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Salt River Project (SRP) has requested that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) conduct the Verde Reservoirs Sediment Mitigation Study (VRSMS) to evaluate options for restoring the storage capacity lost and to reduce future capacity impacts from the natural sedimentation process within the Horseshoe Reservoir on the lower Verde River northeast of Phoenix. The loss of capacity, coupled with the increase in hydrological variability associated with climate change, creates concerns about the Verde Reservoirs system’s future ability to meet the needs of the beneficiaries of the Salt River Federal Reclamation Project and the City of Phoenix, both of which rely on water stored in Horseshoe Reservoir. The purpose of the VRSMS is to evaluate potential solutions to mitigating current and future sedimentation impacts to the Verde Reservoir system. Options include 1) removing sediment from Horseshoe Reservoir to its original storage capacity and 2) enlarging Bartlett Reservoir, located downstream from Horseshoe Dam, by constructing a new dam immediately downstream from and abutting the current Bartlett Dam.

This study presents the results of archaeological investigations undertaken within the proposed corridor of State Route 87 on the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation and Tonto National Forest, in northeastern Maricopa County, Arizona. This work was funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation (Contract 89-28) and conducted under the aegis of the Tonto National Forest. Six archaeological sites were investigated for this project, including three prehistoric lithic procurement sites, a Hohokam farmstead, a Hohokam habitation site, and a multicomponent site. Components of the latter site included both prehistoric and historic elements. The prehistoric component had occupations spanning more than 1,000 years and included materials from the late Archaic-early Pioneer period transition to the Sedentary period of the Hohokam occupation. The historic elements included a late nineteenth century farmstead, an early twentieth century schoolhouse, and a late nineteenth-early twentieth century irrigation canal. Evidence from the excavations indicate that occupation of the lower Verde River valley had commenced by the Late Archaic period. Maize production was in evidence, and semi-flexed inhumation, as well as cremation, burial was practiced. Site occupation at this time appears to have been seasonal, although reuses of site locales over a number of years was indicated. Early Pioneer occupation of the region was also seasonal, although possibly of somewhat lengthier duration than observed in the previous period. Maize agriculture is evident during this period, although wild resources continued to provide a substantial portion of the subsistence base. A stable, sedentary settlement characterizes the Colonial and Sedentary period; aspects of material culture indicate strong ties to the Salt-Gila basin area. The diversity and ubiquity of domesticated and encouraged plants points to a pervasive emphasis on cultivated products at this time, and, during the Sedentary period, there is evidence to suggest an intensification and diversification of agricultural production. Exploitation of the uplands may have been one means of expanding food production, perhaps in response to a greater demand caused by a growing population. Archaeological and archival research of the historic resources indicate that the irrigation canal, named the Velasco Ditch, was used as early as 1875. The length and configuration of this canal changed through time due to floodplain erosion; three distinct construction/maintenance episodes were documented. The termination of water delivery by c. 1906 was probably precipitated by several economic factors, as well as flood destruction. Historic habitation within the project area was by an unknown resident sometime between 1890 and 1902. The archaeological remains indicate reuse of the structure as an outbuilding or farm-related storage shed after is primary use as a residence. By 1902, the structure had burned, possibly catastrophically, and collapsed into a low mound. The sole school building was associated with the Cuba School District. The school structure was erected in 1900 and abandoned four years later, when purchased by the federal government. The failure to find artifacts surrounding the school other than those directly associated with educational activities suggests that it was not used regularly for other social or communal activities.