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
Fastimes • Water World • Hawk's Nest site • AZ AA:3:18(ASM) • AZ AA:3:19(ASM) • AZ AA:3:47(ASM) • AZ AA:3:49(ASM) • AZ AA:7:15(ASM) • AZ AA:7:46(ASM) • AZ AA:7:57(ASM)

Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Settlements • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Hamlet / Village • Agricultural or Herding • Quarry • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Archaeological Feature • Artifact Scatter • Hearth

Other Keywords
Field Houses • Quarry Activity • Picacho Mountains Prehistory • Picacho Mountains Archaeology • Avra Valley

Culture Keywords
Hohokam • Historic • Archaic • PaleoIndian • Early Archaic • Middle Archaic • Late Archaic • Euroamerican • Historic Native American

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Site Evaluation / Testing • Data Recovery / Excavation • Systematic Survey • Site Stewardship Monitoring • Heritage Management • Architectural Survey • Reconnaissance / Survey

Material Types
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Ground Stone • Fauna • Shell • Fire Cracked Rock • Glass • Metal • Dating Sample • Building Materials

Temporal Keywords
Prehistoric • Hohokam pre-Classic period • Archaic • Ceramic Period • Historic • Early Colonial Period • Late Formative • Pioneer Period • Classic Period • Hohokam Classic period

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • North America (Continent) • USA (Country) • Pima County (County) • Tucson Aqueduct • Arizona • US (ISO Country Code) • Pinal County (County) • Pima County

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

There are 6 Projects within this Collection [remove this filter]

Archaeological Survey for the Tucson Aqueduct System Reliability Investigations (TASRI) Reservoir, Pima County, Arizona Cultural Resources Assessment of 117 Archaeological Sites for the Fannin-McFarland and Tucson Aqueducts, Central Arizona Project Canal, Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima Counties, Arizona Cultural Resources Assessment of 59 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 1 and 2 of the Tucson Aqueduct (Phase A)
  • Cultural Resources Assessment of 59 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 1 and 2 of the Tucson Aqueduct (Phase A)
    PROJECT USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office.

    The Bureau of Reclamation has developed an archaeological site database for the CAP 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 59 sites that had been identified...

Relocation, Reassessment, and Remapping of 74 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 3, 4, and 5 of the Tucson Aqueduct (Phase B)
  • Relocation, Reassessment, and Remapping of 74 Archaeological Sites Located Along Reaches 3, 4, and 5 of the Tucson Aqueduct (Phase B)
    PROJECT USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office.

    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. The majority of these sites have not been revisited since they were first recorded. An unknown number of these sites were destroyed by either construction or excavation, while others are no...

Tucson Aqueduct Project Phase A
  • Tucson Aqueduct Project Phase A
    PROJECT Donald E. Weaver, Jr.. Donald E. Weaver, Jr.. USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office.

    Reaches 1 and 2 of the Tucson Aqueduct portion of the Central Arizona Project extend from the terminus of the Salt-Gila Aqueduct just east of Picacho Reservoir (12 km southeast of Coolidge) south along the western flanks of the Picacho Mountains, east along the southern flanks of the Picacho Mountains through Picacho Pass, and then south to the vicinity of Red Rock. A Class III archaeological survey of the aqueduct corridor and associated areas was conducted by Arizona State Museum...

Tucson Aqueduct Project Phase B
  • Tucson Aqueduct Project Phase B
    PROJECT Lynn S. Teague. Jon Czaplicki. John C. Ravesloot. USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office.

    The Tucson Aqueduct Phase B Project represents the first substantial archaeological investigations and excavations to be conducted in the Avra Valley. Prior to the 1983 intensive survey of the Phase B alignment by archaeologists from the Arizona State Museum, archaeological investigation of the Avra Valley had been limited primarily to occasional clearance surveys and test excavations. The identification of 47 prehistoric sites during the 1983 survey (Downum and others 1986) and the...