The Santa Maria River is an
intermittent stream
Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years.(Tzoraki et al., 2007) Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the earth's surface. ...
located in western
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 ...
. It is a primary tributary of 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, form the boundary between Mohave County to the north and La Paz County to the south.''Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer,'' D ...
and one of the main sources of inflow for
Alamo Lake
Alamo Lake State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, centered on Alamo Lake, a flood control and recreational reservoir. The park is located in western Arizona about north of Wenden. It is accessed via a paved two-lane road off either U.S. ...
. The river forms a portion of the boundary between
Mohave and
La Paz counties.
Course
The Santa Maria River is formed by the confluence of the Sycamore and Kirkland Creeks, about east of the community of
Bagdad. From the confluence, the river flows in a generally southwesterly direction through the rugged
Arrastra Mountain Wilderness
Arrastra Mountain Wilderness is a protected wilderness area centered around the Poachie Range, a northwest–southeast trending mountain range that rises to almost . Established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act, the area is manage ...
area (
Poachie Range
The Poachie Range is a moderate length mountain range and massif in southeast Mohave County, Arizona, and the extreme southwest corner of Yavapai County; the range also abuts the northeast corner of La Paz County. The Poachie Range massif is bord ...
–
Black Mountains). The river accepts a number of smaller, intermittent streams throughout its length.
The river joins the
Big Sandy River to form the Bill Williams River just upstream of Alamo Lake. During periods of heavy rainfall, the lake may extend beyond the confluence point, during which period the Santa Maria empties directly into the lake rather than joining the Big Sandy River.
The total length of the river is approximately , of which are considered
perennial stream
A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abse ...
.
The remainder is
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 ...
and runs only during periods of heavy rain.
See also
*
List of rivers of Arizona
List of rivers in Arizona (U.S. state), sorted by name.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Colorado River
*Colorado River—(downstream-to-upstr ...
References
External links
Realtime monitoring of stream discharge
{{authority control
Rivers of Arizona
Rivers of Mohave County, Arizona
Rivers of La Paz County, Arizona