Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District

Welcome to Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District

Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District (WMIDD) is located in Southwestern Arizona, in the lower Sonoran desert. Our hot, dry climate is ideal for year-round growth of crops. Summer temperatures regularly reach 110 degrees; days with even a few hours of below freezing temperature are rare. The long-term average annual rainfall is less than 3 inches, and irrigation continues, at varying rates, throughout the year. Elevation of cultivated lands ranges from approximately 200 feet above sea level on the west to about 400 feet above sea level on the east. The evaporation rate can exceed 8 feet per year.

Political Status

The District was created by an act of the Arizona State Legislature on July 23, 1951. It was organized to provide a legal entity which could enter into a contract with the United States to repay the cost of this irrigation and power project, and to operate and maintain the project facilities.

History of the WMIDD

Lands of the Wellton-Mohawk Valley have been under cultivation intermittently since prehistoric times. Spanish explorers followed the Colorado River to a point several miles above the mouth of the Gila, and found Indians living there and using the waters of the two rivers to irrigate their crops. The Jesuit missionary, Father Eusebio Kino, visiting the lower Gila and Yuma area in 1700, wrote of finding "little fields of maize, beans, calabashes and watermelons"