Tell your state leaders to support urban ecological renewal!

A decades-long local “reconciliation ecology” movement has led an urban ecological renaissance in the city of Tucson, Arizona. The Santa Cruz River once ran through downtown Tucson, but had dried up by the 1950s due to overgrazing and excessive groundwater pumping. In 2019, Tucson started the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project, diverting up to 2.8 million gallons of treated recycled wastewater per day to rehydrate part of the Santa Cruz riverbed near downtown, which now flows with water again for miles.

It’s not (yet) the same as a fully healthy river — the flow varies with the weather, and parts of it still dry up sometimes. But it doesn’t dry up completely all at once, and it’s enough to sustain wetlands and marsh vegetation, sparking a widespread renewal of the former Santa Cruz ecosystem! Over 40 native plant and animal species have returned to the area, from cottonwood trees to deer, toads, snakes, birds, insects, and more.

Seven species of dragonflies and damselflies were observed in this “Heritage Reach” stretch on the first day of the project, and that rose to thirty-seven species after four months of rewatering!

Endangered Gila topminnows (Poeciliopsis occidentalis) were reintroduced in 2020, and are now reproducing in that rejuvenated Tucson stretch of the Santa Cruz.

Tucson Water now hopes to use this renewed ecosystem to recharge the downtown aquifer, increasing the city’s long-term water security. It already provides a rich new outdoor recreation area for local families.

Restored rivers and wetlands are a massive win-win-win, offering habitat for wildlife, a heat refuge and quality-of-life boost for humans, and an economic value addition for communities all at once! The Santa Cruz River project in Tucson is just one of a great multitude of urban waterway restoration efforts going on across America. State governments should proactively seek out and support urban river restoration projects, and ensure a supportive legal, regulatory, and permitting environment.

Tell your state leaders to support urban ecological renewal!