Tucson Aqueduct
Part of: Central Arizona Project
The Tucson Aqueduct is a feature of the Central Arizona Project designed to bring Colorado River water into the interior of the state. It consists of 87 miles of mostly open, concrete-lined canal, although two major sections are piped, one major siphon, and nine pumping plants. A transmission system links most of the pumping plants (Twin Peaks, Sandario, Brawley, San Xavier, Snyder Hill, and Black Mountain) to power provided by the Navajo Generating Station, near Page, Arizona. The Tucson system is divided into two phases, Phase A and Phase B, which in turn were divided into reaches, which facilitated the organization and administration of the various construction phases of the project. Phase A contained Reaches 1, 2, and 3. Phase B contained Reaches 4, 5, and 6.
The Tucson Aqueduct project provided the unprecedented opportunity for an extended, large-scale archaeological study of the later periods of Hohokam occupation and of the little known Archaic occupation of central Arizona. The project was organized around a series of tasks and problem oriented analyses that were guided by a consistent, explicit research orientation.
Archaeological investigations of the Tucson Aqueduct began in 1969, the year after construction of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) was authorized by the Colorado River Basin Act (P.L. 90-537). A feasibility alignment survey (Kayser and Fiero 1969) provided data for the general programmatic environmental statements on the Central Arizona Project (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 1972). These data were supplemented by additional research, survey, and evaluative testing projects (Czaplicki 1984; Downum et al. 1986; McCarthy 1982; Westfall 1979) completed by the Arizona State Museum (ASM). Ultimately the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) undertook a massive data recovery project at sites located along Phase A of the Tucson Aqueduct, the results of which were published in a six volume series (MNA Research Paper 35) that was completed in 1988. The ASM undertook an equally large data recovery project at sites located along Phase B of the Tucson Aqueduct, the results of which were published in a five volume series.
Following construction of the Tucson Aqueduct, Reclamation established a database of archaeological resources within the CAP right-of-way based on the original Class III survey data. 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. In 2010, Reclamation began hiring cultural resource management firms to revisit and reevaluate archaeological resources located within its right-of-way and obtain up to date data on site eligibility and condition.
Site Name Keywords
AZ AA:7:15(ASM) •
AZ AA:3:19(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:57(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:59(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:62(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:64(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:66(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:68(ASM) •
AZ AA:7:27(ASM) •
AZ AA:3:18(ASM)
Site Type Keywords
Archaeological Feature •
Artifact Scatter •
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex •
Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features •
Settlements •
Hamlet / Village •
Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno •
Agricultural or Herding •
Hearth •
Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
Other Keywords
Picacho Mountains Archaeology •
Picacho Mountains Prehistory •
Field Houses •
Quarry Activity •
Avra Valley •
Tucson Aqueduct Project •
Central Arizona Project •
Flotation Analysis •
Archaeological Predictive Model •
bioarchaeology
Culture Keywords
Hohokam •
Historic •
Archaic •
Euroamerican •
Historic Native American •
PaleoIndian •
Early Archaic •
Middle Archaic •
Late Archaic •
Cochise
Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview •
Site Evaluation / Testing •
Systematic Survey •
Data Recovery / Excavation •
Reconnaissance / Survey •
Site Stewardship Monitoring •
Heritage Management •
Records Search / Inventory Checking •
Research Design / Data Recovery Plan •
Environment Research
Material Types
Ceramic •
Chipped Stone •
Ground Stone •
Fauna •
Shell •
Fire Cracked Rock •
Human Remains •
Macrobotanical •
Building Materials •
Dating Sample
Temporal Keywords
Hohokam pre-Classic period •
Hohokam Classic period •
Classic Period •
Sedentary Period •
Historic •
Prehistoric •
Colonial Period •
Historic Pima •
Pioneer Period •
Rillito Phase
Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) •
United States of America (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
USA (Country) •
Pima County (County) •
Tucson Aqueduct •
Pinal County (County) •
Picacho Reservoir •
Red Rock Reservoir •
Picacho Mountains
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-35 of 35)
There are 35 Documents within this Collection [remove this filter]
An Archaeological Survey of Nearly 1000 Acres for the Tucson Aqueduct System Reliability Investigations Avra Valley, Pima County, Arizona (1994)
Additional Cultural Resources Survey within the Fannin-McFarland and Tucson Aqueducts, Central Arizona Project Canal, Maricopa, Pinal, Pima Counties, Arizona (2017)
Cultural Resources Assessment of 117 Archaeological Sites for the Fannin-McFarland and Tucson Aqueducts, Central Arizona Project Canal: Photo Log (2017)
An Archaeological Overview of the Middle and Lower Santa Cruz Basin: A Class I Cultural Resource Survey for the Central Arizona Project - Tucson Division (1979)
Hohokam Settlement Along the Slopes of the Picacho Mountains, Volume 2, Part 1: The Brady Wash Sites (1988)
A Class III Archaeological Survey of the Phase B Corridor, Tucson Aqueduct, Central Arizona Project (1986)
Hohokam Archaeology Along Phase B of the Tucson Aqueduct Central Arizona Project, Volume 1: Syntheses and Interpretations (1989)
Hohokam Archaeology Along Phase B of the Tucson Aqueduct Central Arizona Project, Volume 4: Small Sites and Specialized Reports (1989)