On October 16th, members of the River Run Network joined WMG staff for a restoration workshop in the beautiful Ciénega Creek in the Horseshoe Bosque near Vail! With the guidance of Catlow Shipek, WMG's Policy & Technical Director, and James Lauder, Project Manager, we were able to identify areas of the wash where WMG had previously done "beavering" work, our word for building dams from natural materials to slow water flow. We spent the morning repairing these dams to hold up...
On August 26, we had a thought-provoking and grounding River Run Network event where we learned about the perspectives and ancestral knowledge of rivers from two local leaders: Josefina Cardenas of Barrio Kroeger Lane, and David Tenario of the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Josefina got us started by speaking about the spiritual significance of the Santa Cruz River as well as our washes and creeks, including the tradition of Dia de San Juan — a yearly celebration of...
The Cienega Creek Natural Preserve was established in 1986 under a resolution passed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors that authorized the Director of the Regional Flood Control District to acquire designated lands along the Cienega Creek corridor to preserve riparian habitat, reduce peak stormwater flows, and facilitate groundwater recharge.
The ranch lands along the creek had been degraded through historic overgrazing, dirt roads, and sand and gravel mining. In 1974, 20 acres...
Tucson sits on the edge of the Sky Island Region and the Sonoran Desert, which hosts some of the greatest diversity of plants and animals in world. One of the most unique wildlife phenomenons in our region is the explosive breeding congregations of toads brought on by the monsoon rains. Herpetologists fondly call these congregations of desert amphibians Cluster Amplexus (amplexus is the act of grasping your mate from behind and fertilizing eggs as they are laid). I have witnessed...
For the past several months, WMG's River Restoration Biologist Trevor Hare has been working hard to implement a restoration project in the Cañada del Oro floodplain. The property at the corner of La Cholla Blvd and Overton Road was a chicken farm at one point but was bought by Pima County using Floodprone Land Acquisition Program funding, and WMG was contracted to develop and implement a water harvesting and native plant restoration plan. We’ve excavated over 88,000 square feet of...
Check out our latest video, celebrating all we’ve accomplished together as part of WMG's We Are One Watershed campaign. Launched just a year ago, we’re proud to say that we're rocking our resolutions! Support WMG's life-changing programs by joing our monthly giving program.
WMG remade the most iconic song of 2017, a Latin sensation that reminded us to enjoy life a bit more slowly, Despacito! Our music video honors all the creeks and rivers we're working to restore, and the joy that comes from the journey. Despacito inspires us to capture the rain, slow it down, and sink it into the ground, so we can restore our rivers, pasito a pasito, bit by bit. Share our video, Mi Rillito Despacito, on Facebook!
This vision cannot be achieved without you, so please make...
When we measure the value of Sabino Creek as we would other community assets, such as a bridge or building, we found Sabino Creek has a net value of $146 million – $230 million over a 100-year lifespan! This staggering number was determined by a recent economic analysis conducted by Seattle-based nonprofit Earth Economics in partnership with WMG.
The analysis showed that, by a conservative estimate, Sabino Creek provides $1.4 million – $2.1 million in “ecosystem service” benefits to...
As spring makes its slow transition into summer, we finally have a minute to look back on the flurry of fun and excitement of April.
At Tanque Verde Flow and Feast on April 2nd, we celebrated our love of flowing desert rivers with a fun and inspiring community event at Tanque Verde Creek. About 200 WMG supporters, Co-op members, and friends joined us for an evening of good food, drinks, poetry, and campfire fun. This event highlighted our 50 Year Program which aims to restore flow to...
Since the 1950s, Lower Sabino Creek has experienced declining groundwater levels and reduced stream flow. As much as we’d like to “wave a wand” and bring back perennial flow to Sabino Creek, a river does not flow by magic. There is hard science involved—so we worked with our partners to develop this flow budget and get a clear picture of the dynamics at work.
We may not be magicians, but with our data and on-the-ground strategies pointing the way, the fantastic sight of a free-flowing...
