PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         February 4, 2022

Arizona Department of Water Resources field hydrologists conducting “basin sweep” to collect water level measurements in the Prescott AMA and the Verde River Basin

PHOENIX – Beginning the week of February 28, 2022, and continuing for several months, Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) field services staff will make an extensive effort to measure water levels in wells in the Prescott Active Management Area (AMA) and the Verde River Basin.  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 – was last conducted in spring 2017 for the Prescott AMA and Verde River Basin.  

The data collected will be analyzed and used to obtain a comprehensive overview of the groundwater conditions and used to support scientific and water management planning efforts. Among others, data uses will include:

• 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 central – northwestern portion of the state and extends west of Payson and Flagstaff, east and southeast of Peach Springs and north of Bradshaw and Mazatzal Mountains.  The Phoenix AMA consists of the Little Chino and Upper Agua Fria Sub-basins and the Verde River Basin consists of the Big Chino, Verde Valley and Verde Canyon Sub-basins.

For more information regarding this matter, please contact Public Information Officer Shauna Evans at smevans@azwater.gov or (602) 771-8079.

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