Groundwater
Data Collected by ADWR
One of the primary types
of hydrologic data collected is groundwater level data. The Department has traditionally collected
such data manually from wells, but has also begun using automated data
collection tools in the past few years, mostly within the Active Management
Areas (AMA), which have funded such activities.
Water level data obtained
from these automated sites support Department activities such as the Assured
and Adequate Water Supply program, groundwater modeling, safe yield analysis,
Rural and Drought programs, Water Resource Planning activities, water rights
studies, and recharge projects. While
many of the AMAs are monitored with the automated equipment, few areas in the
rural portions of the state are so monitored with this equipment. A goal of this proposed program is to
increase rural coverage and address rural issues.
Methods
that ADWR uses for ground water-level data collection include:
-
Automated Sites: These sites utilize
groundwater monitoring devices that record water levels on a predefined
frequency and a continuous basis. The Department uses both real-time
(satellite-linked) and non-real-time automated recording systems.
Automated
Ground Water Monitoring Sites - Interactive Map
Both methods of data
collection have their place in a statewide monitoring network. Economics and the degree of water level
fluctuations in a particular aquifer system are driving factors in
choosing the method of data collection.
Satellite-Linked
Transducers. The Department has about 35 satellite-linked
transducers in the state, mostly in the Active Management Areas. These sites report water levels daily to the
Department's GWSI database. HB 2863
allows the Department to begin instrumenting selected rural areas of
Arizona with these data
collection platforms. Real-time data
from the satellite-linked transducers are available at the following link:
Satellite-Linked
Transducer Real-time Data
Non-Satellite-Linked
Transducers. The Department has about 41
non-satellite-linked transducers in the state, mostly in the Active Management
Areas. These sites must be visited
periodically to download data. Non-satellite-linked transducer data are available at the link shown
below:
Non-Satellite-Linked
Transducer Data
Shaft
Encoders. Shaft encoders are a marriage of old and new
technology. The Department maintained a
varying number of paper chart recorders for many years in
Arizona. Recently these sites have been equipped with digital recorders, eliminating
the paper charts and making the data easier to enter into the GWSI
database. Shaft encoder data are
available at the link shown below:
Shaft Encoder Data
-
Manual
(Conventional) Methods: These data are collected by the use of electric sounders or steel tapes
that take a discrete measurement at selected intervals (usually only one
measurement per year).
Index
Lines. Index lines are groups of wells that are
visited once each year by ADWR field staff and measured manually with a device
called a sounder. Data are recorded
using a tablet PC and uploaded into the Department's GWSI database upon return
to the office. About 1,500 wells are
measured annually through the index line program.
Index Well Water
Level Data
Basin
Sweeps. A basin sweep is an intensive effort within a
groundwater basin to measure as many wells as necessary in order to provide a
comprehensive picture of the groundwater system. In the Phoenix AMA for example there are
about 2,200 wells measured every five years. The resulting water level data support a number of water management and
hydrology programs, as well as cities, consultants, and private individuals. In the winter of 2006-2007 the Upper and
Lower San Pedro Basins and the
San
Simon
Sub-basin
will be measured.
How Do We Know About Our Water Supply: Where is It? How Much is There?
Good data are the building blocks for technically
sound hydrologic studies and water management programs. The Department uses not only its own data,
but data from other sources to assess water supplies in
Arizona. The following list briefly describes the various data sources that are
available and provides a link to each.
Statewide Monitoring and
Reporting
Water Atlas:
The
Arizona Water Atlas is an ongoing effort by the Department to compile and
present water resources information to the public from many published
sources. There have been three volumes
published to date. These volumes are
available on-line. The Department
intends to publish one volume per quarter until all eight volumes are complete.
