KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) - The U.S. Geological Survey has told Mohave County and the city of Kingman that the underground water supply will likely last longer than previously thought.
The agency said the Hualapai Valley Basin Aquifer hydrological model is expected to hold for another 100 years or more but still requires mitigation practices, the Kingman Daily Miner reported Tuesday.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources previously reported in December 2019 that there would be water supply problems by 2080 and that there is “insufficient groundwater to provide a reasonably safe supply for sustained irrigation of cultivated lands in the basin at the current and predicted rates of withdrawal.”
Now, officials have said that even in 2080, the aquifer will be in acceptable shape.
Agency Supervisory Hydrologist Jamie Macy presented the model to the audience, county and city officials and Republican state Rep. Regina Cobb, and said it is the best available hydrologic tool to assess the groundwater conditions for most purposes and for all water users.
The difference between the current and older studies comes from working with different numbers, Macy said, including different areas of maximum agricultural production and different crops.
The previous report worked on the assumption that water usage would be between 280,000 acre-feet and 340,000 acre-feet a year. The USGS worked off the assumption that it was closer to 130,000 acre-feet a year.
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