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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.

On July 1, 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Sierrita Gas Pipeline LLC (Sierrita) notice to proceed with the construction of the Sierrita Pipeline Project (the Project), a new natural gas pipeline and appurtenant facilities in Pima County, Arizona, that deliver natural gas from El Paso Natural Gas Company’s existing pipeline system southwest of Tucson to an interconnect point at the U.S.-Mexico border near the town of Sasabe. Concurrent with the construction of the Project was the implementation of a Historic Properties Treatment Plan (HPTP) (Hesse 2014a) for the 25 historic properties (i.e., cultural properties eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places [NRHP]) that had been identified in or within 50 feet of the Project area of potential effects (APE). Some form of treatment was proposed for all of the historic properties to avoid and minimize the Project’s effects on eligible properties, and to mitigate the adverse effects on eligible properties where avoidance was not feasible. Treatment techniques designed to avoid and/or minimize effects included necking the width of the construction corridor, fencing, construction of the pipeline by boring and installing it beneath sites, construction monitoring, and the implementation of construction safeguards along access roads through sites (“road treatment”). Treatment designed to mitigate adverse effects where avoidance was not feasible involved data recovery excavation. Tribal monitors from the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation assisted archaeological monitors in the implementation of the HPTP. Unanticipated discoveries during the Project led to the documentation of four new archaeological sites and an extension of the boundaries of a previously recorded archaeological site (AZ DD:6:80 [ASM]) within the APE. The four sites were all determined NRHP eligible and added to the list of sites requiring some form of treatment. The pipeline was placed in service on October 31, 2014. Monitoring of cleanup and restoration activities along the pipeline right-of-way (ROW) continued until November 6, 2014. Protective fencing along access roads on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR) was removed on February 26, 2015, following the completion of road restoration activities. This second volume of the results of implementing the Sierrita Pipeline Project HPTP contains the results of data recovery investigations conducted at nine archaeological sites where avoidance was not feasible. The first volume discusses the archaeological monitoring that occurred during project construction.

Prior to widening, the City of Tucson (COT) Department of Transportation sponsored a series of investigations to identify archaeological sites that would be affected by the road project and to mitigate adverse effects to the sites, where needed. The first step in identifying archaeological sites was a cultural resources survey, conducted by SWCA Environmental Consultants in 2009. Although no archaeological sites were found during the survey, much of the study area was inaccessible due to development or lack of right-of-entry; given that the area is known to contain buried cultural resources not visible on the ground surface, SWCA had recommended identification testing prior to construction. In 2014, COT contracted SWCA to conduct the site identification testing for the current Road Improvement Project. The testing entailed a program of backhoe trenching within the APE. Most of the trenches were excavated to 1.5 meters (m) (5 feet) below modern ground surface (bmgs), and in areas suspected to have deep Holocene deposits, trenches were excavated to 3.7 m (12 feet) bmgs. The testing resulted in the discovery of two archaeological sites: AZ AA:12:1152 (ASM), and AZ AA:12:1153 (ASM). SWCA recommended both sites eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion D, and recommended that they be avoided if possible, or subjected to data recovery if the project continued to pose adverse effects to the sites. The COT Historic Preservation Office consulted the Department of Transportation and ascertained that the project could not be redesigned to avoid either site. COT instructed SWCA to proceed with data recovery excavations at both sites. SWCA developed a research design and plan of work for the proposed excavations (Griset et al. 2014). Necessary permits were then acquired from the Arizona State Museum (ASM): Arizona Antiquities Act Project Specific Permit No. 2015-046ps; the associated Repository Agreement No. 2014-605; and a standard burial agreement (Case No. 2015-002).

