From the Proceedings of the 1972 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - May 5-6, 1972, Prescott, Arizona / Water information systems may have different demands, such as responding to queries about rainfall-runoff relationships, water level data, water quality data and water use. Data required for retrieval may need display, such as a hydrograph. Information systems are reviewed and results of specific water information agencies are reported. Agencies in Arizona are listed with their specific water information need. Development of a water activity file and water information system is outlined for Arizona as a pilot project. Linkage of units within the data system is shown, as is the information system's questionnaire to project leaders. Information currently in the system includes water quality from the state department of health for 450 wells in the Tucson basin, and water level, storage, storage coefficient and transmissivity supplied by the Arizona water commission for the Tucson basin and Avra Valley. Quality of data submitted to the system should be reflected in retrieval for better understanding of the data. This consideration is planned for the coming fiscal year.

From the Proceedings of the 1972 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - May 5-6, 1972, Prescott, Arizona / The distribution of transmissivity within the Tucson basin aquifer, as determined by pumping tests and reviewed in the construction of a digital model of the aquifer, was not totally random in space. Data tended to be distributed normally or log-normally for biased samples of developed wells. A frequency distribution of transmissivity derived from a calibrated digital model is more nearly representative of the real world because the aquifer sample is without bias as the sample constitutes the entire aquifer. Geohydrologic setting, electric analog, and digital models of the basin are discussed. The theory of transmissivity distribution in an arid land alluvial aquifer is developed from Horton's laws of exponential relationship between stream order and drainage network parameters. It is hypothesized that there is an exponential relationship between transmissivity of an alluvial aquifer. A statistical study was made of values derived from the digital model to test the probability density function hypothesized for transmissivity. The mean value is a function of climate and drainage area. These hypotheses require further validation.

From the Proceedings of the 1972 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - May 5-6, 1972, Prescott, Arizona / Mathematical models, requiring substantial data, of hydrologic and water resources systems are under intensive investigation. The processes of data analysis and model building are interrelated so that models may be used to forecast for scientific reasons or decision making. Examples are drawn from research on modeling aquifers, watersheds, streamflow and precipitation in Arizona. Classes of problems include model choice, parameter estimates, initial condition, input identification, forecasting, valuation, control, presence of multiple objectives, and uncertainty. Classes of data analysis include correlation methods, system identification, stationarity, independence or randomness, seasonality, event based approach, fitting of probability distributions, and analysis for runs, range and crossing levels. Time series, event based and regression methods are reviewed. The issues discussed are applied to tree-ring analyses, streamflow gaging stations, and digital modeling of small watersheds and the Tucson aquifers.

From the Proceedings of the 1974 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 19-20, 1974, Flagstaff, Arizona / Two native grass species, blue grama and sidecoats, were successfully seeded on a semiarid rangeland on the walnut gulch experimental watershed in southeastern Arizona. Optimum seeding dates selected were those within the time period most likely to receive precipitation, and grass stands were established in two successive years with average rainfall. Shrubs were killed by root-plowing at a depth of 14 inches, a procedure which was more than 95% successful in controlling sprouting shrubs. Forage production measurements taken on nm-28 sideoats and Vaughn sideoats showed a yield of 1,950 and 2,643 pounds of forage per acre, respectively, for the 2 years following the seeding, whereas untreated sites produced 23 and 25 pounds per acre of forage. Results indicate that success in establishing a stand of native grass is increased through use of existing hydrologic data.

From the Proceedings of the 1973 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - May 4-5, 1973, Tucson, Arizona / Five livestock watering ponds on the walnut gulch experimental watershed were instrumented to evaluate the use of these ponds as a method for comparing rainfall amounts with runoff sediment volumes. Pond drainage area, vegetative cover, soil type, percent slope, and years of record were tested. Instrumentation consisted of water level recorders, and a topographic survey of each stock pond to ascertain its storage capacity. The results to date have been insufficient to reach definite conclusions due to instrumentation and surveying problems, and because of the natural variability of thunderstorm rainfall. Since most of these problems have now been corrected, future data should yield valuable hydrologic data for semiarid rangelands by means of these instrumented stock ponds.

