Central Arizona Project
Part of: USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office (PXAO)
The Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Arizona Project (CAP) collection presents results of the extensive cultural resource investigations conducted during the planning, construction, and maintenance of the project’s water delivery systems and associated infrastructure. The wide scope and expansive scale of CAP archaeology represent an impressive and now integral contribution to Southwestern archaeology, and much of the work changed and challenged many conceptions of Arizona’s prehistory. The collection’s materials are organized according to the CAP’s water delivery systems and other structures. Within each of these delivery system collections, materials are further divided into archaeological projects and tasks that were conducted to investigate cultural resources
The CAP is a multipurpose water resource development and management project that provides irrigation, municipal and industrial water, power, flood control, outdoor recreation, environmental enhancement and sediment control. The project also provides delivery of Tribal homeland water, partial settlement of Indian water rights claims, and economic benefits accruing from the leasing of Indian agricultural water rights to municipal entities. Water is provided to lands in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties, and to several communities, including the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson. Authorization also was included for development of facilities to deliver water to Catron, Hidalgo, and Grant Counties in New Mexico. In addition to water delivery systems, the CAP includes power generation infrastructure, principally participation in the Navajo Generation Station and a transmission system to supply power to pumping plants and check structures of the Hayden-Rhodes, Fannin-McFarland and Tucson aqueducts
For administration and construction purposes, the CAP was divided into the Granite Reef, Orme, Salt-Gila, Gila River, Tucson, and the Indian and Non-Indian Distribution divisions. During project construction, the Orme Division was re-formulated and renamed the Regulatory Storage Division; it includes New Waddell Dam and Camp Dyer Diversion Dam. Upon completion, the Granite Reef Division was re-named the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct, and the Salt-Gila Division was renamed the Fannin-McFarland Aqueduct.
The CAP was authorized by the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968. Construction of the project began in 1973 with the award of a contract for the Havasu Intake Channel Dike and excavation for the Havasu Pumping Plant (Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant) on the shores of Lake Havasu. Construction of the other project features followed. The backbone aqueduct system, which runs about 336 miles from Lake Havasu to a terminus southwest of Tucson, was declared substantially complete in 1993. The new and modified dams constructed as part of the project were declared substantially complete in 1994. All of the non-Indian agricultural water distribution systems were completed in the late 1980s, as were most of the municipal water delivery systems. Several Indian distribution systems are either under construction or remain to be built; it is estimated that full development of these systems could require another 20 years or longer.
When authorized, the plan included the construction of Hooker Dam and Buttes Dam on the Gila River to provide conservation storage, flood and sediment control, and recreation opportunities, and the construction of Orme Dam at the junction of the Salt and Verde Rivers to provide flood protection and water conservation. None of these facilities were built. Although authorized, Buttes Dam and Hooker Dam on the Gila River (in New Mexico) and Charleston Dam on the San Pedro River were not constructed because of cost considerations, a lack of demand for the water, lack of repayment capability by the users, and environmental constraints. To fulfill the authorized functions of Orme Dam, Plan 6 was developed. Plan 6 is the Regulatory Storage Division of the project and includes New Waddell Dam and Camp Dryer Diversion Dam located on the Agua Fria River, a tributary of the Gila River, and a modified Roosevelt and Stewart Mountain dams on the Salt River. These two dams predate the project and have been modified for safety and increased storage capacity.
Site Name Keywords
AZ T:4:150(ASM) •
AZ U:10:14(ASM) •
AZ U:15:102(ASM) •
AZ AA:3:49(ASM) •
AZ T:4:156(ASM) •
AZ T:4:157(ASM) •
AZ U:6:2(ASU) •
AZ AA:3:21(ASM) •
AZ AA:3:26(ASM) •
AZ U:10:5(ASM)
Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex •
Domestic Structures •
Archaeological Feature •
Artifact Scatter •
Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features •
Settlements •
Agricultural or Herding •
Hamlet / Village •
Rock Alignment •
Rock Art
Other Keywords
Historic Ranching •
Damage Assessment
Culture Keywords
Hohokam •
Historic •
Euroamerican •
Historic Native American •
Archaic •
Late Archaic •
Yavapai •
PaleoIndian •
Early Archaic •
Middle Archaic
Investigation Types
Site Stewardship Monitoring •
Heritage Management •
Archaeological Overview •
Systematic Survey •
Reconnaissance / Survey •
Site Evaluation / Testing •
Data Recovery / Excavation •
Records Search / Inventory Checking
Material Types
Ground Stone •
Ceramic •
Chipped Stone •
Metal •
Building Materials •
Glass •
Fauna •
Fire Cracked Rock •
Macrobotanical •
Pollen
Temporal Keywords
Prehistoric •
Historic Period •
Protohistoric Period •
Historic •
Hohokam Colonial period •
Hohokam Early Classic period •
Gila Butte Phase •
Colonial Period •
Ceramic Period •
Archaic Period
Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) •
United States of America (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
USA (Country) •
Yavapai County (County) •
Maricopa County (County) •
Lake Pleasant Regional Park •
US (ISO Country Code) •
Arizona •
Agua Fria River
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-23 of 23)
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Archaeological Assessment of 16 Sites at Lake Pleasant Regional Park: Select Photos (2008)
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In December 2008, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) re-visited 16 sites in Lake Regional Park to assess their condition. ACS archaeologists documented the sites and evaluated their current state of preservation. This record includes select photos from the assessment work.
