Santa Maria River (Arizona)
river in the United States of America
The Santa Maria River is an intermittent stream located in western Arizona. It is a primary tributary of the Bill Williams River and one of the main sources of inflow for Alamo Lake. The river forms a portion of the boundary between Mohave and La Paz counties.
Course
The Santa Maria River is formed by the confluence of the Sycamore and Kirkland Creeks, about 10 miles (16 km) east of the community of Bagdad. From the confluence, the river flows in a generally southwesterly direction through the rugged Arrastra Mountain Wilderness area (Poachie Range–Black Mountains). The river accepts a number of smaller, intermittent streams throughout its length.
The river joins the Big Sandy River to form the Bill Williams River just upstream of Alamo Lake. During periods of heavy rainfall, the lake may extend beyond the confluence point, during which period the Santa Maria empties directly into the lake rather than joining the Big Sandy River.
The total length of the river is approximately 50 miles (80 km), 17 miles (27 km) of which are considered perennial stream. The remainder is ephemeral and runs only during periods of heavy rain.
“Santa Maria River (Arizona)” enters the record as river in the United States of America. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Santa, Maria and River can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7419695. The Library of Congress control number is sh99005943. Authority coordinates are 34.311, -113.526. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Santa Maria River (Arizona)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.