From the Proceedings of the 1974 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 19-20, 1974, Flagstaff, Arizona / Population pressures on the land resources of Arizona have led to the sale and development of areas subject to flooding and because of the inadequacy of land use controls, the area is open to various land speculation schemes and unplanned subdivision growth. A floodplain delineation project was conducted for the planning department of Cochise County, Arizona, in which imagery acquired by earth resources technology satellite (ERT-1) and by high-altitude aircraft was employed. Parameters of the analysis included soils and geomorphology, vegetation, hydrologic calculations, and historical data. Floodplain soils lack developed b horizons, as compared to older, more mature soils not subject to flooding. General soil maps can only be used as guidelines, but a detailed soil survey can add significantly to the accuracy of image interpretations. Erosion-affected soil tones in areas adjacent to active channels proved beneficial in that the heightened contrast served to enhance resolution of vegetation-type boundaries. Hydrologic calculations were done based on valley cross-sections surveyed at two-to-three mile intervals. The historic data input into the system of floodplain delineation is dependent on the location of high-water marks and on obtaining a record of the amount of rainfall which resulted in the high-water mark.

From the Proceedings of the 1974 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 19-20, 1974, Flagstaff, Arizona / Tumamoc Hill, an 869-acre (352 ha) desert area near Tucson, Arizona, is being considered as a controlled- access environmental site. Water affects the site's geology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and archaeology. The Hill is drained by three small watersheds. The largest is rapidly urbanizing upstream. Hydrologic aspects include potential flooding and erosion hazards. These may be reduced simply, economically, and wisely in a land-use plan. Upstream development increases storm runoff volumes, and flood peaks, and frequencies routed through the site, and threatens existing downstream urban development. Return periods of channel-overflow floods become shorter with urbanization. The region may be managed to reduce hydrologic hazards by three procedures: widen channels, install low checkdams, and vegetate drainageways. These methods will slow down runoff velocities, and increase cross -sectional area of flow and roughness coefficient. More water would also be available for vegetation and wildlife. The land-use plan should include environmental education programs. These would present important effects of water on the natural ecology, and hydrologic aspects of watershed urbanization.

From the Proceedings of the 1978 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 14-15, 1978, Flagstaff, Arizona / The compartmented reservoir is presented as an efficient method of storing water in areas of Arizona having a relatively flat terrain where there is a significant water loss through evaporation. The flat terrain makes it difficult to avoid large surface- area-to-water-volume ratios when using a conventional reservoir. Large water losses through evaporation can be reduced by compartmentalizing shallow impervious reservoirs and in flat terrain concentrating water by pumping it from one compartment to another. Concentrating the water reduces the surface-area-to-water-volume ratio to a minimum, thus decreasing evaporation losses by reducing both the temperature and exposure of the water to the atmosphere. Portable, high-capacity pumps make the method economical for small reservoirs as well as for relatively large reservoirs. Further, the amount of water available for beneficial consumption is usually more than the amount of water pumped for concentration. A Compartmented Reservoir Optimization Program (CROP-76) has been developed for selecting the optimal design configuration. The program has been utilized in designing several systems including several in Arizona. Through the use of the model, the interrelationship of the parameters have been determined. These parameters are volume, area, depth, and slope of the embankment around each compartment. These parameters interface with the parameters describing rainfall and hydrologic characteristics of the watershed. The water -yield model used in CROP-76 requires inputs of watershed area, daily precipitation and daily and maximum depletion. In addition, three sets of seasonal modifying coefficients are required either through calibration or estimated by an experienced hydrologist. The model can determine runoff from two types of watersheds, a natural and /or treated catchment. Additional inputs of CROP-76 are the surface water evaporation rate and the amount and type of consumptive use.