Santa Cruz River Lives Again
Come Rain or Shine
English - November 04, 2020 08:00 - 35 minutes - 24.3 MB - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsScience Education climate adaptation sustainability climate change environment southwest resilience earth-friendly climate science desert Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Urban expansion and mismanagement of the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona had led to a dry river bed for much of the year. Using effluent (treated wastewater), the City of Tucson Water Department brought perennial flow back to a portion of the river, just South of downtown Tucson. The returned water recharges groundwater to the local aquifer, while restoring vegetation and wildlife to this stretch of the river. James McAdam from Tucson Water, and Michael Bogan and Drew Eppehimer from the University of Arizona, describe the Santa Cruz River Project (https://tucsonaz.gov/water/Heritage), including its benefits to the ecosystem and local community, as well as challenges they experienced along the way. Episode photo by Michael Bogan.
For more info on the project:
https://sonoraninstitute.org/resource/living-river-report-2019/
https://peerj.com/articles/9856/
Related webinar series by our partners at the Desert Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill: https://tumamoc.arizona.edu/past-present-and-future-santa-cruz-river-heritage-reach.
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Affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/