Western Dispatch December 2009

"A Living River "- Charting the Health of Arizona's Upper Santa Cruz River

Friends,

In the isolated high desert grasslands of southeast Arizona, the Santa Cruz River emerges like a lush, green ribbon of life. The river begins its journey in the San Rafael Valley and flows south into Sonora, Mexico, where it completes a 25-mile U-turn, and flows north back across the international boundary into Arizona.

As the primary water source for residential communities, agriculture, and riparian areas on both sides of the international border, the river demonstrates the challenges and opportunities of managing water in an arid landscape to meet the needs of people, communities, wildlife and natural systems.

Protecting and Respecting the River

Over the past decade, local research and planning efforts have focused on assessing the ecological values and conservation needs of a 20-mile stretch of the Santa Cruz River between Rio Rico and Amado, Arizona, locally referred to as the Upper Santa Cruz. Much of this work acknowledges that a healthy and functioning river offers numerous ecosystem services to surrounding communities, including slowing flood flows, fostering aquifer recharge and filtering drinking water.

Additionally, the Santa Cruz River maintains significant cultural values by supporting places of historic significance, providing natural sanctuaries for spiritual fulfillment, and contributing to local economies through increased property values. In order to ensure that the Upper Santa Cruz River can continue to provide these important services and benefits, we must ask two critically important questions:

1)   What are the essential components of river health that can be measured?
2)   How are these essential components of river health changing?

By answering these two questions, we can work with communities on targeted conservation actions that will promote and sustain long-term river health.

Charting the Health of the Upper Santa Cruz River

A new Sonoran Institute report, "A Living River: Charting the Health of the Upper Santa Cruz River," takes the first step towards defining and assessing the components of a healthy and functioning river - serving as something of a "report card" for charting the health of the river. The goal of this assessment is to establish a baseline understanding of river health and then deepen a dialogue about conservation and management actions on the Upper Santa Cruz River. The Institute's Amy McCoy, who leads our project work on the Santa Cruz, explains our role well. "Creating lasting change is possible when we start with scientific research, use that data to work with policymakers and then utilize the policies to encourage public education."

A Living River focuses on the Upper Santa Cruz and tracks changes in 10 indicators of river health over the course of the 2008 water year (October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008). Results indicate that poor water quality degraded the health of the river during that time. However, significant improvements in water quality are expected following the June 2009 upgrade of the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rio Rico. The Institute will assess those changes in the next Living River report, to be released next summer.

We have many people to thank for contributing to the report, including scientists from local and states agencies and representatives from conservation organizations, the University of Arizona and the University of Sonora, Mexico, and Friends of the Santa Cruz River. I want to also acknowledge the excellent research in the report developed by Sonoran Institute staff ecologists Cheryl McIntyre and Amy McCoy, with support from Claire Zugmeyer and Emily Brott.

Funding for the report is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Targeted Watersheds Grant, the Giles W. and Elise G. Mead Foundation, the Tohono O'odham Nation, and the Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation.

I invite you to join our efforts to preserve and protect this ecologically, economically, and culturally significant river by reading "The Living River: Charting the Health of the Upper Santa River," which can be found on our website at www.sonoraninstitute.org. You will also find ways to contribute to research, monitoring, and conservation efforts along the Upper Santa Cruz River. You can also support our conservation efforts with a donation. Donate today through our website.

Best wishes for the Holiday Season.

Sincerely,