Water Quality Problem of the Urban Area in an Arid Environment, Tucson, Arizona
Affiliation
Pima Association of Governments, 208 Water Quality Management ProgramIssue Date
1978-04-15Keywords
Hydrology -- Arizona.Water resources development -- Arizona.
Hydrology -- Southwestern states.
Water resources development -- Southwestern states.
Urban hydrology
Water quality
Water pollution effects
Water quality control
Planning
Pima County
Arizona
Surface runoff
Urban sociology
Regional analysis
Municipal wastes
Industrial wastes
Septic tanks
Groundwater availability
Hydrologic systems
Hydrologic cycle
Landfills
Leachate
Groundwater recharge
Aquifer systems
Water supply
Water reuse
Water harvesting
Storm runoff
Sewage effluents
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
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.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.
-
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.
-
The Compartmented Reservoir: Efficient Water Storage in Flat Terrain Areas of Arizona(Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, 1978-04-15)The compartmented reservoir is presented as an efficient method of storing water in areas of Arizona having a relatively flat terrain where there is a significant water loss through evaporation. The flat terrain makes it difficult to avoid large surface- area-to-water-volume ratios when using a conventional reservoir. Large water losses through evaporation can be reduced by compartmentalizing shallow impervious reservoirs and in flat terrain concentrating water by pumping it from one compartment to another. Concentrating the water reduces the surface-area-to-water-volume ratio to a minimum, thus decreasing evaporation losses by reducing both the temperature and exposure of the water to the atmosphere. Portable, high-capacity pumps make the method economical for small reservoirs as well as for relatively large reservoirs. Further, the amount of water available for beneficial consumption is usually more than the amount of water pumped for concentration. A Compartmented Reservoir Optimization Program (CROP-76) has been developed for selecting the optimal design configuration. The program has been utilized in designing several systems including several in Arizona. Through the use of the model, the interrelationship of the parameters have been determined. These parameters are volume, area, depth, and slope of the embankment around each compartment. These parameters interface with the parameters describing rainfall and hydrologic characteristics of the watershed. The water -yield model used in CROP-76 requires inputs of watershed area, daily precipitation and daily and maximum depletion. In addition, three sets of seasonal modifying coefficients are required either through calibration or estimated by an experienced hydrologist. The model can determine runoff from two types of watersheds, a natural and /or treated catchment. Additional inputs of CROP-76 are the surface water evaporation rate and the amount and type of consumptive use.
