Thread by @mtbogan

I *love* the Santa Cruz River. I devote an obscene amount of time to this river that flows through the city I live and will die in. But geez do the complex water and management politics turn my hair gray overnight.
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(a mini-thread)

Historically, the Santa Cruz River was a wildly dynamic desert river— through cycles of drought and flood, it meandered across a broad floodplain— but it had year-round water and lots of native aquatic species #Tucson google.com/amp/s/tucson.c…

But Spanish and Anglo settlers used up that water, pumped down the aquifer, and then built houses and business on that floodplain, and created a flood control channel to confine the usually-dry Santa Cruz River #Tucson

As many of you know, the city of Tucson began releasing treated wastewater (effluent) in the river downtown last June— a cause for celebration because it marked the return of perennial water to the river for the first time in nearly a century!

Numerous species of wildlife flocked to newly flowing Santa Cruz River, including dragonflies, toads, birds, and gartersnakes!

So, now we have water in the river, and we have species to manage, both of which are wonderful things! *BUT* it’s in the context of a highly managed, and under-sized, flood control channel — in an urban area of 800,000 people.

Let the complexities begin! 😂

To summarize the complexity, here are the players & their roles:

Water owner: City of Tucson
Flood control: Pima County
Wildlife mgmt: State of AZ
Endangered species: Federal gov’t
Ecology research: Univ of AZ
Community issues: NGOs, residents
Cultural heritage: Tohono O’odham

All these stakeholders have various, and at times conflicting, goals and visions. But all are highly invested in the same beleaguered and beloved urban stream: the Santa Cruz River.

Making progress means getting everyone to work together...

This week has been a bonkers roller coaster ride of highs and lows with regard to Santa Cruz River ecology and management — phone calls, Zoom calls, emails, panicked field work and more. I’m still so excited about the future of the river, but also:

There will be bumps along the way as we work through management issues with this diverse community of partners, but the future of the Santa Cruz River is bright! #Tucson