Current Projects
AZGS-UA researchers assessing change to novel mitigation structure following postfire flow
A 5% study investigating new opportunities for post-fire flood mitigation in Arizona communities
Description: Post-wildfire flooding and debris flows pose a significant risk to communities downstream of recently burned areas. This project investigates how novel postfire flood mitigation structures downstream of the 2022 Pipeline Fire respond to postfire flows. In addition, researchers are investigating soil recovery in the watershed headwaters, a critical variable in flood and debris flow initiation. The project will help inform future land management decisions.
Location: Flagstaff, Arizona
Funding Source: FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
Assessing possible postfire research locations in the 2022 Pipeline Fire burn area near Flagstaff, Arizona
Monitoring the efficacy of novel flood-mitigation structures below the 2022 Pipeline Fire burn area
Description: This project investigates how novel postfire flood mitigation structures downstream of the 2022 Pipeline Fire respond to postfire flows. This project is an extension of the aforementioned “5% study”, allowing us to expand the number of novel mitigation research sites and watershed headwater soil monitoring locations.
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Funding Source: US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
Researchers performing rainfall experiments to understand hillslope erosion on reburned hillslope in eastern Arizona
Advancing the understanding of hydrological response of wildfire reburned areas
Description: Landscapes across the southwestern US are increasingly experiencing repeated moderate- to high-severity wildfires over short intervals (<15 years). Contributing to enhanced hillslope erosion. Current watershed erosion models do not account for the effects of repeated burning. This project focuses on data collection at a repeat-burn site to inform model calibration, improving erosion predictions and supporting more effective postfire management in reburned landscapes.
Location: throughout Arizona
Funding Source: US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
AZGS-UA researchers installing sensor in a channel bed to detect postfire debris flows
Improving post-wildfire debris-flow predictions for Arizona
Description: Post-wildfire debris-flow initiation conditions exhibit substantial spatial and temporal variability that remains poorly constrained. Understanding how these conditions vary across Arizona’s diverse ecosystems and evolve over time is critical for public safety and land management. This study advances that understanding through targeted field investigations, further building upon our existing knowledge-base of initiation conditions across Arizona.
Location: throughout Arizona
Funding Source: FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
2024 West Fire burn area in Gila County.
Assessing post-wildfire flow hazards for mitigation, Gila County, AZ
Description: Post-wildfire flow hazard mitigation measures are often implemented following a wildfire, leaving a highly limited construction window before the onset of Arizona’s monsoon and subsequent damaging flows. Prefire modeling can identify watershed with a high likelihood of hazardous postfire flows, enabling land managers to proactively implement mitigation measures (e.g. infrastructure upgrades and fuel treatments) in advance of wildfire.
Location: throughout Arizona
Funding Source: FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
Nodal seismometer used to capture seismic signal created by debris flows
Leveraging seismic data to unravel postfire debris flow dynamics
Description: This project will lead to a better understanding of debris flow processes and will enhance tools to study them using seismic data. These data, which will provide a more spatially and temporally complete picture of the lifecycle of post-wildfire debris flows relative to traditional monitoring methods, will enable the investigators to better understand the behavior of these flows. Results will advance fundamental understanding of debris-flow hazards and improve our ability to extract information about environmental phenomena from seismic data.
Location: throughout Arizona
End date: July 2028
Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Landslide mapping along the US Route 60 corridor, Florence Junction to Show Low, AZ
Description: This project includes reconnaissance and field mapping of landslides, debris flows, and rockfall hazards along the US60 corridor from Florence Junction to Show Low, AZ. The study area is approximately 126 miles long and 5 miles wide, centered on the highway. The deliverables include a report and updated landslide mapping which will be available in the AZGS online Natural Hazards in Arizona viewer online. AZGS mapping identified approximately 550 new debris flows and landslide complexes.
Location: Route 60 Corridor, Florence Junction to Show Low, Arizona
Start & end dates: May 2024 - May 2027
Funding Source: Building Resilient Infrastructure in Communities (BRIC) through FEMA and AZDEMA
Overlook of the Jerome Landslide from Jerome State Historic Park; view is toward south-southwest. Previous mapping showed the lower extent of the landslide above or only slightly below the road at the middle of the photo. Field observations and lidar data demonstrate that the landslide comes all the way to the wash at the base of the slope, slightly out of view at lower left.
Chad Kwiatkowski
Landslide inventory mapping in portions of Yavapai County, central Arizona
Description: The rugged terrain of Yavapai County was recently identified as moderately to highly susceptible to landslides in a nationwide USGS study. Using high-resolution topographic data (lidar) coupled with recent and historical aerial imagery, we have identified over 250 landslides in our four study areas (near Bagdad, Yarnell, Big Bug Mesa, and Jerome). We visited some of the landslides in the field to verify our remote observations and collect additional information about the landslide extent, indicators of activity, and geologic setting. Additionally, we modified the boundaries of previously mapped landslides, which were mapped before the availability of high-resolution topographic data.
Stay tuned for an upcoming report, ArcGIS StoryMap, and Google Earth GeoTour of landslides in Yavapai County!
