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 80 mi (129 km) 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 Mohon Mountains to the south, the Juniper Mountains to the 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 drains approximately 1,900 square miles (4900 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 Hualapai Nation. An endangered bird, the southwestern willow flycatcher, resides in the basin.

External links

* [http://www.water.az.gov/adwr/Content/WaterInfo/OutsideAMAs/UpperColorado/Basins/bigsandy.html Arizona Department of Water Resources]
* [http://www.cc.state.az.us/news/pr11-26-01.htm Power plant application]
* [http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/alamo.html Alamo Lake State Park]