Water Resources of Arizona

AzWSC Photo

Corey Sannes (left), Nancy Hornewer (right), of the Arizona Water Science Center, and Dave Roth (center), of the National Research Program, prepare to process a 20-foot sediment core collected in the San Juan River delta of Lake Powell. The core will be analyzed for various chemical constituents including organic compounds as part of the AzWSC Lake Powell Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring Program.

Arizona Water Science Center Portals

Real-Time Streamflow Data Portal
Access real-time streamflow data using an interactive map!

Arizona Wild Fires - Response, Assessment, and Monitoring by the USGS, AzWSC

Hydrologic Conditions

Drought Conditions for Selected Basins

The USGS, in cooperation with the Governor's Drought Task Force, has developed a series of maps showing drought intensity for selected drainage basins in Arizona. To view historical maps, learn how the maps are developed, and download images, visit our drought page.

Drought conditions for November 2011 Close Click to view larger image

Historic Hydrologic Events in Arizona

Arizona Ground-Water Conditions Interactive Map

Arizona Water Science Center Highlights

AzWSC hydrologist Fred Tillman is interviewed on NPR about groundwater levels in Arizona.
(For more information, see USGS SIR 2011-5071, Water Availability and Use Pilot: Methods Development for a Regional Assessment of Groundwater Availability, Southwest Alluvial Basins, Arizona)

Microgravity Measurement for Groundwater Analysis
A video discussing the Gravity Meters used at the USGS Arizona Water Science Center.

Seepage Investigation: Clear Creek and Little Colorado River
The USGS Arizona Water Science Center performed a seepage investigation on reaches of Chevelon Creek, Clear Creek, and a reach of the Little Colorado River during the fall of 2010. The investigation is in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region and is part of a larger program that monitors the Coconino Aquifer in Northeastern Arizona. The video describes the process of a seepage investigation. In the video, USGS hydrologists and hydrographers measure discharge and water-quality parameters on Clear Creek and the Little Colorado River to better understand and characterize the Coconino Aquifer.

USGS CoreCast—Streamgages: The Silent Superhero
Whether you drink water from your tap, use electricity or canoe down your local river, chances are you benefit from USGS streamgage information. So what is a streamgage and what does it do for you? This CoreCast episode gives you the inside scoop on your silent superhero.

USGS Streamflow Measurement at Pinto Creek near Miami, Arizona — January 28, 2010
USGS streamgagers, Mike Sanders, Arthur Rees, and Mike Schilling, are servicing the Pinto Creek near Miami, Arizona streamflow-gaging station (09498502) and making a streamflow measurement on January 28, 2010. Flow was measured to be 207 cubic feet per second (CFS) on the 28th but peaked earlier on the 22nd at an estimated 7,400 cfs. Debris from the flood flow can be seen in trees and on the over bank areas.

Video showing Simulated Zones of Capture of Surface Water by Groundwater Pumping, upper part of the San Pedro Basin
USGS Hydrologists Stan Leake, Don Pool, and Jim Leenhouts used a groundwater flow model of the upper part of the San Pedro Basin in Arizona to produce capture maps (Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5207) to help managers understand the possible timing of effects groundwater pumping in the lower basin fill has on streams, springs, and evapotranspiration by riparian plants. Maps in the report for pumping times of 10 years and 50 years show patterns that reflect the fraction of pumping that is simulated to be a reduction of water available to the riparian system. For example, on the map for a withdrawal time of 10 years, a capture-fraction zone of 0.5-0.6 shows areas where capture or depletion of surface water and evapotranspiration will be 50-60 percent of the well pumping rate at that time. The accompanying video takes the analysis one step further by showing how some of these simulated capture zones evolve over a 100-year period of pumping. In this example, capture zones in ranges of 0.5-0.6, 0.6-0.7, 0.7-0.8, 0.8-0.9, and 0.9-1.0 are shown.

Video of Yuma Field Office staff demonstrating acoustic technology to members of Arizona Floodplain Managers Association on November 7, 2008
The USGS Yuma Field Office, which is headed by Hugh Darling, has a young and enthusiastic staff implementing new technology to improve the precision of data collected. The staff has embraced hydroacoustics using both Acoustic Doppler Velocity Meters (ADVM) and Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP). Nearly 100 percent of stream flow measurements made by the Yuma Field Office staff are made with acoustic instruments while using current meters as quality assurance. One of the most critical roles the Yuma Field office plays is the quantification of flow in the Colorado River, its tributaries, and diversions. This video shows the Yuma Field Office staff demonstrating acoustic technology to members of Arizona Floodplain Managers Association on November 7, 2008.

