Web-based Hydrologic Information Portal
For the Upper San Pedro Basin - The WHIP
Explore the WHIP interactive maps and learn about the availability of groundwater and surface water needed by people, plants, and animals to thrive within the Upper San Pedro Basin of southeastern Arizona.
The Web-based Hydrologic Information Portal (WHIP) delivers a wealth of water information gathered from the Upper San Pedro Basin of southeast Arizona by local, state, and federal agencies and organizations since 1904. The San Pedro River flows through the center of this basin. It is a river teeming with life and located where the Sierra Madre to the south meets the Rocky Mountains to the north, and where the Sonoran Desert to the west meets the Chihuahuan Desert to the east. The river provides an important oasis for the diversity in of wildlife living or passing through this arid region.
The human communities within the Upper San Pedro Basin depend on the same groundwater sources that feed the river. Careful planning and water management are needed so the aquifers (where the groundwater is naturally stored) remain a sustainable source for all the life that depends upon them. The WHIP provides much of this information in readily accessible and useful formats needed by project managers, scientists, elected officials, and the general public for essential water management and decision-making in the region.
The WHIP is a powerful tool able to deliver information about many, but not all, aspects of the basin’s complex hydrology, including groundwater, surface water, springs, and precipitation. WHIP users can:
- Access, download, and generate basic statistics for sustainability indicator and climate data for select geographic areas and date ranges. Explore the Map
- Generate reports for selected data
- Download and apply their own interpretations of the data
- Learn what an unfamiliar term means and how it relates to water in the USPB (Glossary / Sustainability Indicators)
- Explore how the need for the WHIP evolved since water monitoring began in the early 20th century