RESTORATION OF ARIZONA’S SANTA CRUZ WATERSHED: “We should rejoice alongside the Tohono O’Odham Nation and work with it to restore flow to our rivers and quicken our pace towards a more resilient future,” wrote Lisa Shipek, Executive Director of the Tuscon-based Watershed Management Group non-profit organization

Note to Reader:

The Tuscon-based Watershed Management Group (WMG) develops community-based solutions to ensure the long-term prosperity of people and health of the environment. We provide people with the knowledge, skills, and resources for sustainable livelihoods.

Lisa Shipek is a founding member of the non-profit Watershed Management Group and has served as the Executive Director since 2006.

As Tucson-area rivers are reborn, we can do even more to help them flow

“The good news keeps coming for our rivers this year. In June, we celebrated the launch of the Santa Cruz Heritage project, releasing recycled water into the river to support perennial flow through downtown Tucson. Now we learn another stretch of the Santa Cruz River has regained flow, but this time it is groundwater supported!,” wrote Lisa Shipek in an Op-Ed published by the Arizona Daily Star.

“Our rivers are being reborn after a century of decline. This is a defining moment for all the communities that live in our Santa Cruz Watershed. We should rejoice alongside the Tohono O’Odham Nation and work with it to restore flow to our rivers and quicken our pace towards a more resilient future. Each of us has a part to play, as we reduce our dependence on imported CAP water, to cultivate our local water supply and scale up conservation efforts.”

To Learn More:

Read the complete Op-Ed by Lisa Shipek, titled Local Opinion: As Tucson-area rivers are reborn, we can do even more to help them flow, and published by the Arizona Daily Star.

Desert river (photo credit: Watershed Management Group, Arizona)