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Proposed wetland restoration and flood control by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) associated with the north bank of the Salt River, near confluences of the Agua Fria and Gila rivers, requires the identification of cultural resources as laid out in Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The project area involves a wide, stable floodplain terrace below Frank Midvale’s Cashion Ruin. After the completion of a records search, archeologists from the Corps surveyed the project’s area of potential effects (approximately 700 acres) in the summer of 1999, identifying the historic St. Johns Canal (AZ T:11:93 [ASM]), and a possible Hohokam habitation site (AZ T:11:94 [ASM]). The historic canal is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places given its extensive modifications over time. The prehistoric site is potentially eligible for the National Register. The possibility exists for additional sites buried within the floodplain. In addition to National Register evaluations of the prehistoric site, subsurface exploration and geomorphic studies of the floodplain are proposed.

Each year thousands of people come to the Salt River Valley, some to visit and some to live. They see a thriving, growing community. But like many who have spent most, or all, of their lives there, they don't know much about the Valley's origins or how it developed. The men and women who built the Valley were like today's people. They were trying to improve their own condition. In doing that, they contributed to the well-being of one another. Jack Swilling was one of them. Swilling organized the first modern irrigating canal company more than a century ago. Water was then, and is today, the essential element around which everything in the Valley is built. Yet, many important decisions about water remain to be made today and will need to be made in the future. Knowing something about how we got where we are today may contribute to making the right decisions tomorrow. Earl Zarbin's interest in the water history of the Salt River Valley and his research into the subject led to the articles in this booklet. They were first published in The Arizona Republic, where he worked for 30 years before early retirement at the end of 1988.

Wirth Associates contracted with the Museum of Northern Arizona to conduct an archaeological impact study of a proposed Salt River Project Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Routing Alternate to Westwing Receiving Station. This study delineates areas with three levels of potential site occurence for the project area, and investigates potential effects on the cultural resources of the alternative corridors proposed by Salt River Project. A short data gathering phase, prior to field work, compiled information from site inventory files at the Museum of Northern Arizona and the State Parks Department. During the field investigation phase one of the routes was non-randomly sampled. This report details the scope of the archaeological study, including earlier Museum investigations, describes the typological framework and regional context, and assesses the research potential of the existing archaeological resource base. The proposed corridor segments and their potential sensitivity on the resource base is described, and general discussion for routing alternatives are made.

This report attempts to document, assess, and develop a plan for conserving archaeological resources along the waste water conveyance system for the Arizona Nuclear Power Project. The paper describes 13 sites which were discovered during an intensive survey of the proposed facility, evaluates these sites in relation to the archaeological resource base of the Lower Gila River Valley, and recommends procedures for mitigating the adverse effects of construction on these cultural remains. The survey afforded an excellent opportunity to study a major Hohokam area which has received little systematic attention, to date, by professional archaeologists. This file includes related correspondence and Pat Stein's C. V.

Seven archaeological sites and 26 isolated finds were recorded during a recent survey of the right-of-way and access roads for the proposed Palo Verde to Westwing Transmission Line. The sites ranged from Hohokam camps and special-purpose, limited activity sites to Anglo homesteads of the early 20th century. Other archaeological loci usually consisted of isolated sherds or a pot-drop, though one flaked tool and several pieces of ground stone were also found. The three prehistoric sites were located in the drainage of the Agua Fria River. The Hassayampa, Luke Wash and Centennial Wash drainages lacked prehistoric sites, but contained abundant isolated finds of prehistoric and historic origin. The following report evaluates these remains in relation to the regional archaeological resource base, and recommends measures for mitigating the adverse effects of construction on these remains. Revised Report dated August 1977.

The Museum of Northern Arizona conducted archaeological investigations at two sites along the Palo Verde to Westwing Transmission System, northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. NA15,137 is an extensive Hohokam sherd and lithic scatter dating to the late Colonial and Sedentary Periods. The remains indicate a seasonal occupation with an agricultural subsistence base. NA15,142 is the remains of a late 1920s to early 1930s homestead. Recovered material and archival research confirm these dates. Apparently the homestead was only briefly occupied. There were no permanent structures and only a limited amount of artifactual material.

Flooding along the Salt, Gila, Verde, and Agua Fria Rivers in February and March of 1978 resulted in extensive damage to property in Central Arizona and in the disruption of ground transportation and commerce in the greater Phoenix area. Major flooding also occurred along these rivers in December, 1978 and February, 1980. The recognition of this flooding problem, and of requirements for the regulatory storage of Central Arizona Project (CAP) water, prompted the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to initiate the Central Arizona Water Control Study (CAWCS) in July of 1978. The objectives of the CAWCS were to identify and evaluate alternative measures for flood control and regulatory water storage in Central Arizona. Both structural (i.e., dam construction or modification, levee construction), and nonstructural (i.e., flood proofing, flood plain regulation, water exchange) alternatives were to be considered within a large study area. A Safety of Dams (SOD) issue was subsequently recognized and incorporated in the CAWCS study process. As the study progressed through a consideration of eight alternative plans, a preferred alternative (the agency-proposed action) to address these objectives was selected by Reclamation. Several critical factors were considered in comparing alternative plans, and in defining the preferred plan alternative, including: - flood control performance of a plan - regulatory water storage performance - dam safety - economics (cost/benefits) - environmental impacts - social impacts - institutional constraints Each of these factors was thoroughly evaluated in relation to the plan alternatives during the three stage study process. Stage I established the parameters of the flood control and regulatory water storage problems to be addressed, defined a number of actions (termed elements) which might contribute to the resolution of these problems, and recommended specific actions that warranted further study on the basis of their performance characteristics. Of the 34 elements reviewed during Stage I, 20 were recommended for further consideration at a Stage II level of analysis. During the Stage II analysis, competing elements (those which served similar functions but which were at different locations) were compared in order to define and retain those which best served a particular function. These 10 remaining elements were then combined into 13 intermediate plans, termed systems, each of which could provide for flood control and regulatory water storage. At the beginning of Stage III, 10 elements remained in the study. These were combined into seven candidate plans, each of which satisfied flood control, safety of dams, and regulatory water storage objectives. An eighth plan (No Action) was also defined as a basis for evaluating the effects of a proposed undertaking. As the critical factors were considered in relation to each plan, two of the eight plans (numbers 4 and 5) were eliminated due to cost and associated adverse social and environmental effects. The remaining six plans were analyzed in detail; one plan (dubbed Plan 6) was subsequently identified as the agency-proposed action. In undertaking this study, Reclamation contracted with the firm of Dames and Moore to assist in defining and evaluating the alternative plans, and to prepare a draft environmental impact statement for the agency-proposed action. Archaeological Research Services, Inc., and the Arizona State University, Department of Anthropology (Office of Cultural Resource Management) were under subcontract to Dames and Moore for the historic and prehistoric cultural resource aspects of the CAWCS respectively. The historic cultural resource study was initiated in April, 1979, and concluded in December, 1981, and involved preparing reports and supporting documentation relative to each of the study stages above. For the purposes of this study, historic cultural resources are defined as those sites or properties which were occupied after the time at which written records became available for an area. As applied to the Southwestern United States, historic sites may include those in existence at or subsequent to the period of initial Spanish contact (during the 16th century).

A proposed 160 acre grounding electrode site and associated access road west of the Hassayampa River was surveyed for archaeological resources by the Museum of Northern Arizona in April, 1983. No archaeological sites were found, and archaeological clearance is recommended for the electrode site and access road.