Analysis of water resources in Safford, Arizona.

• Main Author: Wahab, Nasar Almad,1937-
• Other Authors: Fogel, Martin M.
• Language: en
• Published: The University of Arizona. 1972
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/191566

Safford Valley, Arizona obtains irrigation water from a combination of surface water and ground water. Sometimes during the summer both surface and ground water are not enough for crop demands. Ground water is very high in dissolved solids. Every year approximately 200,000 tons of dissolved solids are deposited on the crop lands in the irrigation water. The total annual irrigation water requirement in the valley, as estimated by the Blaney-Criddle method, is 241,000 acre-feet. Diverted water plus pumpage is 210,000 acre-ft. per year. Total net annual water use in the valley, as estimated by a water budget equation, is 107,000 acre-ft. Diverted plus pumped water less the net volume of water • represents water lost to seepage from the valley. Historical data records were used to generate data by a lag-one Markov process using statistical parameters from five different periods. The generated data were then used to estimate storage capacity of a proposed reservoir by flow-mass curve analysis. The 100-year flood was estimated by flood frquency analysis using three different frequency distributions. The extreme flood, as plotted on Gumbel, arithmetic and log-normal probability paper was found to be 78,000, 75,000 and 126,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), respectively. Three water management alternatives were suggested for the purpose of improving water use in the basin. The alternative that was more efficient in irrigation practices was recommended.