Hydrologic Factors Affecting Groundwater Management for the City of Tucson, Arizona
Affiliation
Water and Sewer Department, City of Tucson, ArizonaIssue Date
1978-04-15Keywords
Hydrology -- Arizona.Water resources development -- Arizona.
Hydrology -- Southwestern states.
Water resources development -- Southwestern states.
Hydrologic properties
Water supply
Water wells
Groundwater availability
Water budget
Urban hydrology
Water utilization
Groundwater mining
Water allocation
Water table
Hydrologic aspects
Comprehensive planning
Pumping
Costs
Subsidence
Water quality
Areal hydrogeology
Tucson
Arizona
Metadata
Show full item recordRights
Copyright ©, where appropriate, is held by the author.Collection Information
This article is part of the Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and the Southwest collections. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science and the University of Arizona Libraries. For more information about items in this collection, contact anashydrology@gmail.com.Publisher
Arizona-Nevada Academy of ScienceAbstract
Assessment of the basic hydrologic and geologic parameters controlling the occurrence and availability of local groundwater is one of the first steps in formulating any comprehensive water management plan. Each of several parameters must be carefully evaluated both individually and in relation to the other factors which together describe the occurrence and movement of the subsurface water resources. These evaluations are fundamental to the legal and political decision- making framework within which the Water Utility must operate for both short and long-range water management planning. Recent changes in several hydrologic parameters have been observed throughout much of the groundwater reservoir tapped by numerous users in the Tucson Basin. Accelerated water level decline rates, decreasing production capacities of existing wells, increased hydrologic interference and increased demand for water are all having an impact on our water resource. These conditions must be evaluated before basin -wide groundwater management alternatives can be implemented.ISSN
0272-6106Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Rising Energy Prices, Water Demand by Peri-Urban Agriculture, and Implications for Urban Water Supply: The Tucson Case(Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, 1978-04-15)The city of Tucson, Arizona, the largest city in the U.S. to meet its water needs entirely from diminishing underground sources, is presently experiencing increasing water rates and the political turmoil associated with those increases. With focus upon this increasingly serious problem, production function analysis and static linear programming are used here to estimate the impact of rising energy prices on farm profits, cropping patterns and irrigation water used in the Avra Valley, a periurban irrigated region adjacent to Tucson, in an effort to evaluate the impact of this community upon Tucson 's municipal water demand. It is concluded that as energy prices increase and land is removed from agricultural production within the Avra Valley, Tucson 's economic position will be bolstered in at least three ways: (1) there will be more water available, (2) the price which the city must pay for farmland in order to gain control of the underlying water should be diminished and the quantity of farmland for sale increased, and (3) with fewer people involved in irrigated agriculture, legal conflicts between competing users will be diminished.
-
Water Quality Problem of the Urban Area in an Arid Environment, Tucson, Arizona(Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, 1978-04-15)The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's two-year 208 area-wide Water Quality Management Study for Pima County, Arizona, is discussed in terms of the specific problems of municipal wastewater effluent, industrial wastewater, urban stormwater runoff, land disposal of residual wastes, septic systems, and construction activities related to the City of Tucson urban area. The primary groundwater and the slow cycling of the hydrologic system in this arid urban environment reduce many water pollution problems to insignificant levels in the short term, (2) there does exist significant long-term pollution problems in the area. These problems include urban stormwater runoff and landfill leachate, and are related to the pollution of groundwater recharge and aquifer water supplies, and (3) there is a strong need for total water resource planning in arid urban areas which includes planning for wastewater reuse, water harvesting, and proper management of groundwater recharge systems.
-
Design and Pilot Study of an Arizona Water Information System(Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, 1972-05-06)Water information systems may have different demands, such as responding to queries about rainfall-runoff relationships, water level data, water quality data and water use. Data required for retrieval may need display, such as a hydrograph. Information systems are reviewed and results of specific water information agencies are reported. Agencies in Arizona are listed with their specific water information need. Development of a water activity file and water information system is outlined for Arizona as a pilot project. Linkage of units within the data system is shown, as is the information system's questionnaire to project leaders. Information currently in the system includes water quality from the state department of health for 450 wells in the Tucson basin, and water level, storage, storage coefficient and transmissivity supplied by the Arizona water commission for the Tucson basin and Avra Valley. Quality of data submitted to the system should be reflected in retrieval for better understanding of the data. This consideration is planned for the coming fiscal year.
