The Tonopah Desert is a small
desert plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
s region of 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 ...
, located west of
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
. It is adjacent north of Interstate 10 and lies at the southwest intersection of the
Hassayampa River
The Hassayampa River ( Yavapai: Hasaya:mvo or ʼHasayamcho:) is an intermittent river, the headwaters of which are just south of Prescott, Arizona, and flows mostly south towards Wickenburg, entering the Gila River near Hassayampa. Although the r ...
with the
Gila River. The Tonopah Desert is also just north of the
Gila Bend Mountains
The Gila Bend Mountains are a long mountain range of the north-central Sonoran Desert southwest of Phoenix, Arizona and in southwest Maricopa County.
The Gila River of New Mexico and Arizona transects the entire state of Arizona, and the water ...
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
which create the
Gila Bend
Gila Bend (; O'odham: Hila Wi:n), founded in 1872, is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The town is named for an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River, which is near the community's current location. As of the 2020 cen ...
of the river.
The Tonopah Desert is adjacent northwest of the small Palo Verde Hills on Centennial Wash.
Description
The Tonopah Desert is mostly east-west trending, small, approximately 30 mi long, and lies at the plains of low elevation mountains north; the
Belmont Mountains are northeast with the
Hummingbird Springs Wilderness in its north-northwest. It borders the 'low elevation mountain valley' with the
Big Horn Mountains
The Bighorn Mountains ( cro, Basawaxaawúua, lit=our mountains or cro, Iisaxpúatahchee Isawaxaawúua, label=none, lit=bighorn sheep's mountains) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a nort ...
to the west. The
Big Horn Mountains Wilderness comprise most of the Big Horn's. The desert is bordered east by other mountain foothills on the west border of the Hassayampa River.
The Tonopah Desert also lies between two plains: the narrow southeast ridgeline of the Belmont Mountains and the
Hassayampa Plain are northeast. The west and southwest of the Tonopah Desert is connected to the southeast section of the large
Harquahala Plain, northwest-southeast trending, the same lineage as the
Centennial
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at ...
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 ...
es which drain the named plains, mountains, and the desert, (about twenty landforms in the region).
The closest city to the Tonopah Desert is
Tonopah, Arizona
Tonopah is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, west of downtown Phoenix off Interstate 10. The community is near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the larg ...
, located in the center-southwest of the region, elevation .
Access routes and the region
Interstate 10 passes east-southeasterly through the south border of the Tonopah Desert; Tonopah, AZ is at the west on I-10. South of the Interstate, and only 5 mi due-southwest of Tonopah is
Wintersburg, Arizona
Wintersburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located west of downtown Phoenix and west of Buckeye along Salome Highway. It is south of Exit 98 on Interstate 10. As of the ...
, the site of the
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona, in western Arizona. It is located about due west of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and it is located near the Gila River, which is dry save for the rainy seaso ...
.
From Interstate 10, unimproved roads go north into the desert, namely 355th Ave (west); the
Sun Valley Parkway is just east going to areas of northwest Phoenix–Glendale.
Environment
The area include
Hummingbird Springs Wilderness and due to overdrawing of the water table, environmental recharge projects are being made to protect the Tonopah
Aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...
, and to reverse the effects of water overuse. The project now in place is a
Central Arizona Project
The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States.
The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River to the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu ne ...
, the Tonopah Desert Recharge Project in the Lower Hassayampa Basin.
TDRP, recharge project, M&A write-up
The project started construction of 19 basins in 2004; it became operational in 2006.
See also
* Groundwater recharge
Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...
References
External links
TDRP, recharge project, M&A write-up
Tonopah, Arizona Community Profile / Maricopa County
{{Authority control
Sonoran Desert
Deserts of Arizona
Plains of Arizona
Landforms of Maricopa County, Arizona