GROUNDWATER BASIN PROFILES
Get to know your groundwater basin
Hydrologic summaries (“profiles”) for the state of Arizona as well as the 51 groundwater basins delineated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) have been developed by ATUR researchers for use by land and water managers.
Below, users can find the Arizona Statewide Profile followed by profiles for the 51 ADWR groundwater basins organized in alphabetical order. Each summary includes a wealth of information, ranging from general land cover, overall hydrology, historic precipitation, evapotranspiration, recharge and runoff patterns and a subsurface infiltration index. It includes how precipitation is partitioned, including how much water is evaporated or transpired by plants and how much water contributes to runoff and groundwater recharge. Subsequent pages illustrate projected changes in temperature, precipitation, recharge and runoff projected at the end of this century (2060–2099) compared to the historical period of 1981–2020.
The summaries include new information that has not been available previously, but has been rigorously evaluated using multiple methods. Although all models contain uncertainties, and there are greater uncertainties at smaller scales, the ATUR team is quite confident that the overall trends we are describing are well documented.
In addition to the maps, charts, and graphs, we have provided a narrative explanation of what they illustrate for both the Arizona Statewide Profile and for each of the 51 Groundwater Basin Profiles. Note that the narrative includes numbers that are very precise—in some cases to 100ths of millimeters. This is because this is a verbal version of the charts provided and not because the ATUR team believes it is possible to calculate or project these numbers to that degree of accuracy.
These summaries are intended to provide a general overview of our findings, but additional insights/investigations will be needed prior to making decisions about which capture and recharge efforts should be pursued and where.
It is important to note the patterns that emerge when looking at the statewide scale, as opposed to at the basin scale. For example, the influence of the Mogollon Rim is highly visible in all of the maps except the change in temperature map, which essentially indicates that it will continue to be hotter on average in every month of the year, in every part of the state. Although there is significant potential for capture and recharge of water in this area, the greatest downward shifts in precipitation, runoff, and recharge are also anticipated in this region.