The
purpose of the Atlas is to:
. Provide
a comprehensive overview of regional water supply and demand conditions that
has not been updated on a statewide basis for over ten years,
. Update
ADWR's 1994 Arizona Water Resources Assessment report (Volume I -Inventory and
Analysis and Volume II - Hydrologic Summary),
. Identify water resource issues facing
Arizona
communities,
. Identify missing information and how
information access could be improved,
. Initiate
a renewed and more systematic effort by the Department to assist
Arizona water planning
efforts and develop solutions
The Water Atlas can be viewed
at the following link:
Arizona
Water Atlas
Rural
Arizona
Monitoring and Reporting
For
the most part, the Active Management Areas of Arizona are better studied than
the rural areas. Recently, however, the
Department has turned more attention to the rural groundwater basins in
recognition of the growth and current and future water demand in those
areas.
ADWR Data Collection Efforts
The
Department's monitoring efforts and studies in rural basins include water level
data collection, aquifer storage studies, water quality data collection, and
support of complex studies conducted by the US Geological Survey on behalf of
the Department and local governments. Recent examples include:
·
Hualapai
Valley - Water level, water quality, and gravimetric data
collection in support of USGS studies has been completed.
·
Sacramento
Valley - Data collection in support of USGS studies has been
completed.
·
Detrital
Valley - Water level, water quality, and gravimetric data
collection in support of USGS studies has been completed. Estimates of water in-storage from depth to bedrock studies/water level
data. Preliminary Department report to
be available in December 2006.
. 
The
Department also collects water levels in all groundwater basins each year, and
collects data more intensively in selected basins each winter. During the winter of 2006-2007 Department
field staff will be conducting basin sweeps in the Upper and Lower San Pedro
Basins and the
San
Simon
Sub-basin
.
Water
level maps and water level change maps are available from the Department's Bookstore
at the following link:
ADWR
Bookstore
Rural Watershed Initiative:
Over
the past four years, the Department has provided substantial planning
assistance to rural areas with expanding populations, limited groundwater
resources and unique environmental features. The Department has assisted
citizen organizations and local governments by providing technical information
and analysis, administrative support and advice on water issues.
The
Department's Statewide Water Planning Division has worked with rural groups to
implement the Rural Arizona Watershed Alliance Initiative. The Arizona
Legislature provided funding each year since FY 1999-2000. Several million
dollars have been leveraged from other governmental agencies as the watershed
programs have blossomed.
Undeterred
by tough budgetary constraints, the Governor has continued her strong
commitment to the rural watershed initiative.
To
date, 17 watershed "alliances" have formed throughout the state. Information on specific watersheds may be
found at:
State
Watershed Information
The
Department has also contracted with the US Geological Survey for technical
support in several rural basins of
Arizona. They USGS typically publishes Fact Sheets for
many of their studies that are intended to inform the public about their
support activities. These may be found
at the link below.
USGS Website
Active Management Area Monitoring and Reports
Arizona's five Active Management Areas were established by
the 1980 Groundwater Code and subsequent legislation to provide management in
groundwater basins that required special efforts to eliminate groundwater
overdraft and to provide sufficient water for long term growth. As a result, a great deal of study has taken
place in the AMAs and considerable hydrologic information is available. The Department continues to monitor within
the AMAs. Additional information on
these AMAs are presented at the following website:
Arizona
AMA Information
As
part of the Department's efforts, there are ten-year groundwater management
plans, groundwater models and groundwater budgets available for all five
AMAs. These reports are available
through the Department's eBookstore for purchase as hardcopies or as free PDF
downloads. Links are provided below.
Phoenix
AMA Third Management Plan and Water Budgets
Pinal
AMA Third Management Plan and Water Budgets
Tucson
AMA Third Management Plan and Water Budgets
Prescott
AMA Third Management Plan and Water Budgets
Santa
Cruz AMA Third Management Plan and Water Budgets
AMA Groundwater Models:
Groundwater
models for the AMAs allow the Department to do long-range planning in support
of water management objectives, to do permit analysis in some cases, and to
provide valuable data and projection tools to the Department, local
governments, and to the public and their consultants. The groundwater modeling reports developed
by the Department are also available at the Bookstore, as are the hydrologic
and geologic data sets used in the models. Reports and data may be found at:
Groundwater
Modeling Reports
Hydrologic Map Series:
The
Hydrologic Map Series (HMS) are reports that show groundwater conditions by
basin. To date the Department has
produced 36 HMS reports, 27 of which are of areas outside AMAs. The HMS reports are available from the ADWR
bookstore.
