Salt River | |
Lower Salt River, near Metro Phoenix area
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Country | United States |
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State | Arizona |
Source | confluence of White and Black Rivers |
- location | White Mountains, Arizona |
- elevation | 11,400 ft (3,475 m) |
- coordinates | 33°44′20″N 112°18′47″W / 33.73889°N 112.31306°W |
Mouth | Gila River |
- location | Phoenix |
- elevation | 928 ft (283 m) |
- coordinates | 33°22′52″N 112°18′47″W / 33.38111°N 112.31306°WCoordinates: 33°22′52″N 112°18′47″W / 33.38111°N 112.31306°W |
Length | 200 mi (322 km) |
Basin | 13,700 sq mi (35,483 km2) |
Discharge | for USGS gage 09498500, Salt River near Roosevelt, AZ |
- average | 879 cu ft/s (25 m3/s) |
- max | 143,000 cu ft/s (4,049 m3/s) |
- min | 59 cu ft/s (2 m3/s) |
Map of the Salt River watershed
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The Salt River (O'odham [Pima]: Onk Akimel, Yavapai: ʼHakanyacha or Hakathi:) is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin is about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2) large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km).
The Salt River is formed by the confluence of the White River and the Black River in the White Mountains of eastern Gila County. The White and Black rivers, and other tributaries of the upper Salt River, drain the region between the Mogollon Rim in the north and the Natanes Mountains and Natanes Plateau to the east and south. Tributaries of the Salt River also drain the Sierra Ancha and Mazatzal Mountains. The White and Black rivers drain the White Mountains in the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Together the two rivers drain an area of about 1,900 square miles (4,900 km2). The Salt River, along with the Black River, forms the boundary between the Fort Apache Indian Reservation to the north and the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation to the south.
The Salt River is fed by numerous perennial streams that start as springs and seeps along the Mogollon Rim and in the White Mountains. The Salt River is perennial from its tributary headwaters to Granite Reef Diversion Dam near Mesa.