Transcript Document 7752069

Recent newspaper articles on
earth fissures in Arizona:
Disaster of the day
Faulty Powers - Groundwater
Greediness Causes State's Fissures
By Jim Erickson, The Arizona Daily Star,
10/4/98 (p. B-1)
Splitting Headache for Home
Builders By Edythe Jensen, The Arizona
Republic, 10/10/98
Trash in Fissures Spurs Probe Dumping Near Queen Creek Raises
Groundwater Concerns By Edythe
Jensen, The Arizona Republic, 10/26/98
State Finds Decades-Old Dump Near
Queen Creek By Associated Press,
Tucson Citizen, 10/26/98 (p.3C)
Queen Creek Warned About Earth
Fissures - Geologist Tells Town
Council of Danger By Edythe Jensen,
The Arizona Republic, 10/6/98
Is Tucson Sinking? By D.A. Barber, The
Desert Leaf (Tucson), December, 1998
(p.23, 44)
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http://www.azgs.state.az.us/earthfissure_links.htm
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Subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal and fissure formation (I)
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Subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal and fissure formation (II)
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Geology
and depth
to bedrock
(in feet)
from
Richards,
et al, State
of Arizona
Geologic
map, 2000
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Depth to Bedrock
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http://geology.asu.edu/%7Esreynolds/azgeophys/azdepth3d_map.htm
Ground motion map for greater Phoenix area showing subsidence bowls in northeast
and southeast Valley.
Subsidence
and
Earth
10 data from
Each
set of
yellowFissures
to blue fringes colors represents 2.8 cm. 1330 day INSAR
M.
Tatlow
(ADWR)
and
S.
Buckley
(UT
Austin).
Phoenix
streets
from
ASU
GIS lab. Map
Arrowsmith
produced by R. Arrowsmith from P. Ivanich data system January 30, 2003.
Earth fissures formed on edge of subsidence zone in Apache Jun
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http://www.azgs.state.az.us/Home%20Buyers%20Guide.htm
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Groundwater is used by at least ½ of US for main water source.
In many places, groundwater withdrawal exceeds recharge
(natural inflow)->”Groundwater Mining”
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Image of
north Tempe
and south
Scottsdale,
Arizona
showing the
outline of
Tempe Town
Lake in
black, and
the locations
of recovery
wells (red
circles).
Fergason,
2000
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Clay liner in Tempe Town Lake
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Lake Fill
Well Levels next to
Tempe Town Lake.
Tempe Town Lake
began filling on June
2, 1999 and was full
on July 14, 1999.
(Fergason 2000)
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Tempe Town Lake water
table (lower surface) and
its response to filling and
pumping (Fergason
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Water use—Different demands depending on use.
Discharge is total volume of water moving past a particular
location in a given instant (usally cfs—cubic feet per second)
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Water delivery:
Massive government
subsidy.
Why it is cheaper to grow
rice in the desert than in
Louisiana!
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•Surface water withdrawal
> groundwater withdrawal
Trends in water use
•Water withdrawals leveled
off in 1980s—better
management and
conservation?
•Irrigation and energy industry
are biggest users
•Public use has increased
•Ag and thermoelectric use
decreased
•Industrial use decrease,
presumeably due to improved
technology and recycling Subsidence and Earth Fissures
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Colorado River system
1922:
A prolonged
drought,
however,
would strain
the entire
system. Who
then has
priority
water rights
from a
droughtstricken
Colorado
River?
Colorado River Compact: water sharing agreement apportioned
from the Colorado River in perpetuity to the Upper Basin and the
Lower Basin 7.5 million acre feet/year (maf), each per year:
California receiving 4.4 maf, Arizona 2.8 maf and Nevada 300,000
af, with each state also awarded all the water in their tributaries.
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PHX area geology and shaded relief Annual rainfall = 8” Annual evap = 70”
Water supply:
-Surface water (Salt, Gila system)
-lots of groundwater
-CAP canal
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SRP water
supply
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Central Arizona Project system map
http://www.cap-az.com/operations/systems/
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Early canals and irrigation: ~1000 AD
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