Archeological Investigations Along the Salt-Gila Aqueduct

In 1978, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) directed the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) to complete an intensive archaeological survey of the proposed alignment for the Salt-Gila Aqueduct, a feature of the Central Arizona Project. The survey area was 11,115 acres and included the 60 mile-long transmission line (with a typical width of 200 meters), three proposed utility line locations, one flood retention dike location, 11 possible spoil or realignment areas, and a subsidence well. Seventy archaeological sites were recorded during this survey. Following pedestrian survey, the MNA also conducted archaeological testing at selected sites to evaluate their eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The survey had two general goals: 1) to assess the significance of archaeological resources in the project area and to recommend ways of mitigating adverse impacts to them which might result from construction and 2) to generate and synthesize data that would significantly enhance scientific knowledge about the project area, specifically about the use of the area through time.

This report addresses the second goal and synthesizes the survey data providing models of aboriginal utilization of riverine and nonriverine resource zones in the study area. The mitigation report that addresses the first goal can be found at tDAR ID 53593.