The Sacramento Wash is a major

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

of northwest

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 ...

Mohave County Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United St ...

. The wash is east of the

Black Canyon of the Colorado The Black Canyon of the Colorado is the canyon on the Colorado River where Hoover Dam was built. The canyon is located on the Colorado River at the state line between Nevada and Arizona. The western wall of the gorge is in the El Dorado Mountai ...

and drains into the south-flowing

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 drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

45 mi south of

Lake Mohave Lake Mohave is a reservoir on the Colorado River between the Hoover Dam and Davis Dam in Cottonwood Valley defining the border between Nevada and Arizona in the United States. This 67 mile stretch of the Colorado River flows past Boulder City, ...

, and 90 mi south of

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

. The wash outfall is in the center-south of the Havasu-Mohave Lakes Watershed. An equivalent wash drains to the west of the Colorado River and the Black Canyon, draining southeast

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and a small part of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the

Piute Wash The Piute Wash of extreme southeastern Nevada and northeast San Bernardino County California is the south-flowing drainage of the Piute Valley. The wash and valley are located northwest of Needles, California. The Piute Wash watershed and Piute ...

of the

Piute Valley The Piute Valley is a north–south valley southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Needles. The north of the valley is at Searchlight, with some of the valley extending northwest from Searchlight. At the center-north lies Cal-Nev-Ari, ...

. The Piute Wash outfall is upstream of the Sacramento's outfall by about 15 miles. Both Piute and Sacramento Washes are

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

desert

wash WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievin ...

es which may only have standing water in mountainous canyon tributaries, or in periods of extensive rainfall and cooler weather. Much of the water is also simply infiltrated into groundwater basins. Only one tributary to Sacramento Wash is an intermittent stream, Sawmill Canyon in the northeast region of the

Sacramento Valley , photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg , photo_caption= Sacramento , map_image=Map california central valley.jpg , map_caption= The Central Valley of California , location = California, United States , coordinates = , boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...

.(Sawmill Canyon); Planning Area Surface Water Hydrology
/ref> The wash drains the

, and the valley is bordered on the west by the

Black Mountains (Arizona) The Black Mountains of northwest Arizona are an extensive, mostly linear, north-south trending long mountain range. It forms the north-south border of southwest Mohave County as it borders the eastern shore of the south-flowing Colorado River ...

, and

Interstate 40 in Arizona Interstate 40 (I-40) is an east–west Interstate Highway that has a section in the US state of Arizona, connecting sections in California and New Mexico. The Interstate is also referred to as the Purple Heart Trail to honor those wounded ...

traverses south from Kingman and goes west around the south end of the mountains, a section called the Black Mesa (western Arizona). I-40 joins the central section of the wash proper at

Yucca, Arizona Yucca is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 96, down from 126 at the 2010 census. Located along Interstate 40, it lies southwest o ...

and the interstate follows the valley and wash west to meet the Colorado River at Needles. The drainage to the north of the Havasu-Mohave Lakes Watershed with the Sacramento Wash Drainage is the Lake Mead Watershed. The Detrital Valley bordering Sacramento Valley and Wash north and northwest of Kingman, is part of the southeast region of

Topock Marsh

The confluence of the Sacramento Wash with the Colorado, occurs at the

Topock Marsh Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. It preserves habitat for desert bighorn sheep, the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, and other animals. The refug ...

in its southeast. The Topock Marsh has two interconnected sections, and the marsh is east of the main course of the Colorado River. It is a noted region for

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, including

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, b ...

. The river section containing the marsh is the

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. It preserves habitat for desert bighorn sheep, the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, and other animals. The refug ...

, about 25 miles long.

Northwest Arizona, Bill Williams River

The entirety of northwest Arizona is drained as a single region flowing into regions of the Colorado River and

's southeast quarter. The Sacramento Wash Watershed is bordered, and enclosed on the southeast and south by 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 (Arizona), Santa Maria River, form the boundary between Mohave County, Arizona, Mohave County to the north and La Paz C ...

and its northern tributary, the Big Sandy River which drains the areas east of the Sacramento Valley. The Bill Williams flows due west to its confluence with the Colorado, as does the Sacramento Wash flows west. The Bill Williams is also a delimiting line separating the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

to the north and northwest, and 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 Arizona ...

south and southeast. The

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

is southwest, and is called a northwest extension of the Sonoran.

References

External links

Sacramento Wash
Sacramento Wash Watershed, in Sacramento Valley
Bordering Watersheds
Big Sandy WatershedBill Williams WatershedDetrital Wash WatershedHavasu-Mohave Lakes WatershedHualapai Wash Watershed
(

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

)
Lake Mead Watershed
(with Detrital Valley) Nevada-California
Piute Wash Watershed, Nevada to California
Other

{{Rivers and streams of Arizona Tributaries of the Lower Colorado River in Arizona Rivers of Mohave County, Arizona Washes of Arizona