KINGMAN – In 2017, the City of Kingman and Mohave County entered into an agreement to both equally fund a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the cost of $400,000. The scientific study will show estimates of the potential effects of groundwater withdrawals from the Hualapai Valley Basin using a variety of withdrawal scenarios that will be provided to the USGS by the County, City, and other partners that will assist in the long range planning and future water development.
The USGS is working to finalize the study, and will publish their findings in 2020.
The Hualapai Valley Basin is located in northwestern Arizona. The basin contains no perennial surface-water features; residents and industry rely on groundwater resources to meet water needs. The USGS, in cooperation with Arizona Department of Water Resources, began hydrogeological studies in this and other basins in 2005 as part of the Rural Watershed Initiative program, a program created by the State of Arizona to improve the understanding of rural water resources.
The USGS studies provide information and tools for local water-resource managers to better understand the existing groundwater system and plan for potential changes in the groundwater system from future change in water use, climate change, and other potential stresses. Additional potential future groundwater development and stresses on the groundwater system in the Hualapai Valley Basin have raised concerns about water availability from water managers in Mohave County; in particular, the City of Kingman water supply is primarily withdrawn from the Hualapai Valley Basin;
During the 2018 Arizona Legislative Session, the Department of Water Resources was appropriated $100,000 for the purposes of contracting with an independent consultant to estimate the rate of groundwater depletion in the Northwest basins planning area and estimate the number of years of groundwater remaining in the basin. That report is due to be published by the end of 2019.
