The Augusta Resources Corporation proposes to construct the Rosemont Mine project in the northern Santa Rita Mountains. This report is a reconnaissance analysis of the conceptual flow and water balance in the area. The conceptual flow model for the area is based on topography, geology and precipitation and identifies the likely flow paths in the watershed and aquifer system. The water balance includes estimates of recharge to and groundwater flow from the area; there is no evapotranspiration discharge from the regional groundwater.

Two additional sets of fact sheets that describe the threatened, endangered, and priority vulnerable species of Pima County. For each plant or animal there is a physical description and full color illustration. The habitat, range, diet, status, and history of each species is also outlined. These fact sheets will be widely distributed through the youth participation program.

Elements of the comprehensive plan now include planning for water resources that must address the currently available surface water, groundwater, and effluent supplies and provide an analysis of how the future growth projected in the county plan will be adequately served by the legally and physically available water supply. This is the first study to be issued as part of the Water Resources Element and identifies a number of measures that can be taken to conserve water, including measures that can be taken by Pima County in the form of ordinance adoption.

In the early 1990s, a study of the Tanque Verde Creek by Dr. Julie Stromberg and others described the relationship between the depth to groundwater and the health of the mesquite woodland habitat in the area. This report revisits the Stromberg study to describe variations in groundwater levels since the report was completed early last decade. They identified around 3,000 acres of riparian vegetation in the Tanque Verde-Agua Caliente shallow groundwater zone.

The purpose of this report is to represent the different types of land stewardship in Pima County in a digital Geographic Information System cover and to update the evaluation of vegetative communities relative to these classes. A previous evaluation suggested that 24 percent of Pima County is in a reserve of some kind; the current evaluation now suggests 26.5 percent.

Four adjacent ranges define the western edge of the Avra and Altar valleys. Even though desert ironwood has dark green, lush foliage much of the year, this tree is almost exclusively a Sonoran Desert species. The same is true of the distribution of saguaros, foothill palo verdes, fishhook barrel cacti, and most of the hundreds of other plants growing here. These rugged ranges also provide natural refuges for a variety of wildlife, including desert bighorn and migratory pollinators. In addition to the biological resources, the area has abundant rock art sites and other archaeological sites.

Conservation easements are becoming an important mechanism in Pima County for dealing with matters such as the establishment of mitigation banks and the negotiation of conservation commitments with federal environmental regulatory agencies. This tool will also assist in the implementation of the Ranch Conservation Element of the SDCP. Includes the verbatim proceedings of a workshop on conservation held on August 18, 2001.