Upper
Bill Williams Watershed
The Kirkland Creek watershed encompasses 259,000 acres, or 405 square miles,
and includes the communities of Yarnell, Peeples Valley, Hillside, Kirkland,
Skull Valley, and Wilhoit. Of the total acreage, the ownership is approximately:
50% State Trust, 35% Private,and 15% Federal (Prescott National Forest and
Bureau of Land Management). The major land use is grazing, and cattle ranches
and farms occupy an estimated 95% of the watershed. The remaining 5% is rural
residential and urban buildup. Today there are 1620 families living in the area.
There are 1296 acres under irrigation from wells, and an additional 933 acres
were historically irrigated.
The watershed is large, and the terrain is rough with many rock outcrops.
Access is limited due to the rugged terrain of the Sierra Prieta, Weaver,
Granite, Martin, Brushy, and Tonto mountain ranges. Nearly all riparian lands
are privately owned. Vegetative communities include Semi-desert Grassland,
Arizona Interior Chaparral, Sonoran Desert Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper, and Ponderosa
Pine.
The watershed includes two major creeks: Kirkland Creek and Skull Valley
Wash, its tributary. At its confluence with Sycamore Creek, Kirkland Creek
transisitons to the Santa Maria River, which flows south and west to its
confluence with the Big Sandy. At that confluence, the streams become the Bill
Williams River. The primary source of groundwater is recent alluvium. Depths to
water vary from just below the surface to several hundred feet. Residents report
that groundwater levels have dropped, and there are cases where dry holes have
been drilled. Water shortages have been reported in Yarnell and Wilhoit. Some
wells have gone dry.
The 1940 Water Development Plan inventoried the surface flows from each
valley and predicted safe yield (Elmendorf 1940). This data was revisited with
acreage under irrigation calculated at 1296 acres using year 2000 aerial photos.
NRCS Consumptive use data was used to determine the amount of irrigation water
being pumped for each crop grown. The apparent total watershed safe yield is
currently exceeded. None of the areas studied show an excess.
The Upper Bill Williams Partnership was formed in early 2001 with a mission
to: 'Manage and protect our water resources, water quality, and water rights.'
Note: This information is adapted from 'Kirkland Creek Watershed
Assessment' by Dave Smith, dated 4/30/2001. The Kirkland Creek Watershed
boundaries are almost, but not exactly, the same as those defined for the Upper
Bill Williams Watershed. |
