Arizona Water Factsheets … Did You Know?
Learning About Water Demand and Supply in Gila County
Water demand in Gila County is driven primarily by mining, which accounts for nearly half (49%) of total use. Agriculture—irrigation and livestock—accounts for 29% of demand, while municipal demand, including domestic and commercial use, represents the remaining 22%.
Most communities in Gila County are entirely dependent upon groundwater supplies for domestic and commercial uses. Groundwater is the source of most (94%) of the county’s water supply. Gila County has a significant rural population, with about 41% of residents living outside the major population centers of Payson and Globe. Many of these rural households depend on private domestic wells for their drinking water.
Gila County’s relatively small surface water supply is largely tied to the Salt River, which flows east to west across the county. In 2019, with help from Salt River Project, which manages the river’s surface water, the Town of Payson secured the right to use surface water from the C.C. Cragin Reservoir as a source of municipal supply. Access to this new surface water supply reduced reliance on local groundwater pumping and allowed unused water to be stored, leading to significant aquifer recovery that raised the local water table by more than 60 feet in many areas.