Video of Havasu Canyon after August 17, 2008 high-flow event
The video describes observations made by AzWSC scientists on the high-flow event that occurred around August 17, 2008, in Havasu Canyon on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, northern Arizona. The Havasupai Indian Tribe lives in the remote Havasu Canyon, a tributary canyon to Grand Canyon National Park, and is only accessible by foot, horseback, or helicopter. The high-flow event caused massive erosion below the village of Supai, resulting in the creation of new water falls and the cessation of Navajo Falls. AzWSC scientists made assessments of the high-flow event on August 28th and 29th, 2008, and made an indirect measurement of the peak flow that passed through the village of Supai. A preliminary calculation of the peak flow is 6,000 cubic feet per second. (August 29, 2008 — narrated by Greg Fisk and Steve Wiele)

Recent Publications

Fact Sheet 2010-3097 The Border Environmental Health Initiative桰nvestigating the Transboundary Santa Cruz Watershed by Laura M. Norman, James Callegary, Charles van Riper III, and Floyd Gray

Open-File Report 2011-1198 Groundwater, Surface-Water, and Water-Chemistry Data, Black Mesa Area, Northeastern Arizona—2009–10 by Jamie P. Macy and Christopher R. Brown

Scientific Investigations Report 2011�66 Documentation of Methods and Inventory of Irrigation Data Collected for the 2000 and 2005 U.S. Geological Survey Estimated Use of Water in the United States, Comparison of USGS-Compiled Irrigation Data to Other Sources, and Recommendations for Future Compilations by Jade M. Dickens, Brandon T. Forbes, Dylan S. Cobean, and Saeid Tadayon

Scientific Investigations Report 2011�59 Groundwater Budgets for Detrital, Hualapai, and Sacramento Valleys, Mohave County, Arizona, 2007�08 by Bradley D. Garner and Margot Truini

Scientific Investigations Report 2011�71 Water Availability and Use Pilot: Methods Development for a Regional Assessment of Groundwater Availability, Southwest Alluvial Basins, Arizona by Fred D Tillman, Jeffrey T. Cordova, Stanley A. Leake, Blakemore E. Thomas, and James B. Callegary

Techniques and Methods 6-A38 MODPATH-LGR桪ocumentation of a Computer Program for Particle Tracking in Shared-Node Locally Refined Grids by using MODFLOW-LGR by Jesse E. Dickinson, R.T. Hanson, Steffen W. Mehl, and Mary C. Hill

Open-File Report 2011-1129 Discharge and Sediment Concentration in the Bill Williams River and Turbidity in Lake Havasu During and Following High Releases from Alamo Dam, Arizona, in March and April 2010 by Stephen M. Wiele, Jamie P. Macy, Hugh L. Darling, Robert J. Hart, and Andrew B. Hautzinger

Scientific Investigations Report 2010�80 Regional Groundwater-Flow Model of the Redwall-Muav, Coconino, and Alluvial Basin Aquifer Systems of Northern and Central Arizona by D.R. Pool, Kyle W. Blasch, James B. Callegary, Stanley A. Leake, and Leslie F. Graser

Scientific Investigations Report 2011�20 Effects of Natural and Human Factors on Groundwater Quality of Basin-Fill Aquifers in the Southwestern United States桟onceptual Models for Selected Contaminants by Laura M. Bexfield, Susan A. Thiros, David W. Anning, Jena M. Huntington, and Tim S. McKinney

Scientific Investigations Report 2010�41 The Continuous Slope-Area Method for Computing Event Hydrographs by Christopher F. Smith, Jeffrey T. Cordova, and Stephen M. Wiele

Fact Sheet 2010�50 Breccia-Pipe Uranium Mining in Northern Arizona桬stimate of Resources and Assessment of Historical Effects by Donald J. Bills, Kristin M. Brown, Andrea E. Alpine, James K. Otton, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Jo Ellen Hinck, and Fred D Tillman

Professional Paper 1781 Conceptual Understanding and Groundwater Quality of Selected Basin-Fill Aquifers in the Southwestern United States Edited by Susan A. Thiros, Laura M. Bexfield, David W. Anning, and Jena M. Huntington