Native tribes engineered these canals to carry water not from rivers, but from mountain drainage sources to lower-elevation habitation sites and agricultural fields. By "hanging" the canals along the sides of steep mesas - sometimes placed as high as 200 feet above the valley floor - the builders achieved maximum water-carrying efficiency by avoiding the undulations of ridges and arroyos along the basin floor.

Much of the bajada canal system is located on public land; due to the steep and rocky terrain access is extremely difficult. Nevertheless, certain individual bajada canals are over 6 miles long, and archaeologists estimate the entire bajada canal system to extend well over 40 miles. The changes in elevation along the length of these canals is as much as 2950 feet from mountain source to valley floor. Some sections of these ancient canals carry water to this day.

Co-researchers James A. Neely, PhD, and Don Lancaster concluded, "...The canals suggest that the basin was a prehistoric population center and a major supplier of cultivated crops." Furthermore, investigation of archaeological sites throughout the canal system revealed that "...[t]radeware from contemporary habitation sites imply a major trading activity with Hohokam, Mimbres, Salado, Mogollon and Ancient Pueblo regional cultures...."

For further explanations, read Neely's article in Archaeology Southwest, and the more detailed Neely/Lancaster research reports curated at tinaja.com: Bajada "Hanging" Canals of the Safford Basin, Southeastern Arizona: Excellence in Prehistoric Engineering; and Arizona's Prehistoric Hanging Canals.

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