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Cultural Resource Assessment of 13 Archaeological Sites Located in Lake Pleasant Regional Park: Select Photos (2006)
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In the mid-1990s, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) completed a survey of Lake Pleasant Regional Park. The survey was undertaken to identify all cultural resources within the Park, which was acquired by Reclamation as part of construction of New Waddell Dam. In the intervening years, the Park has seen continued and increasing recreational use. In the 11 years since it completed the survey of the Park, Reclamation has monitored activity at nine of the 183 sites in the Park with the...
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Cultural Resources Assessment of 117 Archaeological Sites for the Fannin-McFarland and Tucson Aqueducts, Central Arizona Project Canal: Photos (2017)
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In compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Phoenix Area Office (PXAO) began cultural resource surveys along the Central Arizona Project (CAP) main stem alignment shortly after the CAP was authorized. For the next 25 years, various cultural resource management contractors conducted inventories of the CAP, recording several hundred archaeological sites. From the 1970s to the 1980s, some of these sites were tested and/or excavated as mitigation for the...
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Photos from the Cultural Resources Assessment of 22 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 1 and 2 of the Fannin-McFarland Portion of the CAP Canal (2006)
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The Bureau of Reclamation has developed an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal main stem based on the Class III survey data that includes all previously recorded sites. To assist Reclamation in checking the accuracy of its site database, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) was asked to revisit 22 sites that had been identified in Reaches 1 and 2 of the Fannin-McFarland portion of the CAP canal. These are the photos taken from the cultural...
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Photos from the Cultural Resources Assessment of 23 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reach 3 of the Fannin-McFarland Portion of the CAP Canal (2007)
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The Bureau of Reclamation has developed an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal main stem based on the Class III survey data that includes all previously recorded sites. An unknown number of these sites were either destroyed by construction or excavation, while others are no longer located within the CAP right-of-way (ROW). To assist Reclamation in checking the accuracy of its site database, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) was asked to revisit...
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Photos from the Cultural Resources Assessment of 28 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reach 4 of the Fannin-McFarland Portion of the CAP Canal (2009)
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The Bureau of Reclamation has developed an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal main stem based on the Class III survey data that includes all previously recorded sites. An unknown number of these sites were either destroyed by construction or excavation, while others are no longer located within the CAP right-of-way (ROW). To assist Reclamation in checking the accuracy of its site database, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) was asked to revisit...
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Cultural Resources Assessment of 39 Archaeological Sites in the Agua Fria Conservation Area: Select Photos (2007)
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In 2007, Archaeological Consulting Services, Inc. (ACS) re-visited 39 known archaeological sites in the Agua Fria Conservation Area in Lake Pleasant Regional Park. ACS archaeologists documented and assessed the condition of the sites. This record includes select photos from the assessment work.
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Photos from the Cultural Resources Assessment of 59 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 1 and 2 of the Tucson Aqueduct (Phase A) (2010)
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The Bureau of Reclamation has developed an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal main stem based on the Class III survey data that includes all previously recorded sites. An unknown number of these sites were either destroyed by construction or excavation, while others are no longer located within the CAP right-of-way (ROW). To assist Reclamation in checking the accuracy of its site database, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) was asked to revisit...
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A Cultural Resources Survey of 1,420 Acres Along the Lower San Pedro River, North of Benson: Photos (2002)
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The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) directed Archaeological Consulting Service, Ltd. (ACS) to complete a Class III cultural resources survey of 1,420 acres along the lower San Pedro River. Reclamation, in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, plans to acquire this land and designate it a conservation easement as mitigation for the destruction of riparian habitat during construction of the Central Arizona Project fish barriers. ACS conducted a Class III cultural resources survey of the...
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Photos from the Cultural Resources Survey of 34 Acres Along Fossil Creek in the Vicinity of Proposed Fish Barriers, Yavapai County, Arizona (2003)
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ACS performed a Class III (intensive) cultural resources inventory of approximately 34.4 acres of land located along Fossil Creek on the Coconino National Forest (CNF) in conjunction with the proposed construction of a fish barrier on Fossil Creek. The project area lies north of the confluence with the Verde River, on the west side of Fossil Creek, south of the Irving Power Plant site in the Mazatzal Mountains in central Arizona and includes the northern portion or the Mazatzal...
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Damage Assessment of AZ T:4:157(ASM) and AZ T:4:156(ASM) in Lake Pleasant Regional Park, Yavapai County, Arizona: Select Photos (2003)
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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) reported a violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) in April 2003 when a petroglyph boulder was removed from Reclamation land. The boulder was located on a terrace edge overlooking the Agua Fria River north of Lake Pleasant, within archaeological site AZ T:4:157(ASM). A criminal investigation followed. The petroglyph boulder was recovered in September 2003. Subsequent to the investigation, Mr. Jon Czaplicki, Reclamation...
