FLOOD04656

• County: Statewide
• Community: United States
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Summary of Floods in the United States During 1965
• Date: 1/1/1970
• Prepared For: US Department of the Interior
• Prepared By: Federal, State, and Local Agencies
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

E102

FLOODS OF 19'65 IN THE UNITED STATES

FLOODS OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER IN ARIZONA AND
NEW MEXICO

By B. N. ALDRIDGE

Above-normal precipitation fell over much of Arizona and. western
New Mexico from November 21 to December 30; during this time there
were five separate storms and four periods of flooding, Large-magni-
tude flood.s in sma]} areas occurred November 23-25 along the Verde
River (fig. 52), and minor floods occnrred in a larger area to the west
on December 9-11. Major floods occnrred in most of the Gila River
basin above the Salt River on December 22-26, during which time the
San Francisco River and the Gila River from the San Francisco River
to Coolidge Dam reached the highest stages recorded since 1916.. The
San Pedro and the Santa Cruz Rivers had the highest peaks since 1941.
A flood occurred above Coolidge Dam on December 30-31. The floods
of December 22-26 and December 30-31 caused about $5 million dam-
age in the Gila River basin above the Salt River.

37.114' 113' 112" 111' 110' 109' 108"-
l'----r:i-Y'--- agrl--I~~-r-~p-c:;;:;:TION

I I I I'~ I Flood
1 I 0 I 1 ITITll
oz z... ~ ULL.JI .
~ ~r 8!!< ~\':;~ \ November 23-25
36'(~..../ (/ :-:;. ~It i:IQ \......... I ~
~ 1 'Sf O~ "~ ~
~I ..'\ I I j December 9-11
~I I '1 ~ n F=l
Qal 1'-1 \~ I J:l t::=::;::i
\. '''"-- '-~,%I.I i<i I D~.m"" 22-26
) ~<';>._.~ Fl~staff ~ ,,0.7
35''- ~. '.':'- r; I#....J" ~
'\ ~I V..n!lulbrook >I~ December 30-31
>> ,_ \.1 ::dl~
<:"1:1 ".: ....R.~....a:::
1 > l~" ~t"J
..... f. St. Johns1' 2:1><:
\. \ >'~
'/"''-'91' 1 ". 18
34'~f- \ ('-,
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GfLLE$PIE..c-' MTNDAM_I.iIOoo
. DAM',
...... I y"A-.j '"
33' 'r ~ PAINTED I ~
.J _ ..g1b-<\.' I ROCK DAM I ~'"
/~--;~. ><l "'~ Dunca
I............. i ~I~_~~~ ~~_ GRAHAM "-
--'-.J.... >1 PIMA "~..$-cOCHrSE 1
-- I TucsOll'. 1~..,; I
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1111 I 1

FIGURE 52.-Flood areas, November and December in Axizona and New Mexico.

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S~RY OF FLOODS

E103

The Salt River and its tributaries also had large flows during the
periods of December 22-26 and December 30-31. Most of the flow of
December 22-26 was contained in irrigation reservoirs and did little
damage. The large, volume of runoff added to the large amount of
carryover storage raised the contents of the reservoirs on the Salt and
Verde Rivers to an unusually high level. Reserve storage remaining
in the reservoirs after the floods of December 22-26 was insufficient to
permit complete detention of the large flow of December 30-31, and,
beginning on December 31, large amounts of water were released from
Stewart Mountain and Bartlett Dams. The resulting flood caused about
$6 million damage along the Salt and Gila Rivers between the mouth
of the Verde River and Gillespie Dam, Below the reservoirs, the flow
in the Salt River was the largest since 1916, and the flow in the Verde
River was the largest since 1941. The flow in the Salt River below the
Verde River was the largest since 1938 and was the sixth largest since
the completion. of Roosevelt Dam in 1911. The five high peaks that
occurred between 1911 and 1939 originated mainly in the Verde River,
which was not regulated until the construction of Bartlett Dam in 1939.
The peak at Gillespie Dam on the Gila River was the highest since
1927,
The maximum discharge of the Salt River through Phoenix during
the flood of December 31 was 66,000 cfs, Without the storage provided
by the system of reservoirs, the peak discharge during this flood would
have been a:bout 80,000 cfs, and the peak discharge on DeCember 23,
which was 9,500 cfs, might have exceeded 120,000 cis. A flood equal
to that of December 31 will occur on an average of about once every
I) years.
The peak discharge during the flood of December 31 was reduced
less than 5 percent as it traveled 74 miles from Granite Reef Dam on
the Salt River to Gillespie Dam on the Gila River. The volume of flow,
however, was reduced nearly 30 percent in the same reach. About half
the water that passed over Granite Reef Dam reached Painted Rock
Dam, which is 39 miles downstream from Gillespie Dam, and less than
7 percent of the water reached the month of the Gila River. Increase
in ground-water levels resulted from this flood, which was l;:>eneficial
in some areas and detrimental in others.
The flow below Painted Rock Dam was completely regulated, and
flood damage was minor. However, the Gila River road crossings below
the dam were closed for Several months because of the long period of
sustained flow.
The floods are described in detail in water-supply paper 185O-C,
"Floods of November 1965 to January 1966 in Gila River basin of
Arizona and New Mexico and in adjacent basins in Arizona," by
B. N. Aldridge (1970). The water.supply paper describes conditions

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