Hydrologic
Map Series
Who Uses
Hydrologic Monitoring Data? Why Does
the Department Collect Data?
The Department has a number of
clients for the data that it collects that include its own management programs,
local governments, the public, and consultants. A large number of management and technical programs are supported by the
data collected by ADWR and by other agencies. These include:
· Active Management
Area and Irrigation Non-Expansion Area Support
o Management Goal Planning
o Water Budget Development and Water Supply Planning,
o Assured Water Supply Assessment and Permitting Support
· Ground Water
Models for Planning and Limited Permitting Support
· Well Impact
Assessments in AMAs
· Aquifer Status
Evaluations - Changing Water Levels, Water in Storage Estimates, and
Groundwater Flow Directions
· Subsidence
Monitoring and Planning - Infrastructure Damage Prevention
· Rural Support
Activities and Adequate Water Supply Program
· Baseflow
Determinations - Stream Gages, Water Levels in Wells, Riparian Water Use, and
Instream Flow Permitting
· Adjudications
Program and Surface Water Rights Support
· Compliance
Actions
· Drought Impact
Assessment and Mitigation Actions
Monitoring
Program Elements - What Data Are Collected and Available?
The
following is a brief description of the types of data that are collected by the
Department together with a link to allow access to more detailed information.
· Groundwater Level Measurements
· Automated Transducer Water Level
Measurements (4 times a day)
· Conventional
Groundwater Level Measurements
· Index Wells -
measure about 1,300 wells annually statewide
· Basin Sweeps -
measure several groundwater basins annually
· AMA Water Level
Measurements - performed every five years
The following links will take you to the sources of
data:
Transducer Data
Index Line Data
Basin
Sweep and Water Quality Data (see GWSI CD in Bookstore)
· Water Quality Data Collection - ADWR collects water quality data to characterize
the water contained in aquifers in the groundwater basins of
Arizona. Data are contained within the GWSI database mentioned above.
· Crop
Survey Data - Crop surveys using
Landsat data are conducted within the
Phoenix,
Pinal,
Santa Cruz,
and Tucson AMAs to collect data needed to construct more accurate groundwater
budgets and groundwater models, and to support the Department's BMP program for
agricultural water use.
· Well Discharge Measurements - Measurements are taken as requested by AMA, Rural,
or Compliance programs to support water use investigations and to develop
specific capacity data. Well discharge
data are contained within the GWSI CD mentioned above
· Land
Subsidence Data - One of the consequences of large groundwater overdrafts may be that
land subsidence occurs, resulting in permanent loss of aquifer storage
capacity, infrastructure damage, surface water drainage problems, and possibly
earth fissures. The Department collects
land subsidence data to aid in its water management activities and to
eventually incorporate into its groundwater models to allow prediction of
future problem areas. The
Phoenix, Pinal, and
Tucson AMAs are measured bi-annually for subsidence changes, using both survey
quality GPS units and INSAR (remote sensing) images. Information may be found at the
following link:
ADWR
Geophysics/Surveying Unit
· Other Subsidence Related Data - In 2006, the State Legislature funded the Arizona
Geological Survey (AZGS) to provide updated maps of earth fissure zones. Earth fissures are cracks in the earth's
surface caused by land subsidence due to extensive groundwater overdraft. ADWR has collected considerable data on earth
fissure locations as part of the data it collects for water management purposes
and has provided these data to the AZGS as a scientific cooperator. ADWR has also published a brief guide to
fissure development and location, which may be found at: Arizona
Earth Fissure Information. This work will be supplanted by the updated AZGS
studies. More information on AZGS activities may be found at the AZGS Homepage.