Meritage Homes (Meritage) proposes to construct a residential subdivision on property in the town of Oro Valley, north of Tucson, Arizona. A Class III archaeological inventory of the project area was conducted by Stephen (2000), and three prehistoric archaeological sites—AZ BB:9:353 (ASM), AZ BB:9:354 (ASM), and AZ BB:9:354 (ASM)— were identified within the area of potential effects (APE) of what is now designated as the Meritage Kai 291 South project. AZ BB:9:354 (ASM) was tested in 2004 by the Pima Community College Archaeology Centre (PCCAC) for its eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places/Arizona Register of Historic Places (NRHP/ARHP). The site was identified as a limited-activity area with no evidence of habitation, storage or resource processing, and limited potential for significant subsurface deposits; it was recommended ineligible for listing in the NRHP/ARHP (Kehres 2007). The PCCAC conducted another survey of the project area in 2014 to relocate the sites and any additional resources (Mason-Kohlmeyer 2014). All three sites were located during the survey. AZ BB:9:353 (ASM) and AZ BB:9:354 (ASM) were recommended ineligible for listing in the NRHP, and eligibility testing was recommended for AZ BB:9:355 (ASM). The Town of Oro Valley’s (Town’s) Planning Department required Meritage to test the eligibility of AZ BB:9:355 (ASM) and include the results in its Mitigation Plan as part of the Planned Area Development Plan for the Kai 291 South residential development. Meritage contracted SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) to conduct the archaeological testing, which was performed from June 16 to June 19, 2015. This report summarizes the findings of the testing and makes recommendations for inclusion in the Mitigation Plan required as part of Meritage’s Planned Area Development Plan for Kai 291 South.

Pima County Department of Transportation is proposing to construct a newly aligned road in Pima County. The realigned road would cross through two previously investigated archaeological sites—AZ AA:12:11 (ASM) and AZ AA:12:788 (ASM), the latter more commonly known as the Rillito Fan site. Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation retained SWCA Environmental Consultants to develop and implement a Phase 1 data recovery (data testing) plan for the portions of these two sites that would be affected by the road construction. The purpose of data testing was to locate and identify the archaeological features and deposits that would be adversely affected by the road construction, and to provide the baseline archaeological and geomorphological data that would guide more intensive Phase 2 data recovery excavations. Phase 1 data recovery included the surface collection of culturally or temporally diagnostic or unusual artifacts, and the mechanical excavation of test trenches. Twenty-four artifacts were collected from the surface of AZ AA:12:788 (ASM), most of them decorated pottery sherds. One hundred twenty-three trenches were excavated to a depth of approximately 1.5 m (5 feet) below the modern ground surface; eight of these trenches were subsequently further excavated to about 3.7 m (12 feet) below the modern ground surface, in most cases along only a portion of their length. Almost all of the trenches were 20 m long; a handful of trenches were shorter in order to avoid obstacles such as vegetation. East of the Santa Cruz River, the trenches within the proposed 150-foot-wide ROW were generally spaced 10 m apart, whereas in adjacent areas of the APE where project impacts are not anticipated to be as great, trenches were generally spaced 20 m apart. Only two trenches were excavated west of the river and were placed to avoid the ROW, as well as the easements associated with two large overhead transmission lines. Eighty-four trenches were excavated in or partially within AZ AA:12:788 (ASM), 15 trenches were excavated in or partially within AZ AA:12:11 (ASM), and 24 trenches were excavated outside currently recorded site boundaries to test for the presence of cultural resources not visible on the modern ground surface. This report describes the methods and results of the Phase 1 testing and provides recommendations for Phase 2 data recovery to mitigate the adverse effects of the proposed road construction.

Meritage Homes (Meritage) proposes to construct a residential subdivision in the town of Oro Valley (Town), north of Tucson, Arizona. One recorded site, AZ BB:9:262/338 (ASM), is located in the northeastern portion of the proposed Kai 291 North project area. Lucas (2014) recommended that the site be tested for its eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historical Places (NRHP). The Town required that Meritage assess the eligibility of the site and include the results in its Mitigation Plan as part of its Planned Area Development Plan. This report presents the results of the site eligibility testing conducted by SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA), and recommendations for future management of the site.