What are the potential effects of salt accumulation in ground water?
During much of this century, more ground water has been withdrawn in south-central Arizona than has been replenished by natural and artificial means (Arizona Department of Water Resources, 1994). As a result, ground-water levels generally have moved downward more quickly than the deep-percolation water from agricultural fields and urban areas, and the quality of deep ground water has not been degraded by the slower moving salty water (Bouwer, 1997). Since the mid-1980’s, the trend has been to rely less on ground water and use more CAP water, especially for agriculture (Cordy and others, 1998). This trend could result in ground-water levels declining more slowly or even beginning to rise. Water levels also would rise if salty deep-percolation water reaches the ground-water table. In the southeastern part of the Salt River Valley where irrigation has continued but ground-water pumping has stopped, ground-water levels have risen an average of about 4.5 feet per year in the last 15 years,
