CAP's delivery of Colorado River water through 2017 has generated $2 trillion of Arizona's gross state product (GSP), according to a study commissioned by CAP with the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The GSP represents the dollar values of all goods and services produced in the region and are a measurement of the economic output of a state, a counterpart to the gross domestic product for the nation.
In recent years, the existence of CAP has generated an economic benefit approaching $100 billion per year, accounting for at least one-third, and sometimes more, of the entire Arizona gross state product.
Other key findings from the study include:
- CAP's supply of water to municipal industrial and agricultural customers generated annual employment of more than 1.6 million jobs in 2010.
- Government, Healthcare, Retail, Real Estate and Travel sectors would have lost more than 60 percent of these jobs had the CAP water supply been unavailable.
- If the recreational benefits and other impacts associated with the operation and maintenance of the aqueduct system and Lake Pleasant are added to the water supply analysis, statewide economic impacts of the operation of CAP would be even greater.