nozzles, dead emitters, weeping valves, overspray onto paving and runoff to the street. It checks start times against Peoria's requested 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. window and its advice to avoid running between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. It notes whether zones would benefit from the cycle-and-soak approach the city describes, three 10-minute cycles 30 minutes apart instead of one 30-minute run. It flags small, curved and sloped grass areas, which Peoria says are hard to water efficiently. EPA WaterSense estimates half of outdoor water is lost to evaporation, wind or runoff from overwatering; the audit shows where that is happening on one lot. The monthly irrigation check is the owner's version between audits.

From findings to Peoria programs

Repairs come first, because Peoria's own rebate page says smart controllers do not fix leaks, broken parts or inefficient design. After that, the report can point to city programs for city water customers: the standalone smart controller rebate, the grass conversion to xeriscape rebate, free Sustainable U classes, onsite landscape consultations and a free water conservation kit, one per household while supplies last. HOAs and large commercial sites have a separate water budgeting program, run with a designated third-party provider, Waterfluence, that builds a landscape water budget from site characteristics, local weather and historical use. Homes served by Sunrise, Rose Valley or EPCOR are outside these city programs. The general method is on the audit service page. Follow-on work is often smart irrigation controllers in Peoria or a seasonal tune-up in Peoria. All Peoria services are on the Peoria hub.