B. Descriptive Geology, 67 Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No, 136 Series / K, Pumping Waters, 10 0, Underground Waters, 37 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR UNDERGROUND WATERS OF SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA BY WILLIS THOMAS LEE WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1 905 CONTENTS. Page. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 9 NTROD UCTI ON. —Purpose of the investigation 11 CnAPTER I. Well records 12 The Mesa region 12 Murphy-McQueen wells 1?. Consolidated Canal Company's wells 17 Plant No. 1 18 Plant No. 2 22 Plant No. 3 24 Plant No. 4 26 Plant No. 5 27 Plant No. 6 28 Plant No. 7 28 Seepage well 29 Olsen wells 30 Hansen wells 31 Tempe Canal Company's wells 33 Valley Seedless Grape Company's wells 33 Tempe waterworks wells 34 Chandler well 37 Flummerfelt well 38 Bartlett-Heard Land and Cattle Company's wells 38 Johnson well 39 Tempe-Mesa Produce Company's well 40 Desert Well 40 Kleinman well 41 Bowen well 42 Harrington well 43 Andrada well 43 Price well 43 Parry well , 43 Jenkins seepage ditch 44 Shallow wells 45 Phil Mets and the Alhambra Hotel wells 45 Variation in quality 46 Tabulation of wells 47 The Phoenix region 64 Phoenix Water Company's wells 64 Phoenix Light and Fuel Company's well 66 Perkins well 66 Phoenix Machine and Cold Storage Company's well 67 Bartlett-Heard Land and Cattle Company's wells 67 Well at the Territorial Asylum for the Insane 69 Phoenix Indian School wells 70 G. W. Smith well 72 Kunz well 72 East Lake Park well 73 3 4 CONTENTS. Page. CHAPTER I—Continued. The Phoenix region—Continued. Wagner well 74 Wetzler well 74 McCallum' well 74 Collins well 75 Nelson McIlwaine wells 76 Perry well 78 Bradshaw well 78 Brown well 78 Harris well 78 Kellner well 79 Ostrich ranch well 79 Moore well 80 Heaton well 80 Hayne well 81 Richardson ditch 81 Cooper well 82 Thomas Murphy well 82 W. J. Murphy well 84 Messinger well 85 Beet-sugar factory well 85 Bartlett well 86 Alkire wells 86 Silva well 87 Miller well 87 Hough well 88 A. H. Smith well 88 Glendale town well 88 Hamilton well 88 J. P. Orme well 89 L. B. Orme well 89 Burrows well 89 Wieder well 90 Fowler well 90 Cole well 90 Tabulation of wells for Phoenix region 90 CHAPTER II.—Geology 95 Pre-Cambrian rocks 95 Carboniferous rocks 97 Tertiary (?) deposits 98 Sedimentary rocks 98 Lavas 100 Quaternary formations 100 Valley fill 101 Structure 101 Material 102 River débris 102 Sheet wash 102 Chemical precipitates 107 Caliche 107 Salts 111 Age 111 Surface movements 115 CONTENTS. 5 Page , CHAPTER TIT.—Physiography 117 Mountain and plain 117 The Mesa region 118 Water table 119 The river and the underflow 122 Courses of the underflow 123 Ancient river channels 125 Principal courses 128 Sources of the underflow 128 The Phoenix region 131 Distribution of material 131 Geographic changes 133 Water table 133 Extent of bowlder beds 134 CHAPTER TV. — Economics 135 Area of profitable pumping 135 Chemical character of ground water 136 Origin of salts 145 Salts in well water 145 Salts in river water 147 Effects of salts on vegetation 148 In Arizona 148 In Egypt 149 Quantity of underground water 151 The underflow 151 Water entering valley 151 Return water 151 Measuring the underflow 153 Slichter's method 153 Formula 153 Rates of flow 156 Maximum flow 158 Velocity of flow 159 Example 160 Factors in Slichter's method 160 Area of cross section 160 Temperature 161 Porosity 162 Application of Slichter's method 168 Comparative data from other regions 169 Computations of volume 170 The reserve 171 Practical porosity 173 Cost of pumping 177 In Salt River Valley 177 In other regions 179 Arizona, Wisconsin, and California 179 New Mexico 180 California 181 Egypt 182 Value of water 183 Location of pumping plants 184 Rksu m 186 N nEx 189 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. PLATE I. Map of central Arizona, showing area described 11 Murphy-McQueen pumping plant 12 III. Pumping water by electricity at Consolidated Canal Company's plant No. 1 18 IV.A, Edge of the mesa near the Consolidated Canal Company's power plant; B, A. J. Hansen's pumping plant 28 V. A, Tempe Butte, showing reservoir near the top; B, Collins well, near Phoenix, Ariz 34 VI. Irrigation by means of bu,ckets at J. D. Cooper's pumping plant near Tempe, Ariz 82 VII. Geologic map of part of Salt River Valley, Arizona In pocket. VIII. A, Tilted pre-Cambrian quartzites and argillites in the Phoenix Mountains; B, Phoenix Peak, north of Phoenix, Ariz 96 TX. A, Salt River dam site, looking upstream into Tonto basin; /3, Side canyon in Tonto basin 96 X. Tilted formations at upper end of Tonto basin 98 XI. A, Camelback Mountain near Phoenix, Ariz.; B, Buttes north of Tempe, Ariz 98 XII. Tempe Butte 100 XIII. A, Bell Butte, near Tempe, Ariz.; B, North end of Superstition Mountains 100 XIV. A, Clay bank in Tonto basin; B, Tilted breccia in Tonto basin 112 XV. Map of base of Phoenix Mountains, showing small outlying points partly submerged in débris 118 XVI. A, Camelback Mountain from near power house on the Arizona canal, rising abruptly from the detrital plain; B, Seepage land near Tempe, Ariz 118 XVII. View eastward from Tempe Butte 118 XVIII. Map and sections of Mesa Township, Salt River Valley, Arizona, showing position of water table 120 XIX. Sections indicating relation of water table to river and land surfaces. 