Premium
Reconstructed Stream Flow for the Salt and Verde Rivers From Tree‐Ring Data 1
Author(s) -
Smith Lawrence P.,
Stockton Charles W.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1981.tb01925.x
Subject(s) - hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , streamflow , surface runoff , flooding (psychology) , flood myth , water year , dendrochronology , drainage basin , geography , geology , archaeology , ecology , psychotherapist , biology , psychology , geotechnical engineering , cartography
The Salt and Verde Rivers of central Arizona provide the water supply for metropolitan Phoenix and a considerable acreage of irrigated agriculture. Rapid urbanization has caused concern over future water supply and aggravated flooding in the already flood‐prone Salt River Valley. Tree‐ring data were used as a proxy source to extend the annual and seasonal runoff records back to A.D. 1580 and thus to determine whether the period of record for annual discharge adequately represents the long term flow characteristics of the two rivers. Results show that several periods of extended low flow have occurred during the past 400 years, many of which were more severe then any comparable period since 1890. The low flow periods appear to have a recurrence interval of about 22 years. Also the gaged records contain an above average number of high seasonal and annual flows when compared to the entire 400 years. The reconstructions contain important implications for future water supply and flood potentials in the Salt River Valley.