Big Sandy River (Arizona)
The Big Sandy River is in northwestern Arizona in Mohave County. It begins where Cottonwood Wash and Trout Creek converge in the Hualapai Indian Reservation near Hualapai Peak then flows past Wikieup south of Kingman. It has a length of 55.7 miles (89.6 km)[1] and joins the Santa Maria River to form Bill Williams River at Alamo Lake State Park. It has the Hualapai Mountains to the west, the Aquarius and Mohon Mountains to the east and southeast, the Juniper Mountains further east, and the Peacock Mountains and Cottonwood Cliffs to the north. It is an intermittent stream flowing as a stream after local rain. Its watershed covers approximately 1,900 square miles (4,900 km2). The dry bed is about a mile (2 km) across. The alluvium along the stream floodplain is up to 40 feet (12 m) thick and provides an unconsolidated aquifer that can supply up to 1,000 US gallons per minute (63 L/s) of well flow. Much of the water pumped from the basin is used in mining operations in the Bill Williams area.
In 2001 the Arizona Corporation Commission denied a request to build a power plant in the basin citing environmental and ecology concerns and objections by the, people of Wikieup and Hualapai Nation. An endangered bird, the southwestern willow flycatcher, resides in the basin.
[edit] References
- ^ "The National Map". U.S. Geological Survey. http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 34°55′17″N 113°37′32″W / 34.9212539°N 113.6256414°W