· Aquifer Storage and Depth to Bedrock Studies - The Department's Survey Unit also collects
gravimetric data to better define the depth-to-bedrock in deep or poorly
explored groundwater basins. The Unit
has published studies of the Hassayampa sub-basin west of
Phoenix
in support of the Assured Water Supply Program and in the Detrital Basin of
Mojave County in support of the Adequate Water Supply Program and in support of
USGS studies sponsored by the Department and
Mojave
County. Additional data collection in other basins of
Mojave
County is also underway. Information may be found at the following
link:
ADWR
Geophysics/Surveying Unit
· Water Use Data - The Department collects water use data within AMAs as part of it
management activities. Such data are
available on a CD form the Bookstore at:
ADWR
AMA Water Use Data CD
Outside of AMAs, the Department has contracted with
the US Geological Survey to provide an estimate of agricultural, industrial and
municipal use data. These data may be
obtained at the following link:
USGS Non-AMA Water Use Data
In addition, House Bill 2277 calls for the
development of water resource plans by municipalities and water providers, and
for water use data to be reported to the Department. The Department is now developing an on-line
reporting system to collect such data. This website is not yet complete, but will aid municipalities and water
providers in complying with the requirements of HB2277.
· Well Inventories - The Department, in support of the Arizona Department
of Environmental Quality, conducts well inventories in Water Quality Assurance
Revolving Fund (WQARF) sites, which are
groundwater contamination sites. This
work involves reviewing and reconciling various well inventories and databases,
verifying which wells actually exist through field surveys, and identifying
wells most in need of remedial action to prevent further groundwater
degradation. Information may be found
at:
Well
Inventories at WQARF Sites
· Drought Monitoring Program - Governor
Napolitano established the Governor's Drought Task Force to address drought
issues facing Arizonans. In October 2004, the Task Force finalized the Arizona Drought
Preparedness Plan. The goals of the
Plan were to identify the impacts of drought to the various sectors of water
users, define sources of drought vulnerability, outline monitoring programs,
and prepare response options and mitigation strategies to reduce drought
impacts.
The Monitoring
Technical Committee (MTC), created by the Governor's Drought Task Force, is
responsible for gathering drought, climate, and weather data, and disseminating
that information to land managers, policy-makers, and the public. The MTC is
crucial in providing early warning of changes in drought severity. Further drought information may be found at:
Arizona Drought
Program
· Stream Gage Data - The Department funds an extensive cooperative
program with the US Geological Survey to maintain about 35 stream gages in
Arizona. The USGS operates and maintains about 180
sites across state in cooperation with the Department and other agencies. Stream gage data can be found at:
USGS Real-Time Water Data
· Additional Steam Gage Data - Several counties maintain flood warning sites with
data available on-line. Maricopa,
Mojave, Pima, and
Yavapai
Counties maintain such
sites. The Department's Flood Warning
Unit is active in coordinating the combined efforts of multiple entities
engaged in warning the public of potential floods. At the state level, there is an open line of
communication with the Arizona Division of Emergency Management during times of
flood assessment. At the local level, the Flood Warning Unit works with
county flood control districts and the Salt River Project to facilitate the
sharing of data critical to evaluating potential threats from flooding. More detailed information may be found at:
ADWR
Dam Safety and Flood Mitigation
· Well Logs and Other Scanned Images - The Department has scanned images of well
logs and other data available at the following site:
ADWR
Imaged Records Database
· Adjudication Program - The general stream adjudication is a judicial proceeding in
which the nature, extent, and relative priority of water rights is
determined. As required by statute, ADWR provides technical and
administrative support to the adjudication court and special master. The
Statewide Planning and Resources Division provides technical support for the
adjudication
through the field investigation of claims for water rights and preparation of
technical reports.
