Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Report June, 2010
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Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Report June, 2010 Prepared by: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service University of Arizona, Water Resources Research Center In cooperation with: Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District Arizona Department of Agriculture Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Arizona Department of Water Resources Arizona Game & Fish Department Arizona State Land Department USDA Forest Service USDA Bureau of Land Management Released by: Sharon Megdal David L. McKay Director State Conservationist University of Arizona United States Department of Agriculture Water Resources Research Center Natural Resources Conservation Service Principle Investigators: Dino DeSimone – NRCS, Phoenix Keith Larson – NRCS, Phoenix Kristine Uhlman – Water Resources Research Center Terry Sprouse – Water Resources Research Center Phil Guertin – School of Natural Resources The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disa bility, po litica l be lie fs, sexua l or ien ta tion, an d mar ita l or fam ily s ta tus. (No t a ll prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity provider and employer. Havasu Canyon Watershed serve as a platform for conservation 15010004 program delivery, provide useful 8-Digit Hydrologic Unit information for development of NRCS Rapid Watershed Assessment and Conservation District business plans, and lay a foundation for future cooperative watershed planning. Section 1: Introduction The Havasu Canyon RWA was Overview of Rapid Watershed requested by the Coconino Natural Assessments Resource Conservation District (NRCD) via a letter to the NRCS State A Rapid Watershed Assessment (RWA) Conservationist. As stated in the letter, is a concise report containing the primary purpose of the assessment information on natural resource is to “improve our understanding of the conditions and concerns within a watershed as a whole” and to “identify designated watershed. The "rapid" part and prioritize future conservation work.” refers to a relatively short time period to develop the report as compared to a General Description of the Havasu more comprehensive watershed Canyon Watershed planning effort. The “assessment” part refers to a report containing maps, The Havasu Canyon Watershed is tables and other information sufficient to located in northern Arizona, and it is the give an overview of the watershed entryway to the south rim of the Grand including physical characteristics and Canyon National Park (Figure 1-1). socioeconomic trends. Total land area is approximately 1.88 million acres. Land ownership is The assessments involve the collection primarily private, state trust, and federal of readily available quantitative and land administered by the U.S. Forest qualitative information to develop a Service and the National Park Service. watershed profile, and sufficient analysis The Havasupai Reservation and a of that information to generate an portion of the Hualapai Reservation are appraisal of the conservation needs of also located within the watershed. the watershed. These assessments are conducted by conservation planners, Major land uses in the watershed using Geographic Information System include range and forest. Recreational (GIS) technology. Conservation uses are also important activities both Districts and other local leaders, along on federal and Tribal lands. with public land management agencies, are involved in the assessment process. Major towns and cities include the City of Williams and Supai Village. An RWA serves as a communication Conservation assistance is provided tool between the Natural Resources through the Coconino and Hualapai Conservation Service (NRCS) and Natural Resource Conservation partners for prioritizing conservation Districts. The U.S. Department of work in selected watersheds. RWAs Agriculture (USDA) Service Centers that Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Section 1 – Introduction page 1- 1 Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Section 1 – Introduction page 1- 2 serve the area are located in Flagstaff conservation practices to protect soil and Kingman, Arizona. from erosion and excessive runoff, improve the health of the vegetative Resource concerns in the watershed communities, and enhance habitat for include soil erosion (sheet and rill and wildlife. streambank), water quantity (runoff and flooding), noxious and invasive plants, For the lower areas below the rim, the and inadequate quantities & quality of main concern relates to flooding and feed and water for both wildlife and streambank erosion within the Village of domestic animals (NRCS, 2010). Supai. This includes installing gabions and other streambank protection For the upland areas, the primary measures, as well as measures to concern relates to maintaining and reduce the impact of periodic flooding improving the condition and productivity on structures, trails and other of the land. This includes implementing infrastructure in the Village. Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Section 1 – Introduction page 1- 3 Section 2: Physical Description and are controlled by the combination of Redwall Limestone and massive Watershed Size travertine deposits (U.S. Army Corps, 2009). The Havasu Canyon Watershed covers approximately 1,877,120 acres (2,933 The lower portion of the drainage area square miles), representing about 1.0% includes the Havasupai Indian of the state of Arizona. The watershed Reservation. The Havasupai village of has a maximum width of about 67 miles Supai is located in a relatively wide east to west, and a maximum length of reach of Havasu Canyon, bounded on about 85 miles north to south. both sides by nearly vertical rock walls that extend several hundred feet to the The drainage area for the Havasu Creek plateau above (U.S. Army Corps, 2009). watershed is approximately 3,000 square miles. Elevations in the drainage The Havasu Canyon Watershed was area range from over 10,400 ft to about delineated by the U.S. Geological 1,870 ft at the Colorado River. The Survey and has been subdivided by the headwaters are near Williams, Arizona NRCS into smaller watersheds or and most of the drainage area is thin, drainage areas. Each drainage area poorly developed soils over limestone has a unique hydrologic unit code that supports desert grassland and number (HUC) and a name based on upland pinyon-juniper woodlands (U.S. the primary surface water feature within Army Corps, 2009). the HUC. These drainage areas can be further subdivided into even smaller There are numerous small reservoirs watersheds as needed. The Havasu and livestock tanks throughout the Canyon Watershed is an 8-digit HUC of Havasu Creek drainage area which 15010004 and contains the following 10- provide public and livestock water digit HUCs (Figure 2-1): supplies. The town of Williams manages five reservoirs in the headwaters. While • 1501000401 Rogers Draw-Farm Havasu Creek is ephemeral throughout Dam Tank most of its length, about three miles • 1501000402 Spring Valley Wash upstream of Supai, Uqualla Point • 1501000403 Red Horse Draw (formerly called Havasu Springs) • 1501000404 Miller Wash discharges a steady flow of • 1501000405 Cataract Creek approximately 70 cubic feet per second. • 1501000406 Sandstone Wash The springs issue from the Redwall • 1501000407 Monument Wash Limestone and are the main • 1501000408 Heather Wash groundwater discharges from the • 1501000409 Upper Havasu “Coconino Trough” structural feature. Creek The flow from the springs is heavily mineralized and forms spectacular • 1501000410 Middle Havasu travertine features in the stream Creek channel. Larger waterfalls, such as • 1501000411 Lower Havasu Havasu and Mooney Falls, are relatively Creek permanent features of Havasu Canyon Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Section 2 – Physical Description page 2- 1 Havasu Canyon Watershed Rapid Watershed Assessment Section 2 – Physical Description page 2- 2 Geology layers. The Bright Angel Fault is one of the most well known faults exposed at Havasu Canyon Watershed is within the land surface and also along the Bright Coconino Plateau region of Arizona. Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon. Geology at the land surface is dominated by the Kaibab Limestone Volcanic rocks, basalt flows and cinder Formation. The Kaibab Formation is cones form the watershed’s boundaries found across northern Arizona, southern to the south-east and south-west. Utah, east central Nevada, and Pumice and cinders are light weight, southeast California (Figure 2-2). Part and are quarried as aggregate for of the Colorado Plateau, this formation construction across the watershed. was laid down in the Early Permian around 250 million years ago (Chronic, Soils 1983), and in the Havasu Canyon Watershed it forms the Coconino Soils within the Havasu Canyon Plateau. There is a lack of well Watershed are diverse and formed as established drainage on the Coconino the result of differences in climate, Plateau due to