Geohydrology and water resources of the Papago Farms-Great Plain area, Papago Indian Reservation, Arizona, and the upper Rio Sonoyta area, Sonora, Mexico

Open-File Report 83-774
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Abstract

The Papago Farms-Great Plain and upper Rio Sonoyta study area includes about 490 square miles in south-central Arizona and north-central Sonora, Mexico. In the study area 23,700 acre-feet of ground water from the basin-fill deposits was used to irrigate more than 5,000 acres in 1981. Surface water is not a reliable source for irrigation or public supply. Ground water enters the area as underflow from the north and east and as recharge from the mountains, moves through basin-margin sediments, around the basin-center clays, and exits the area to the west beneath the Rio Sonoyta. Ground-water withdrawals in the upper Rio Sonoyta area do not appear to have an effect on water levels in the Papago Farms-Great Plain area. Depth to water ranges from 500 feet near the southern boundary to 150 feet in the center of study area. About 10 million acre-feet of recoverable ground water is stored in the upper 400 feet of the aquifer. Storage is being depleted at a rate of 19,000 acre-feet per year. The ground water is a sodium and bicarbonate type and has an anomalously high content of arsenic and fluoride. (USGS)

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Geohydrology and water resources of the Papago Farms-Great Plain area, Papago Indian Reservation, Arizona, and the upper Rio Sonoyta area, Sonora, Mexico
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 83-774
DOI 10.3133/ofr83774
Year Published 1983
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Description vi, 76 p.
Country United States
State Arizona
Other Geospatial Papago Indian Reservation
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