Skip to main content
Arizona Department of Water Resources Logo

Arizona Department of Water Resources

Protecting & enhancing Arizona’s water supplies for current and future generations.

Search form

  • About Us
    • ADWR Strategic Plan and Annual Reports
    • Mission - Values
    • History of the Department
    • Arizona Water Facts
    • Small Business Bill of Rights
    • Career Opportunities
  • How Do I?
    • Apply For
      • Change of Ownership
      • New Well
      • Permit
      • Statement of Claimant, Assignments, Amendments
      • Well Driller's License
      • Funding Opportunities
    • Locate
      • A Surface Water Right
      • A Well
      • Statement of Claiment
    • Get Data
      • AAWS Interactive Map
      • ADWR Dictionary
      • GIS Data Center
      • Data Queries
      • Groundwater Levels
      • Imaged Records
      • Land Subsidence in Arizona
      • Wells 55
      • Wells Data
    • Pay For
      • Annual Report Fee
      • Invoice
    • Report
      • Complaint or Concerns
      • Water Use
      • Share or Report a Water Level - 3rd Party Water Level Data Portal
      • Report Dry Well Data
      • Civil Rights
    • Find Info On
      • Arizona Reconsultation Process
      • Conservation
      • Colorado River Shortage Preparedness
      • Drought Contingency Planning
      • Laws, Rules, & Policies
      • Public Records Request
      • Pinal Groundwater Supply Updates
      • Public Meetings
      • Public Notices
      • Water Levels
      • Wells
      • Legislative Affairs
      • Lower Hassayampa Sub-Basin Groundwater Model Report
  • ADWR News
    • ADWR News
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Archive
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Active Management Areas
    • Adjudications
    • Assured and Adequate Water Supply
    • Colorado River Management
    • Community Water Systems
    • Conservation
    • Dam Safety
    • Drought
    • Engineering
    • Floodplain Management and Flood Warning
    • Governor’s Water Policy Council
    • Hydrology
    • Irrigation Non-Expansion Area
    • Laws, Rules, & Policies
    • Legislative Affairs
    • Management Plans Work Group
    • Recharge
    • Statewide Planning
    • Rural Programs
    • Surface Water
    • Wells and Permitting
    • Water Banking Authority
    • Water Protection Fund
  • Online Services
    • Annual Water Use Report
    • Application Forms
    • Hydrology Publications (eLibrary)
    • Land Subsidence Maps
    • ADWR Live Queries and Reports
    • Recharge Long-Term Storage Credit Balance
    • Imaged Records
    • eNOI
    • Online Notice of Well Capping
    • Pump Installation Completion Report
    • Online Driller's Log
    • Online Payments
    • Change of Ownership
    • Assured & Adequate Water Supply Pending Applications
    • Water Atlas
    • Surface Water Online Notices
    • Interactive Maps
      • Assured and Adequate Water Supply Interactive Map
      • Community Water System (CWS) Interactive Map
      • Groundwater Site Inventory (GWSI)
      • Well Registry Data (55)
      • GIS Data
  • Contact Us
    • Concerns
    • Human Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Public Records Request

ADWR releases installment of the Water Level Change Map Series on Upper San Pedro GW Basin

(My Public Lands Roadtrip: San Pedro Riparian NCA in Arizona by Bureau of Land Management is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0. )

ADWR releases installment of the Water Level Change Map Series on Upper San Pedro GW Basin

ADWR releases installment of the Water Level Change Map Series on Upper San Pedro GW Basin
Published: March 8, 2021

Groundwater Basins & Sub-Basins MapWhen they’re not out in the field gathering water data, the Hydrology Division of the Arizona Department of Water Resources spends a lot of time poring over, digesting and analyzing the vast amount of information it collects about Arizona’s water resources.  Sometimes, the studies they produce can take years to complete.

Sometimes, though, water analysts outside the Department are like overnight-mail customers: They need the information, like, yesterday. They have deadlines. They can’t wait for the release of the next deep-dive study to be published.  ADWR hydrologists get that.

One way they respond to those urgent data requests is the production of the “Water Level Change Map Series” reports, which are published on Hydrology’s eLibrary.

The map series – known as WLCMS reports – are designed for a rapid public release to provide hydrologic information and data with only limited interpretation. 

Water Level Conditions in the Upper San Pedro Basin, Arizona, 2007-2019

Typically, WLCMS reports include a map and a general overview of water levels and groundwater conditions within a basin or sub-basin between the last two periods of water level data collection.

The most recent Water Level Change Map Series report covers a region of southern Arizona whose groundwater supplies have been the focus of a great deal of interest in recent years: The Upper San Pedro Groundwater Basin, which includes portions of the San Pedro River, the idyllic San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, as well as the towns of Sierra Vista, Tombstone and Bisbee.

The Upper San Pedro Water Level Change Map Series report was released by the ADWR Hydrology Division in February.

The data in this most recent entry to the map series includes depth-to-water data collected during extensive basin sweep activities in Water Years (WY) 2007 and 2019.

In all, ADWR staff collected 764 water-level measurements in Water Year 2007 and 523 measurements in WY 2019. These totals include “index” wells, which are wells in the region that are monitored by ADWR on a more frequent basis, typically an annual basis.  A sum total of 320 well sites were measured in both the WY 2007 and WY 2019 sweeps and were used to evaluate water-level change across a twelve-year timeframe.

The report shows considerable evidence of groundwater declines in many areas.Hydrology eLibrary

The mean water-level change observed in the Upper San Pedro Basin between WY 2007 and WY 2019 was a decline of 3.9 feet. The basin’s median water-level change, meanwhile, was calculated at a decline of 3.1 feet.

“Depth to water” increased (that is, the water levels were found to have declined) in 77.5 percent of wells; it remained unchanged in 3.7 percent of wells; and, it decreased (that is, the water levels were found to have risen) in 18.8 percent of wells.

Water-level change values ranged from an increase of 49.7 feet to a decrease of 51.6 feet. Many of the large water-level changes, including both increases and decreases, occurred near streambeds and mountain fronts, which are susceptible to large short-term water-level fluctuations due to recharge events.

 

waves.png

Waves icon
  • Overview
  • News Articles
  • News Blog
  • Audio Podcasts
  • Video

 

telephone-icon.png

Telephone icon
  • [email protected]
  • (602) 771-8500

 

Follow Us

Contact Info

Arizona Department of Water Resources
1110 W Washington Street Suite 310
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Find in Google Maps
Phone: 602.771.8500 | Fax: 602.771.8689
File a complaint

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up to get breaking news and information about Arizona’s water industry!

Lists*

© 1980 - 2023 Arizona Department of Water Resources - Statements & Policies | Site Map