122 XX. Map of part of Salt River Valley, showing position of water table In pocket. XXI. A, Section through Tempe. Butte to Salt River Mountains; B, Sec- tion across Salt River Valley near Phoenix; C, Section from Salt River Mountains to Sacaton Mountains 126 XXII. A, An orchard near Phoenix killed by lack of water; B, Desert near Tempe, Ariz., showing typical desert vegetation 148 XXIII. A ; Seepage land southeast of Tempe, Ariz.; B, View southward from Tempe Butte 150 7 8 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Fm. L Bored well of S.J. Murphy on Murphy-McQueen ranch, Mesa, Ariz__ 12 2. Diagram showing water level, after pumping, in wells at Murphy- McQueen plant, near Mesa, Ariz 14 3. Ideal cross section in Salt River Valley illustrating migrations of river as valley floor was built up • 16 4. Diagram showing depression of water table during pumping test No. 1 of Consolidated Canal Company's pumping plant, Mesa, Ariz 5. Diagram showing depression of water table during pumping test No. 2 of Consolidated Canal Company's pumping plant 19 6. Diagram showing depression of water table during pumping test No. 3 of Consolidated Canal Company's pumping plant 20 7. Diagram showing depression of water table during pumping test No. 4 of Consolidated Canal Company's plant 20 8. Diagram showing depression of water table during pumping test No. 5 of Consolidated Canal Company's pumping plant 20 9. Diagram showing water levels before and after pumping from seepage well of Consolidated Canal Company 29 10. Depression of water table during pumping test of the Bartlett-fleard well 68 11. Section through Salt River gorge at Tonto dam site 97 12. Cross section of Verde Valley near Mount McDowell, Arizona 101 13. Daily discharge of Queen Creek, Arizona 106 14. Diagrammatic illustration of valley filling and of central and western Arizona 113 15. Geologic: map of Tempe Butte, Arizona 116 16. Section through Tempe Butte and Tempe well 116 17. Sketch profile from the Agua Fria, through Tonto basin and the Sierra Ancha 117 18. Sketch section illustrating the restricted area of water-bearing gravels due to underground structure 118 19. Index map of Salt River Valley locating the sections shown in Pl. XIX_ 122 20. index map of Salt River Valley locating the sections shown in Pl. XXI_ 124 21. Map of Salt River showing area beneath which water is 50 feet or less :below surface 135 22. Diagram illustrating various pressure gradients and maximum flow.. 158 23. Diagram showing lines of flow into a drainage ditch 159 24. Map of Salt River Valley showing location of pumping plants described 176 25. Diagrammatic illustrations of underground conditions affecting yield of wells 1'85 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, HYDROGRAPHIC BRANCH, Washington, D. C., June 1, 1904. SIR: I forward herewith a report on the underground waters of Salt River Valley, Arizona, by Willis.T. Lee, and recommend that it be published as a water-supply and irrigation paper. Mr. Lee, under the direction of Mr. N. H. Dayton, geologist in charge of the western section of hydrology, has made a detailed investigation of the underground waters and geology of Salt River Valley, in the Phoenix region and eastward, and I believe the results will be of value and interest to a large number of persons. The region is one in which the problem of water supply is of great importance, for its prosperity is entirely dependent upon the utilization of the surface and underground waters. Very respectfully, F. H. NEWELL, Crhi(f Engineer. Hon. CHARLES D. WALcorr, Director United States Geological Surrey. 9 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 136 PL. 1 Z ) c".) UNDERGROUND WATERS OF SALT RIVER VALLEY, ARIZONA. By WILLIS T. LEE. INTR ODUCTION. PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION. The purpose of this paper is to bring together the facts, so far as known, regarding the underground waters of Salt River Valley, with a view to ascertaining their available quantity, the areas where they occur sufficiently near the surface for economic pumping, and their adaptability for irrigation.