Articles
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...
Check out highlights of our work in 2018, and learn more about our programs and efforts to build community and restore desert rivers and streams!From our collaborative work with Pima County Regional Flood Control District, to features on our amazing volunteers, WMG's work in the Phoenix Valley and our 50-year vision to restore flowing water to desert rivers - you can read all about it here!
2018 was a good year for river restoration, with WMG’s boots on the ground at four major sites including along Ciénega Creek, Tanque Verde Creek, Cañada del Oro River, and the Santa Cruz River. Thanks to a dynamic partnership with the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, WMG’s river restoration team is planning and implementing restoration features to reclaim floodplains, re-establish...
Bernadette Eichelberger first got involved with WMG in early 2018, and jumped in with both feet! She was one of WMG’s Green Living Co-op top hour-earners – volunteering 53 hours of her time at 11 different Co-ops in 2018. She says she enjoys the workshops because she appreciates “the people, their friendliness and commitment to the environment.”Bernadette’s connection to WMG began with her...
WMG’s river restoration work would not be possible without our partnership with Pima County Regional Flood Control District. The District owns and manages a considerable portion of the lands along our major streams and rivers, such as along the Rillito and Santa Cruz Rivers. While the District is charged with minimizing the risk of damage due to flooding and erosion and keeping the public safe,...
The Shah sisters are two of the Green Living Co-op’s youngest volunteers, who got involved with the program about three years ago.“We are both part of the NHS (National Honors Society)/NJHS (National Junior Honors Society) at BASIS Oro Valley, and we collect community service hours as a part of this program. Our mom, who got involved with WMG when we were still little, loved the...
WMG's free, 5-class Hydrate series returns Wednesdays in May! You'll gain knowledge on how to use rainwater and greywater to hydrate your landscape. Plus, you'll learn how going hydro-local reduces your dependency on Colorado River water. You can join us for your favorite topic, or attend the full series to build a comprehensive site plan. Each presentation...