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Hayden Rhodes Aqueduct Phase IV Small Sites Assessment, Central Arizona Project Canal: Photos (2018)
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The Phoenix Area Office (PXAO), Reclamation, maintains an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) main stem canal. The data base was developed using all the previous main stem survey data and previously recorded sites. While many sites have been determined eligible or not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (Register), some have not received eligibility determinations and some are located outside of the construction corridor and not impacted....
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Homesteading and Ranching in the Vicinity of Lake Pleasant Regional Park, Maricopa and Yavapai Counties, Arizona: Select Photos (2007)
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The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) identified the need for an in-depth study of ranching and homesteading in Lake Pleasant Regional Park (LPRP). At Reclamation’s request, Archaeological Consulting Services (ACS) undertook this current study, which builds upon previous research and investigations sponsored by Reclamation that indicated that the ranching history was an important historic context for the area. This project includes: (1) archival research into the history of ranching in the...
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Lake Pleasant 52 Sites Relocation: Select Photos (2010)
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In August and September 2010, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) re-visited 52 sites in Lake Pleasant Regional Park to relocate the sites and assess their conditions. This record contains select photos that document the relocation work.
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Lake Pleasant 8 Sites Relocation: Select Photos (2012)
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In January 2012, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) re-visited 8 sites in Lake Pleasant Regional Park to relocate the sites and to assess their conditions. This record contains select photos that document the relocation work.
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Lake Pleasant Condition Assessments for 41 Sites: Select Photos (2009)
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In November and December 2009, Archaeological Consulting Services, Inc. (ACS) re-visited 41 known archaeological sites in Lake Pleasant Regional Park. ACS archaeologists documented and assessed the condition of the sites. This record includes select photos from the assessment work.
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Lake Pleasant Regional Park Cultural Resource Management Plan: Selected Photos (2002)
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In 2004, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) produced the Cultural Resources Management Plan for Lake Pleasant Regional Park to provide management recommendations to Maricopa County, AZ and the Bureau of Reclamation. The project synthesized information about the cultural resources in the park, and set forth policies and procedures to protect and manage them efficiently. The following images are selected photos taken during the course of the project. Please see image photo log...
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Phase 1 Investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), A Multicomponent Rockshelter: Select Photos of Coring and Testing (2009)
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At the request of the Bureau of Reclamation–Phoenix Area Office (PXAO), ACS conducted Phase 1 cultural resource assessments and investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), a multicomponent rockshelter site in Lake Pleasant Regional Park, in 2008. The site was being impacted by increased visitation and Reclamation is seeking to mitigate those impacts. ACS archaeologists completed surface collection, mapping, and soil coring at the site. These investigations confirmed that the site held the potential to...
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Phase 1 Investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), A Multicomponent Rockshelter: Select Photos of Surface Collection (2009)
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At the request of the Bureau of Reclamation–Phoenix Area Office (PXAO), ACS conducted Phase 1 cultural resource assessments and investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), a multicomponent rockshelter site in Lake Pleasant Regional Park, in 2008. The site was being impacted by increased visitation and Reclamation is seeking to mitigate those impacts. ACS archaeologists completed surface collection, mapping, and soil coring at the site. These investigations confirmed that the site held the potential to...
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Phase 2 Data Recovery Investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), A Multicomponent Rockshelter: Select Photos (2010)
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ACS conducted Phase 2 data recovery at the Lake Pleasant Rockshelter site (AZ T:4:150[ASM]) in 2010 at the request of the Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office. The proposed work plan for Phase 2 (Pinter et al. 2009) was accepted by Reclamation, and was implemented in two sessions due to inclement weather and rising lake levels. The first session occurred in January 2010, followed by a hiatus to allow the lake level to drop and the weather to cool; the second and final session occurred in...
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Photos from the Relocation, Reassessment, and Remapping of 74 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 3, 4, and 5 of the Tucson Aqueduct (Phase B) (2013)
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The Phoenix Area Office (PXAO), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), has developed an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) main stem canal. The current data is based on data resulting from Class III surveys conducted in the 1970s and 1980s prior to the canal’s construction. To assist in checking the accuracy of its site database, Reclamation requested that Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) revisit 74 sites that had been identified in Reaches 3, 4,...
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Salt-Gila (Fannin-McFarland) Aqueduct Central Arizona Project Mapping and Assessment: Photos (2009)
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The Bureau of Reclamation has developed an archaeological site database for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal main stem based on the Class III survey data that includes all previously recorded sites. An unknown number of these sites were either destroyed by construction or excavation, while others are no longer located within the CAP right-of-way (ROW). To assist Reclamation in checking the accuracy of its site database, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) was asked to revisit a...
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Archaeological Investigations at AZ BB:13:16(ASM)-Locus F, Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, San Xavier District, Pima County, Arizona: Photos (2001)
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The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) assisted the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation with the construction of an extension of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) pipeline on reservation lands along the Santa Cruz River. The pipeline corridor crosses Loci F and H of AZ BB:13:16(ASM), a Hohokam occupation zone with many pithouses and other structures, varied pits, trash areas, and possibly human remains. Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) provided the labor,...