Santa Maria River | |
---|---|
![]() Seasonal flows in the Arrastra wilderness | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Arizona |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• elevation | 2,640 feet (800 m) |
Mouth | |
• location | Alamo Lake |
• elevation | 1,240 feet (380 m) |
Length | 50 miles (80 km) |
Discharge | |
• average | 11.59 cu ft/s (0.328 m3/s) [1] |
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.
The Santa Maria River is formed by the confluence of the Sycamore and Kirkland Creeks, about 10 miles (16 km) east of the community of Bagdad. From the confluence, the river flows in a generally southwesterly direction through the rugged Arrastra Mountain Wilderness area (Poachie Range–Black Mountains). The river accepts a number of smaller, intermittent streams throughout its length.
The river joins the Big Sandy River to form the Bill Williams River just upstream of Alamo Lake. During periods of heavy rainfall, the lake may extend beyond the confluence point, during which period the Santa Maria empties directly into the lake rather than joining the Big Sandy River.
The total length of the river is approximately 50 miles (80 km), 17 miles (27 km) of which are considered perennial stream. [1] The remainder is ephemeral and runs only during periods of heavy rain.
The Gila River is a 649-mile (1,044 km)-long tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of nearly 60,000 square miles (160,000 km2) that lies mainly within the U.S., but also extends into northern Sonora, Mexico.
The Salt River is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin is about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2) large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the fact that the river flows over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.
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.
The Agua Fria River is a 120-mile (190 km) long intermittent stream which flows generally south from 20 miles (32 km) east-northeast of Prescott in the U.S. state of Arizona. Prescott draws much of its municipal water supply from the upper Agua Fria watershed. The Agua Fria runs through the Agua Fria National Monument. The river then flows through a small canyon called "Black Canyon" into Lake Pleasant, a popular recreation area near Peoria, Arizona. (There is a large "Black Canyon" on the Colorado River along the Arizona–Nevada border.)
The Little River is a river in Central Texas in the Brazos River watershed. It is formed by the confluence of the Leon River and the Lampasas River near Little River, Texas in Bell County. It flows generally southeast for 75 miles (121 km) until it empties into the Brazos River about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Hearne, at a site called Port Sullivan in Milam County. The Little River has a third tributary, the San Gabriel River, which joins the Little about 8 miles (13 km) north of Rockdale and five miles southwest of Cameron. Cameron, the county seat of Milam County and the only city of any significant size on the Little River, was established in 1846.
The Rio Chama, a major tributary river of the Rio Grande, is located in the U.S. states of Colorado and New Mexico. The river is about 130 miles (210 km) long altogether. From its source to El Vado Dam its length is about 50 miles (80 km), from El Vado Dam to Abiquiu Dam is about 51 miles (82 km), and from Abiquiu Dam to its confluence with the Rio Grande is about 34 miles (55 km).
Alamo Lake State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, centered on Alamo Lake, a flood control and recreational reservoir. The park is located in western Arizona about 38 miles (61 km) north of Wenden. It is accessed via a paved two-lane road off either U.S. Route 60 to the south or U.S. Route 93 to the east. Owing to its remoteness, the park is often considered one of the "best kept secrets" of the state park system.
The Bill Williams River is a 46.3-mile-long (74.5 km) river in west-central Arizona where it, along with its tributary, 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.
Buck Creek is a 38.9-mile-long (62.6 km) stream in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. It flows generally southward from its headwaters in the western Kiamichi Mountains to its confluence with the Kiamichi River.
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 Harcuvar Mountains are a narrow mountain range in western-central Arizona, United States. The range lies just east of the north-south Colorado River, and south of the east-west, west-flowing Bill Williams River, from Alamo Lake.
The Buckskin Mountains is a mountain range in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. The range lies just east of the north–south Colorado River, and borders south of the east–west, west-flowing Bill Williams River.
Butler Valley is a valley of the Maria fold and thrust belt in western Arizona, USA. It lies east of the Colorado River, and is south of the west-flowing Bill Williams River.
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.
The Jemez River is a tributary of the Rio Grande in eastern Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States.
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 Date Creek Mountains are a short, arid range in southwest Yavapai County, Arizona. Congress is on its southeast foothills, and Wickenburg lies 15 mi (24 km) southeast.
The Arroyo Seco is a major tributary of the Salinas River in central California. About 40 miles (64 km) long, it drains a rugged area of the Coast Ranges east of Big Sur before flowing through the agricultural Salinas Valley.
The Colorado River is a major river of the western United States and northwest Mexico in North America. Its headwaters are in the Rocky Mountains where La Poudre Pass Lake is its source. Located in north central Colorado it flows southwest through the Colorado Plateau country of western Colorado, southeastern Utah and northwestern Arizona where it flows through the Grand Canyon. It turns south near Las Vegas, Nevada, forming the Arizona–Nevada border in Lake Mead and the Arizona–California border a few miles below Davis Dam between Laughlin, Nevada and Needles, California before entering Mexico in the Colorado Desert. Most of its waters are diverted into the Imperial Valley of Southern California. In Mexico its course forms the boundary between Sonora and Baja California before entering the Gulf of California. This article describes most of the major features along the river.
Walnut Creek is a major stream in Coconino County, Arizona that is part of the Little Colorado River drainage basin. The creek flows about 34 miles (55 km) in a northeasterly direction from south of Flagstaff to near Winona.
Coordinates: 34°18′38″N113°31′35″W / 34.3105753°N 113.5263172°W