Location: Yavapai County, Arizona
Start & end dates: June 2025 - June 2026
Funding Source: US Geological Survey
Award amount: $116,910
Previously unmapped debris-flow deposits on the southeastern slopes of Camelback Mountain, near The Phoenician resort
Jeri Ben-Horin
Identification of potential debris-flow hazards, central and northern metropolitan Phoenix
Description: Debris-flow deposits and associated erosional scars have been recognized in various mountain ranges surrounding metropolitan Phoenix, including recent debris flows during recent extreme storms in 2010 and 2014, and earlier debris flows in the 1970s. Although development is actively encroaching into the urban-mountain interface, debris flows have not been systematically mapped throughout the mountains of metropolitan Phoenix.
To understand where debris flows have occurred, AZGS is now mapping debris flows in the mountain ranges of central and northern Phoenix metropolitan area, with six study areas: southern Hieroglyphic Mountains, Hedgepeth Hills/Deem Hills, Union Hills/North Union Hills, and Anthem/Cave Creek area. We are focusing our effort on the urban-mountain interface, where homes and infrastructure could be at risk. We will review aerial imagery and high-resolution topographic data (lidar) to identify potential evidence of debris flows, conduct field reconnaissance to evaluate and document evidence of relatively young debris-flow deposits, map the features in a GIS framework, develop a geodatabase of the debris-flow features, add these features to the statewide landslide geodatabase, and complete a final report summarizing our findings to be released as an AZGS publication.
Location: Central and northern metropolitan Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ
Start & end dates: September 2024 - September 2027
Funding Source: FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
Award amount: $193,601
Earth fissure mapping in 26 study areas throughout south-central Arizona
Description: AZGS maintains earth fissure mapping in 26 study areas throughout south-central Arizona. All fissure mapping is available on the AZGS online Natural Hazards in Arizona viewer online. Funding for mapping to keep this database current comes from AZGS internal funds although we are hopeful funding (AZDEMA and FEMA) will be approved for two new studies which will allow us to update fissure mapping throughout Pinal County and test whether young fissures are detectable using a drone-mounted thermal camera system.
Consulting services in matters related to reconnaissance mapping in the Verde Watershed and Lower and Upper Little Colorado River
Description: AZGS has been assisting the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) since 2007 in their adjudication efforts regarding surficial water rights in Arizona. Our role is to map the extent of Holocene floodplain alluvium along various perennial and intermittent stream corridors throughout Arizona. The current map area focuses on streams within the upper Little Colorado River watershed near Greer and Springerville.
Location: Upper Little Colorado River watershed, Arizona
Start & end dates: March 2026 - June 2028
Funding Source: Arizona Department of Water Resources
Award amount: $290,000
Characterization and hazard assessment of the Carefree and Horseshoe faults
Description: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Arizona Geological Survey are studying the Carefree and Horseshoe faults to determine whether they are still active and capable of producing damaging earthquakes. Their work includes trenching, rock analysis, and geologic mapping to reconstruct past earthquake history and assess seismic risk. The goal is to evaluate potential impacts on nearby infrastructure, especially dams and water systems in central Arizona.
Location: Central Arizona
Funding Source: Bureau of Reclamation
Maintaining the AZGS seismic network and seismic data catalog
Description: AZGS maintains its seismic network by operating and coordinating monitoring stations that record ground motion across the state, often in collaboration with regional and national partners. We continuously process, archive, and quality-check the incoming data, making it available through public catalogs and databases for researchers, engineers, and emergency planners. This system supports real-time earthquake monitoring as well as long-term analysis of seismic trends in Arizona. The data are available in the Natural Hazards viewer.
Location: throughout Arizona
AZGS earthquake and active fault outreach activity at 2026 Tucson Festival of Books, with foam fault blocks and Monopoly houses!
Phil Pearthree
Earthquake outreach for FEMA National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
Description: Arizona is home to many active faults, and nearly 5000 historical earthquakes are documented in the Arizona earthquake database. Despite this, earthquake hazards in Arizona are underappreciated. We hope to change this by increasing earthquake awareness and education throughout Arizona!
As part of this FEMA-funded earthquake outreach project, AZGS will participate in two major outreach events: Tucson Festival of Books (March 2026) and Flagstaff Festival of Science (September 2026). At these events, we will have hands-on activities related to earthquakes and faults, maps of active faults and earthquakes in Arizona, hand samples of locally collected fault rocks, and educational handouts about Arizona earthquakes and the Great Arizona ShakeOut earthquake preparation exercise. During Flagstaff Festival of Science, we will guide a geology tour to observe some of the faults right in and around town!
We will also create two videos about active faults in Arizona, focusing on important faults in central and northern Arizona, to be published on our AZGS YouTube channel. Lastly, we will create and publish an ArcGIS StoryMap highlighting active faults and significant earthquakes in Arizona. This project also allows AZGS earthquake scientists to attend local, regional, or national conferences about earthquake safety, which is essential to coordinate collaborative efforts for earthquake resiliency.
Location: throughout Arizona, events in Tucson and Flagstaff
Start & end dates: Oct 2025 - March 2027
Funding Source: FEMA National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
Award amount: $74,688