Effluent recharge to the Upper Santa Cruz River floodplain aquifer, Santa Cruz county, Arizona

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Author
Scott, Paul S.
Mac Nish, Robert D.
Maddock, Thomas, III
Affiliation
Department of Hydrology & Water Resources, The University of Arizona
Arizona Research Laboratory for Riparian Studies
Issue Date
1997

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Publisher
Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
Rights
Copyright © Arizona Board of Regents
Collection Information
This title from the Hydrology & Water Resources Technical Reports collection is made available by the Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences and the University Libraries, University of Arizona. If you have questions about titles in this collection, please contact repository@u.library.arizona.edu.
Abstract
The City of Nogales, Arizona, is in the Santa Cruz Active Management Area and is subject to the assured water supply and conservation mandates of the 1980, Groundwater Management Act (State of Arizona, 1980). The primary water supply for both Nogales Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, (commonly referred to as Ambos Nogales) is groundwater pumped from the shallow alluvial aquifers which underlie the Upper Santa Cruz River in Arizona and Mexico, and its tributaries (principally Nogales Wash and Potrero Creek). Nogales, Sonora also obtains water from the Los Alisos Basin, which is south of the Santa Cruz Basin in Mexico (Carruth, 1995). The NIWTP provides wastewater treatment for Ambos Nogales, and discharges treated wastewater to the Upper Santa Cruz River near the confluence with Nogales Wash and Sonoita Creek. The discharge of effluent creates an intermittent stream from the NIWTP outfall for approximately 13 river miles to Tubac, Arizona. The conservation mandates of the 1980, Groundwater Management Act (State of Arizona, 1980) require the City of Nogales, Arizona to prove the existence of a 100-year water supply as a condition for future growth. The Act also allows Nogales, Arizona to receive recharge credits for the portion of effluent that recharges the aquifer underlying the Santa Cruz River. The recharge credits will be used by the City of Nogales as partial proof of a 100-year water supply (Carruth, 1995).
Series/Report no.
Technical Reports on Hydrology and Water Resources, No. 97-070
Sponsors
The authors gratefully acknowledge the insightful comments and thoughtful suggestions throughout the course of this project provided by Prof. Randy Bassett, and Prof. James Shuttleworth. The project was cooperatively funded by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the City of Nogales, the U.S. Geological Survey and Avatar Properties (Rio Rico). The project was a cooperative effort by several agencies. Important contributions were made by: Rob Carruth, Don Pool and Greg Pope of the U.S. Geological Survey; Placido Dos Santos, Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources Santa Cruz Active Management Area; University of Arizona graduate students Jim Leenhouts, Scott Shupe, Helene Unland and Martha Whitacker; Dr. Juliet Stromberg and Jenna Fry of the Arizona State University, Center for Environmental Studies; Lino Vega and Dick Caldwell at the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant; the people at Rio Rico Properties and Rio Rico Utilities, Inc.; and many others. Thanks also go out to the numerous landholders in the area who allowed us to conduct work on their property, especially George Binney, Josephine Reeve, Jim Peachy, David Lowell and the Santa Cruz Valley School District.
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