Use of water by riparian vegetation, Cottonwood Wash, Arizona
Water Supply Paper
1858
By: James E. Bowie and William Kam
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Abstract
The change in water use as a result of the modification of riparian vegetation was measured in Cottonwood Wash, Mohave County, Ariz. A 4.1-mile length of the stream channel was selected and divided into a 2.6-mile upper reach and a 1.5-mile lower reach. Measurements of streamflow, ground-water levels, vegetation, and meteorological phenomena in the area defined the use of water by riparian vegetation under natural hydrologic conditions. Subsequent defoliation and eradication of the vegetation in the lower reach permitted the determination of the change in water use as a result of the modification. The computed average loss of water from the lower reach before modification was 80 acre-feet per growing season, a quantity which represented about 18 percent of the average flow entering the reach in the same period. The average loss after modification of the vegetation was 42 acre-feet per growing season, a quantity which represented about 12 percent of the average flow entering the reach in the same period.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Use of water by riparian vegetation, Cottonwood Wash, Arizona |
| Series title | Water Supply Paper |
| Series number | 1858 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wsp1858 |
| Year Published | 1968 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Description | Report: iv, 62 p.; 1 Plate: 26.50 x 22.0 inches |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Mohave County |
| Scale | 12000 |
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