Research Design and Work Plan for Intensive Testing of the San Xavier Farm Rehabilitation Project, San Xavier District, Tohono O’odham Nation, Pima County, Arizona: Report

This is part of the San Xavier Farm Rehabilitation Project. Additional entries related to this project can be found at the following link: https://core.tdar.org/collection/27482
Reclamation is assisting the San Xavier District and the San Xavier Farm Cooperative in the extensive rehabilitation of approximately 1,700 acres of active and fallow farmland along the Santa Cruz River at San Xavier. While some present and former fields will be modified to better accommodate water application from various water delivery systems, the major impacts to fields and some adjacent lands will be from installation of water pipelines and vaults; construction of drainage channels and dikes, including an extension to the west of the existing Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) dike at Interstate 19 (I-19) at the Papago Interchange; and possible tree planting or farming in Field 34 near the southbound ramp of I-19. The project area is located just south of Tucson and west of the Tucson International Airport, and is generally bounded by Valencia Road to the north, the Santa Cruz River and I-19 to the east, the Papago Interchange to the south, and Mission Road and Black Mountain to the west.The project is a federal undertaking by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Phoenix Area Office, and takes place on Native American lands (Tohono O’odham Nation) adjacent to southwest Tucson. The proposed activities include extensive linear ground disturbance within the proposed farm rehabilitation pipeline, channel, and dike rights-of-way; the ADOT dike extension at the Papago Interchange on I-19; and in Fields 34 and 46N for tree planting.

This document represents the research design and work plan for intensive testing for the proposed San Xavier Farm Rehabilitation Project. The level of work proposed in this research design represents an 8 percent sample of the total length of the rights-of-way, and a less-than-1 percent sample in Field 34, which encompasses part of AZ BB:13:14(ASM). At the request of Reclamation, no feature excavations are proposed for Field 34 or the ADOT dike extension; if significant subsurface deposits are found in these two areas, a separate work plan will be developed for review. The research design of the overall project has been developed to complement existing knowledge, and address knowledge gaps in the Tucson Basin, and incorporates specific research foci developed by ACS and the San Xavier District Cultural Committee for this area of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

The testing report can be found at tDAR ID: 393788.