A few days ago, I started to see news stories pop up about the Santa Cruz River here in Tucson. I think Tony Davis of the Arizona Daily Star wrote the best one. I recommend reading his story. He tells quite a bit of history of the river, and there are a number of historical pictures.
In short, the river has been “dead” for quite some time. The region uses a lot of ground water, and that has caused the river to be dry except when there is rain.
Tucson Water has started the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project, and will be releasing reclaimed water into the river. There will not be enough water released to totally revive the river. They estimate there will be about 5000 feet of the river that will have the reclaimed water.
Yesterday, there was a sort of release party for the project. There was a large crowd that came to see the start of the reclaimed river. Various local politicians and dignitaries gave speeches, then people went down to the water.
It isn’t a vast amount of water, but any flowing water in the desert amazes people. People were walking and splashing in the water. Some people even planted native plants along the water edge in hope they will take root there.
This included this Anemopsis californica, common name Yerba Monsa, that I was given to plant.
I took some pictures of what the river looks like now. I hope to take comparison pictures in future days to see just what this project does for plants and wildlife.
My favorite picture I took was this one of a cowboy riding his horse in the river with downtown Tucson in the background.
I think this is an interesting project and one that will provide much enjoyment for people and life for nature. There are paths on both sides of the river bank that will provide easy access for people to observe and enjoy the life that this water brings for years to come.
-Joshua