There are two general stream
adjudications in the state, the Gila River System and Source (Gila
Adjudication) and the Little Colorado River System and Source (LCR
Adjudication). There are nearly
30,000 parties in the Gila Adjudication and nearly 5,000 parties in the LCR
Adjudication.
By statute, ADWR is required to prepare and publish
comprehensive Hydrographic Survey Reports (HSRs) for each of the ten watersheds
within the two adjudications. HSRs are multi-volume publications that
involve intensive data collection and field inspection efforts by ADWR,
including detailed information regarding land ownership, hydrology, and the
factual basis for each Statement of Claims (SOC). The HSRs also include ADWR's recommendations
regarding the water rights attributes for each individual water right claim or
use investigated.
A list of technical adjudication reports authored by ADWR
can be accessed at the following link:
Technical
Adjudication Reports
ADWR maintains and updates SOC information, including names
and addresses of the parties to the adjudications, the location and nature of
claims, property records, and payment of filing fees that are forwarded to
either the Maricopa County Court (Gila Adjudication) or the Apache County Court
(LCR Adjudication). The information is updated as new SOCs are filed, and
as existing SOCs are amended or assigned due to changes in property ownership
or other changes. For further information on SOCs see the following link:
SOC
Information
ADWR also prepares and publishes
technical reports on specific issues or factual matters within the
adjudications, such as Indian water rights settlements, the Globe Equity 59
Decree, de minimis water uses, inventory of uses within the Santa Cruz River
watershed, the determination of subflow, comments on procedural issues, and
status reports.
ADWR Data Storage - Databases and Analysis
The Department generally
makes the data it collects available to the public through its Bookstore, which
sells CDs of various data sets. Data
sets available include:
- GWSI - water level and quality database of wells statewide
- Wells55 - state well registry
- RGR - grandfathered water rights (GFR) database, including annual
water use, for groundwater rights
in AMAs
- Surface water rights, including certificates and application data.
Other data are available
within the Department's databases, but are not available on CD. Contact the Bookstore to obtain data on the
following subjects.
- Subsidence and gravimetric data
- Crop data - crop acreage and type for 2003-2005 water budget
construction, model support, BMP program support in the
Phoenix,
Tucson,
Pinal and Santa Cruz AMAs.
ADWR Hydrologic Data and Report Presentation
The Department uses its Bookstore to make a wide
variety of reports and data sets available. Information includes reports and maps such as the Arizona Water Atlas,
water level maps and change in water level maps (the HMS series), Hydrographic
Survey Reports (Adjudication reports), Depth to Bedrock Reports, Groundwater
Basin Water in Storage Estimates, Groundwater Models, AMA Monitoring Reports,
and other reports. The Bookstore link
provides a complete listing of reports and data available. Other useful links are:
Water
Atlas
Transducer Data
Index Well Data
ADWR
Bookstore
Data Coordination Efforts With Other Agencies - Links
The following links provide a
quick route to more detailed information on many of the agencies that the Department
interacts with in managing the State's water supply.
Future Hydrologic Monitoring Tasks
In order to keep pace with the
growth and continued water demand in
Arizona
the Department and other agencies must continue to collect data to ensure that
water management decisions are based on sound information.
In addition to strengthening the
data collection activities already underway, the Department sees a need to collect
data on other water uses, including those identified below.
· Riparian Water Uses - through the use of remote
sensing techniques
o Important water budget component in many basins
o Based on USBR Colorado River Study methodology
· Springs -
Hydrologic Connection to Aquifer Systems
o Add to GWSI data for support of adjudication
program, surface water rights program, baseflow determinations, ground
water-surface water interaction studies
o Add to Water Atlas data for rural and urban
support activities
· Transducer Installations - continued site
selection and cooperator recruitment
· Water Quality Sampling - updated plan needed
· Adjudication
Support - subflow zone mapping for adjudication and water rights support.
