Big Sandy River (Arizona)

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Big Sandy River
Big Sandy River at Arrastra Mountain Wilderness.jpg
Big Sandy River in the Arrastra Mountain Wilderness
USA Arizona relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of the Big Sandy River
Location
Country United States
State Arizona
County Mohave, La Paz
Physical characteristics
SourceBetween Hualapai and Aquarius ranges
 • locationEast of U.S. Route 93 near Hualapai Indian Reservation, Mohave County
 • coordinates 34°55′21″N113°37′37″W / 34.92250°N 113.62694°W / 34.92250; -113.62694 [1]
 • elevation2,435 ft (742 m) [2]
Mouth Bill Williams River
 • location
 Alamo Lake State Park, La Paz County
 • coordinates
 34°18′38″N113°31′36″W / 34.31056°N 113.52667°W / 34.31056; -113.52667 [1]
 • elevation
1,237 ft (377 m) [1]
Length55.7 mi (89.6 km) [3]
Basin size1,988 sq mi (5,150 km2) [4]
Discharge 
 • minimum0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)

The Big Sandy River is both an intermittent and perennial stream in Mohave and La Paz counties in northwestern Arizona in the United States. It begins where Cottonwood Wash and Trout Creek converge in the Hualapai Indian Reservation east of U.S. Route 93 then flows past Wikieup south of Kingman. The Big Sandy River then passes the Signal Ghost Town Site, meanders through the Arrastra Mountain Wilderness, and joins the Santa Maria River in Southern Mohave County to form the Bill Williams River. The Bill Williams River then empties into Alamo Lake State Park. The Big Sandy River is 55.7 miles (89.6 km) long. [3]

Contents

The Big Sandy drainage basin covers approximately 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2) in Mohave, La Paz, and Yavapai counties. [4] The Hualapai Mountains are west of the river, and the Aquarius and Mohon Mountains lie to the east and southeast, the Juniper Mountains further east, and the Peacock Mountains and Cottonwood Mountains to the north. Hualapai Peak at 8,417 feet (2,566 m) is the highest point in the basin. [4] The river flows through the Arrastra Mountain Wilderness.

Water flow

The Big Sandy River flows year-round (perennial flow) south of the Signal Ghost Town site and intermittently above this site. [5] [6] In the period of 2007–2016, the surface water flow of the Big Sandy at the USGS monitoring site at the Signal Ghost Town ranged from a minimum of 22 US gallons (83 L) per second to a maximum output of nearly 524,000 US gallons (1,980,000 L) per second during flooding in early 2010. [6]

Except for the northeastern part of the basin, aquifers supply a median well flow of 300 US gallons (1,100 L) per minute and up to 2,000 US gallons (7,600 L) per minute at Cane Springs, along Route 93 north of Wikieup. [5] The largest spring in the Bill Williams River watershed is south of Cane Springs in the Big Sandy watershed; it discharges at 1,600 US gallons (6,100 L) per minute. [5] Much of the water pumped from the basin is used in mining operations in the Bill Williams area. The Big Sandy basin, as of 2000, had a population of 1,142 people. [7]

Wildlife

The Big Sandy River basin is home to numerous animals and plants endemic to the region. An endangered bird, the southwestern willow flycatcher, resides in the basin, which has one of the few riparian areas remaining in Arizona. Wild Burros, a protected species, live in the river valley along with ring-tailed cats, mountain lions, coyote, and elk. Plant species include sycamores, willows, and cottonwoods.

