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March 24th @ 5pm - 7pmRegister Here - you will receive a confirmaiton email with information for this online sessionWMG is enlisting landowners and the interested public to help monitor flow in our creeks and rivers, groundwater levels in accessible wells, and the plants and animals that depend on them. WMG staff will introduce you to our 50-year vision of flowing creeks and rivers...
Social distancing doesn't have to mean stay inside! We want to see how you and your loved ones are embracing spring in the Sonoran Desert while regular daily life is on pause. Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and water is flowing. Tag WMG on social media posts where you are caring for yourself and loving the earth!Watershed Management Group FacebookWatershed Management Group...
Arizona Gives Day is happening just in time and is better than ever for both of us! AZ Gives is WMG’s largest fundraising day of the year, and now online giving is easier and new prize money is on the table.We’ve got work to do—from restoring neglected riparian areas, to adapting our educational programming for K-12 youth, to creating a whole series of virtual trainings for the public and green...
How many passive earthworks projects in homes, schools, and neighborhoods does it take to restore our rivers? Each time you do a project with us we're getting a step closer! Whenever WMG works in our local watershed, we're contributing towards healthy and stable local creeks and streams. You can help us continue this important work by scheduling a donation this Arizona Gives Day! Pre-...
POSTPONEDCome experience the rich story of the Pantano/Tanque Verde Creek confluence, once an area of marshy cienegas with abundant water and rich soil. Julia Fonseca and Courtney Rose from Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation will narrate a guided walk along Pantano Creek from Ft. Lowell Park to share who has been here before us, ongoing river protection efforts, and what...
The Ball-Paylore house is not only an iconic piece of Tucson’s 1950 modern architecture, but a critical precedent that set the stage for sustainable architecture throughout the southwest. Designed by “Tucson’s pioneer of solar design,” Arthur T Brown, the home stands apart from many of its modern counterparts through its innovative design - harmonizing with the sun’s rays to provide passive solar...
What better thing to do over spring break than install a rain tank and garden? These mid-town homeowners couldn't agree more. They're ready to build some rain garden accents, supplemented by water from a 1,000 gallon rain tank, and they need your help! Come practice plumbing and aesthetic design skills with friends and neighbors. Led by Project Manager Madeline Ryder.N Country Club Rd & Lee...
Join Trevor Hare and local residents at our very first floodplain restoration project site in Midvale Park. This project took an overlooked, barren site and added basins, stormwater, and plantings to turn the empty space into a riot of plants. We will clean out tumbleweed and buffelgrass to make more room for the amazing growth of native plants. It really is a riot!Register Here
Interested in learning (or honing) your tank installation skills? Then come join this central homeowner in setting up their first of what we hope to be two tanks! This straightforward project is a great opportunity for understanding the basics of active rainwater harvesting. Led by Project Manager Madeline Ryder.Saturday, February 22, 2020 - 8:00am to 1:00pmN Mountain Ave...
WMG's Water Harvesting Design and Certification course offers tangible skills in design and installation as well as life-changing inspiration to fuel your career and personal goals. The curriculum provides detailed instruction on water-harvesting systems, planning, design, and installation for retrofitting urban areas.See full course details.Register HereGeneral Course ScheduleSunday, March 8,...
Bike the Cañada del Oro with Trevor and Lauren and learn about this important tributary to the Santa Cruz River. We will start at the Pima County Regional Flood Control District's Neffson site, where WMG was contracted to design and implement restorative stormwater harvesting practices. Then we head north along the Loop to Catalina State Park (5 miles) to visit a small rainwater harvesting...
At this Earthworks workshop, we are going big. Volunteers will dive into passive water harvesting at this home in the north by helping shape basins in the front and back yard and planting shade around two paths that allow water to flow across their yard. Don't hesitate, help the water infiltrate and sign up for this great workshop. Led by Green Infrastructure Specialist...
Join us on Saturday, January 25th from 8am-1pm for this Tucson Co-op Workshop. These home-owners are relatively new to the west and are already feeling a strong sense of stewardship over their west-side home. First came the pool cover, now they're ready to install two tanks - totalling 4,000 gallons - to capture the rain for their fruit trees and gardens. If you're itching to practice your...
At the Tucson Craft Beer Crawl you can sample beer from local and regional breweries as you explore downtown Tucson on-foot. Purchase your ticket and you will get a map, wristband and tasting glass to use while you check out some of the awesome breweries and bars downtown. We are seeking volunteers for the Tucson Craft Beer Crawl. Contact Charlie Alcorn at calcorn@...
Whoa, beaver dam! We’ve pulled out all the stops for our year-end video spoof – remaking the #1 song of the year – Old Town Road – a country rap song that topped the charts for a record-breaking 19 weeks. Whether you’ve heard it 100 times or you’ve miraculously dodged pop culture and missed it, I guarantee you’ll be singing along to our version. The beavers are counting on it!This video is...
At the close of a decade, we’re sharing WMG’s most significant accomplishments of the 2010s, made possible by you—our steadfast donors, hard-working volunteers, and collaborative partners. This decade has been marked both by great progress and growing division with social and environmental issues. During this time, the WMG community has been a hopeful and inclusive space, with boots on...
If climate change is one of your concerns and saving the planet is one of your goals, the Watershed Management Group, or WMG, and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club have organized a tour that you won’t want to miss: The 8th Annual Homescape Harvest Tour will highlight 14 local residential and schoolyard landscapes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. Read more here!
A young woman learns to operate heavy machinery for precision excavating. A group of UA’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture students create an award-winning rainwater harvesting design. A high school on Tucson’s southwest side gets a cooling landscape that no longer floods. Students at the Star Academic High School learn about rainwater capture, and its importance...
It wasn’t too long ago when cutting curbs for capturing stormwater was illegal in Tucson. Only 15 years ago, rainwater harvesting rebels were breaking the law when retrofitting street side curbs to capture and funnel stormwater into basins to water trees and other vegetation.We’ve come a long way since then, but we still have a lot of ground to cover. Tucson governmental organizations are being...
What is the impact of one rain garden or of one green infrastructure workshop? When does the number of installed rain gardens reach a tipping point and make a measurable, large-scale change in a community?Tucson is sitting at that tipping point. WMG, along with many other grassroots groups, neighborhoods and families, have been installing rain gardens and green infrastructure projects across...
Arizona cities are increasingly looking to incorporate green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) into their roadway designs to boost urban forestry and complete streets goals while conserving municipal water supplies. WMG has been on the cutting edge of this evolution as – for the last decade – we’ve worked with municipalities statewide to break down barriers in implementing GSI. We’ve done this by...
Watershed Management Group and Pima County Flood Control District are working on a restoration project along the Rillito River, and need volunteers to help with plantings on Saturday, August 24, from 7 a.m. to noon. WMG’s River Restoration Biologist Trevor Hare and Project Designer Nicole Casebeer will lead volunteers in creating a native plant oasis to help restore the Rillito River'...
We were so excited to witness the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project come online on Monday, June 24 when Tucson Water introduced a ribbon of recycled water to the Santa Cruz River south of downtown! This is an important, and historic, step in WMG's goals to restore flow to Tucson's rivers and streams. Learn more about our restoration work at Watershedmg.org/RRN and check out...
"Creek Walks Inspire" is The Desert Leaf's cover story for July! Lee Allen wrote a wonderful piece about WMG's River Run Network Creek Walks and our work to restore the flow to Tucson's rivers and streams.Read all about it! "Waste Not" is a piece by Arizona Public Media reporter Tony Paniagua, aired on Arizona Illustrated. It's all about composting toilets and how to put human "waste" to...