The Parker Valley is located along the Lower

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

within the Lower Colorado River Valley region, in southwestern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and southeastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Its natural habitats are within the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

(Arizona) and Colorado Desert (California) ecoregions.

Riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s on the river include Mesquite Bosques. The river has supported irrigated agricultural conversion of the valley's landscape.

Geography

Three major drainages of the Colorado River enter in the Parker Valley region. The

Bill Williams River The Bill Williams River is a river in west-central Arizona where it, along with one of its tributaries, the Santa Maria River, form the boundary between Mohave County to the north and La Paz County to the south.''Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer,'' D ...

and

Bouse Wash Bouse Wash is one of the larger eastern-bank dry washes that enter the Colorado River in the Lower Colorado River Valley. It is located in La Paz County, extreme western Arizona. Geography Bouse Wash is located on the north rim of the La Posa P ...

have confluences with the Colorado in the northern valley area, from watersheds on the east.

Tyson Wash Tyson Wash is one of the larger eastern-bank dry washes that enter the Colorado River in western Arizona. It drains the La Posa Plain south-to-north and is also coincident with the Plain's southern two thirds. It is also the southwest drainage ...

crosses the La Posa Plain and enters downstream, with its watershed east of the river in the Colorado River Indian Reservation. In California, the

Vidal Valley Vidal Valley is a 20-mile (32 km) long valley in the far eastern Colorado Desert bordering the Colorado River. Most of the valley is in eastern San Bernardino County, California, but the outfall on the Colorado River is in northeast Riverside ...

and the

Whipple Mountains The Whipple Mountains ( Mojave: Avii Kur'utat; Chemehuevi: Wiyaatuʷa̱) are located in eastern San Bernardino County, California. They are directly west of the Colorado River, Parker Dam, and Lake Havasu; south of Needles, California; north of ...

border the Parker Valley on the northwest, and the Palo Verde Valley on the southwest. In Arizona the

Buckskin Mountains The Buckskin Mountains is a mountain range in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. The range lies just east of the north–south Colorado River, and borders south of the east–west, west-flowing Bill Williams River. Description The range is ...

border the valley on the north, the

Cactus Plain Cactus Plain is a plain east of the Colorado River and Parker Valley, in La Paz County, western Arizona, United States. Geography Cactus Plain is a landform within the Lower Colorado River Valley. It is adjacent to Bouse Wash, which is on the so ...

and

Dome Rock Mountains The Dome Rock Mountains are a mountain range in southern La Paz County, Arizona. The range borders the Colorado River on the west and the Colorado River Indian Reservation on the northwest located in the Lower Colorado River Valley. Quartzsite, ...

border it on the east.

Populated places

Settlements within Parker Valley include: Parker and Poston in Arizona; and Earp and Big River in California. It is at the northern area of the Colorado River Indian Reservation on the Colorado River, and is also at the northern perimeter of the

La Posa Plain The La Posa Plain is a wide, generally flat plain in western Arizona near the Colorado River and is on the west and northwest border of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The plain lies to the east of the Colorado River Indian Reservation and east ...

.Arizona Road & Recreation Atlas, pp. 38, 72. Image:Noaa topo az.jpg, The long Parker Valley (green) along the Colorado River in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, shown running north–south on left side of Arizona topographic map. File:Catalina_Eddy_2013-02-17.jpg, View of entire region: the larger valley just south, is the Yuma Valley area containing

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

.
The Yuma Valley is shown merging into the

El Centro, California El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban ar ...

region at the south of the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf ...

References

* * Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, c. 2002, p. 70. {{Authority control Valleys of Arizona Valleys of California Valleys of the Lower Colorado River Valley Geography of the Colorado Desert Valleys of Riverside County, California Valleys of San Bernardino County, California Landforms of La Paz County, Arizona

Geography

Populated places

See also

References