The matric potential of soil water is presented for five loamy sand and six sandy loam sites on arid rangelands. Gypsum-impregnated resistance blocks were placed at five soil depths to 91 cm. 1f caliche was encountered before the 91-cm depth, blocks were placed to that level. The average annual precipitation during the approximate 20-year study period was 237 mm, slightly above the long-term mean. At the 10-cm depth, the probability of soil matric potential ≥ - 1.5 MPa during December-April was 69% at the 11 sites; 83% of the probability was ≥ -0.1 MPa. During July-September, the probability of soil matric potential at the 10-cm depth was 53%; 73% was > -0.1 MPa. Factors affecting soil matric potential were precipitation amount, surface soil characteristics, topography, subsurface conditions, and season of the year.