Water rights disputes

In 2001, the Line Siting Committee of the Arizona Corporation Commission voted 8–1 to deny a request to build a power plant in the basin, on grounds of environmental incompatibility. The proposed plant, fueled by natural gas, would have required 2,400 to 2,500 US gallons (9,100 to 9,500 L) of water a minute to cool its steam turbines. [8]

In April 2015, the US Department of the Interior and Byner Cattle Co., a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, proposed an agreement to transfer water rights from the Byner Cattle Co.'s Planet Ranch holdings on the Bill Williams River to the Big Sandy Basin pumping wells. According to the agreement, water will be pumped from Byner Cattle Co/Freeport wells to the mining town of Bagdad, Arizona in neighboring Yavapai County. Mohave County, which would lose water rights and tax revenue, filed an opposition to the agreement at the Arizona Department of Water Resources: "Mohave County, filed a letter of opposition with ADWR objecting to the Sever and Transfer Applications. ADWR has not taken final action on the Sever and Transfer Applications or the Objections." [9]

The agreement allows Freeport to pump and divert an additional 10,055 acre-feet (343 million gallons) of water per year from the Big Sandy Basin. According to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, 96% of all pumped water from the Big Sandy Basin is used for mining purposes. The basin's average annual recharge is 22,000 acre-feet. [5] The Hualapai Tribe, in exchange for their agreement to the water deal, received a $1 million donation for business development from Freeport. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohave County, Arizona</span> County in Arizona, United States

Mohave County is a county in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mojave River</span> River in California, United States

The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, except for the headwaters and several bedrock gorges in the lower reaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hualapai</span> Native American tribe

The Hualapai is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Arizona with about 2300 enrolled members. Approximately 1353 enrolled members reside on the Hualapai Reservation, which spans over three counties in Northern Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikieup, Arizona</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Arizona, United States

Wikieup is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located on U.S. Route 93 in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is located approximately 139 miles (224 km) northwest of Phoenix and 162 miles (261 km) southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the population of Wikieup was 135.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hualapai Mountains</span> Landform in Arizona, US

The Hualapai Mountains are a mountain range located in Mohave County, east of Kingman, Arizona. Rising up to 8,417 feet at its highest peak, the higher elevations of the Hualapai Mountains support Madrean Sky Island habitats, and are host to a plethora of unique flora and fauna in a wide range of microclimates, high above the surrounding Mojave Desert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Mohave</span> Reservoir on the Colorado River

Lake Mohave is a reservoir on the Colorado River between the Hoover Dam and Davis Dam in Cottonwood Valley defining the border between Nevada and Arizona in the United States. This 67-mile (108 km) stretch of the Colorado River flows past Boulder City, Nelson, Searchlight, Cottonwood Cove, Cal-Nev-Ari, and Laughlin to the west in Nevada and Willow Beach and Bullhead City to the east in Arizona. A maximum width of 4 miles (6.4 km) wide and an elevation of 647 feet (197 m), Lake Mohave encompasses 28,260 acres (114.4 km2) of water. As Lake Mead lies to the north of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mohave and adjacent lands forming its shoreline are part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area administered by the U.S. National Park Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Williams River</span> River in Arizona

The Bill Williams River is a 46.3-mile-long (74.5 km) river in west-central Arizona where it, along with one of its tributaries, the Santa Maria River, form the boundary between Mohave County to the north and La Paz County to the south. It is a major drainage westwards into the Colorado River of the Lower Colorado River Valley south of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, and the drainage basin covers portions of northwest, and west-central Arizona. The equivalent drainage system paralleling the east–west lower reaches of the Bill Williams is the Gila River, which flows east-to-west across central Arizona, joining the Colorado River in the southwest at Yuma. The confluence of the Bill Williams River with the Colorado is north of Parker, and south of Lake Havasu City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria River (Arizona)</span> Waterbody

The Santa Maria River is an intermittent stream located in western Arizona. It is a primary tributary of the Bill Williams River and one of the main sources of inflow for Alamo Lake. The river forms a portion of the boundary between Mohave and La Paz counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacramento Wash</span> Waterbody in Mohave County, Arizona

The Sacramento Wash is a major drainage of northwest Arizona in Mohave County. The wash is east of the Black Canyon of the Colorado and drains into the south-flowing Colorado River 45 mi south of Lake Mohave, and 90 mi south of Hoover Dam at Lake Mead. The wash outfall is in the center-south of the Havasu-Mohave Lakes Watershed. An equivalent wash drains to the west of the Colorado River and the Black Canyon, draining southeast Nevada and a small part of California, the Piute Wash of the Piute Valley. The Piute Wash outfall is upstream of the Sacramento's outfall by about 15 miles.

