State of the Santa Cruz River

The Santa Cruz River has a compelling human history. Telling this story can awaken a deeper emotional curiosity about the river and entice more people to explore the region’s rich heritage. The Sonoran Institute is not the first to recognize and share the river’s fascinating story. The State of the Santa Cruz River builds on the work of the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance. The nonprofit Heritage Alliance provides ongoing leadership in recognizing the important link between nature and culture.

State of the Santa Cruz River - Conservation Inventory

The Santa Cruz River and other riparian areas in the watershed have long been the backbone of the region’s natural and cultural heritage. This rich history is highlighted in the State of the Santa Cruz River.

This companion document, State of the Santa Cruz River—Conservation Inventory, aims to acknowledge the numerous conservation efforts underway throughout the region that promote watershed health as well as protect and restore the river.

Fishes Of The Rio Yaqui Basin, Mexico And United States

The Rio Yaqui drainage basin of northwestern Mexico comprises about 73,000 km of the most inaccessible and rugged terrain in western North America (Blásquez 1959). An average annual discharge of almost 2,800 ha2 makes the Rio Yaqui one of the major watersheds of that region (Tamayo and West 1964). The small percentage of this system that lies within southwestern United States contributes a substantial proportion of the native ichthyofauna of that area - 6 to 8 species of fishes were originally present, of which 5 did not occur elsewhere in the United States.

A Living River: Charting the Health of the Upper Santa Cruz River, 2010

For thousands of years, rivers in the arid Southwest have sustained people and supported an abundance of plants and wildlife. Though at times unnoticed, the numerous services that these rivers perform provide substantial benefits to the people living near them. For example, the plants growing along the river naturally slow flood flows, improve air quality, and provide shade. Soils in the floodplain, meanwhile, filter and clean the river water as it recharges the groundwater aquifer that supports local residents.

A Living River: Charting the Health of the Upper Santa Cruz River, 2008

For thousands of years, people in the arid West have built their communities near rivers that supply drinking water, serve as navigation corridors, and support hundreds of plant, fish, and wildlife species. The Upper Santa Cruz is such a river, having sustained human communities for more than 3,500 years. From its headwaters in the San Rafael Valley in Arizona, the Upper Santa Cruz River flows south into Mexico where it completes a 25-mile U-turn and flows north back into the United States through Santa Cruz County, Arizona.

Rio Sonoyta Mud Turtle

The Sonoyta mud turtle, Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale, is endemic to a small area in south- western Arizona and northwestern Sonora. The only U.S. population, at Quitobaquito, declined from several hundred in the 1950s to fewer than 100 in the 1980s (Arizona Game and Fish Department 2005). A decline in 1989-90 was attributed to drought and high temperatures.