PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         March 11, 2021

Arizona Department of Water Resources field hydrologists conducting “basin sweep” to collect water level measurements in the Dripping Spring Wash, Aravaipa Canyon, Donnelly Wash and Lower San Pedro Basins

PHOENIX – Beginning the week of March 8, 2021, and continuing for several months, Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) field services staff will be making an extensive effort to measure water levels in wells in the Dripping Spring Wash, Aravaipa Canyon, Donnelly Wash and Lower San Pedro Basins.  ADWR staff will attempt to measure water levels at hundreds of wells in these groundwater basins.  This survey of wells – or basin “sweep,” as it is known — will be the first such basin survey since 2006 for the Lower San Pedro Basin and since 1996 for Dripping Spring Wash, Aravaipa Canyon, and Donnelly Wash Basins. The data collected will be analyzed and used to obtain a comprehensive overview of the groundwater conditions, as well as to support scientific and water management planning efforts. Data collected will be used for several purposes, including:

• Analysis of water-level trends
• Groundwater modeling
• Water-level change maps
• Hydrologic reports
• Water resource planning and management.

This basin sweep covers an area generally in the southeastern portion of the state and extends east of Florence and Tucson, west of Safford, north of Benson and south of Globe-Miami. 

For more information regarding the planned basin sweep, see ADWR Public Information Officer Shauna Evans at smevans@azwater.gov or (602) 771-8079. Details about the nature of basin sweeps and groundwater modeling can be found here.

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