The Centennial Wash (Mohave County) is a northern minor wash tributary to the west-flowing Bill Williams River. The wash drains from the western third of the Rawhide Mountains, and partially forms the southeast border of the wilderness at the northwest of the Rawhide's, the Aubrey Peak Wilderness.

The Rawhide Mountains are a mountain range of western Arizona, in the southwest of Mohave County. It is part of a block of mountain ranges on the north of an insular region called the Maria fold and thrust belt, containing mountain ranges, valleys, and plains. The Rawhide Mountains border the much smaller Artillery Mountains southeast, bordering on Alamo Lake State Park and the south-flowing Big Sandy River.

Aubrey Peak, also known as Grooms Peak, is a summit located 35 miles east-northeast of Lake Havasu City in Mohave County, Arizona and is in the Hualapai Mountains.

Dutch Flat of Arizona is a valley south of the Sacramento Valley and Interstate 40 in southern Mohave County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poachie Range</span> Landform in La Paz, Mohave, and Yavapai Counties, Arizona

The Poachie Range is a moderate length mountain range and massif in southeast Mohave County, Arizona, and the extreme southwest corner of Yavapai County; the range also abuts the northeast corner of La Paz County. The Poachie Range massif is bordered by the south-flowing Big Sandy River on its west, and the west-flowing Santa Maria River on its south; both rivers converge at the Poachie Range's southwest at Alamo Lake in Alamo Lake State Park.

The Aquarius Mountains are a 45-mi (72 km) long mountain range in southeast Mohave County, Arizona. The range lies in the northwest of the Arizona transition zone, and at the southwest of the Coconino Plateau, a subsection of the Colorado Plateau.

The Peacock Mountains are a small, 26 mi (42 km) long mountain range in northwest Arizona, US. The range is a narrow sub-range, and an extension north, at the northeast of the Hualapai Mountains massif, which lies to the southwest. The range is defined by the Hualapai Valley to the northwest, and north and south-flowing washes on its east border, associated with faults and cliffs; the Cottonwood Cliffs are due east, and are connected to the Aquarius Cliffs southward at the west perimeter of the Aquarius Mountains; the cliffs are a result of the Aquarius Fault, which is an extension southward from the Grand Wash Cliffs and Grand Wash Fault which crosses the Colorado River at Lake Mead, and the west perimeter of the Grand Canyon/Colorado Plateau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hualapai Valley</span> Valley in Arizona, United States

Hualapai Valley is a valley in Mohave County, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antares, Arizona</span> Census-designated place in Arizona, United States

Antares is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 132. It exists along part of historic U.S. Route 66.

Pine Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 142 at the 2020 census.

The Big Sandy lithium project or Big Sandy lithium mine is a planned lithium mining project located near the Hualapai tribe's Cholla Canyon Ranch and the Cofer Hot Springs, near Wikieup in the Big Sandy River Valley, Arizona, U.S.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Big Sandy River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. February 8, 1980. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  3. 1 2 "The National Map". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 "Geography of the Big Sandy Basin". Arizona Department of Water Resources. December 28, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Hydrology of the Big Sandy Basin". Arizona Department of Water Resources. December 28, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "USGS Current Conditions for USGS 09424450 BIG SANDY RIVER NEAR WIKIEUP, AZ". US Geological Survey. May 2, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Population of the Upper Colorado River Planning Area". Arizona Department of Water Resources. December 28, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Regulators Reject Big Sandy Power Plant Proposal". The Daily Courier. Prescott, Arizona. September 16, 2001. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Draft Environmental Assessment LC-14-15, Appendix B-Big Sandy River-Planet Ranch Water Rights Settlement Agreement" (PDF). US Department of Interior. April 1, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
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