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THE IMPACT OF STOCKWATERING PONDS (STOCKPONDS) ON RUNOFF FROM LARGE ARIZONA WATERSHEDS 1
Author(s) -
Mime Michael M.,
Young Don W.
Publication year - 1989
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.1752-1688.1989.tb05678.x
Subject(s) - watershed , adjudication , hydrology (agriculture) , drainage basin , surface runoff , environmental science , structural basin , context (archaeology) , water resource management , water balance , water resources , geography , geology , archaeology , ecology , law , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , machine learning , computer science , political science , biology
Major water rights adjudications involving the Little Colorado River Basin and Gila River Basin are presently underway within Arizona. Water resource managers are faced with the prospect of evaluating and regulating tens of thousands of water diversions and uses. Stockponds comprise a large percentage of the total number of water diversions within these basins. Water balance studies conducted on the Little Colorado River watershed above Lyman Lake and on the Gila River watershed above Solomon, Arizona, indicate that the impact of stockponds on the water available to downstream users is insignificant when compared to total watershed production. Considering that there are an estimated 25,000 stockponds in the Gila River basin alone, rigorous case‐by‐case investigations and stringent regulation of individual stockponds may be impractical and unwarranted. Therefore, stock‐pond claims within the context of the general adjudication process may be effectively handled by partial summary judgment, thereby allowing the court to concentrate on major water users and water rights issues.