This memorandum describes (1) the potential applicability to Pima County of a national initiative to institute reforms in floodplain management; and (2) an assessment of the effectiveness of Pima County's Riparian Habitat Mitigation Ordinance (attachment). An inter-departmental team was formed to formulate specific proposals for consideration as part of the Riparian Protection Element of the SDCP and the major plan amendment to the County's comprehensive plan.

Because the West Branch area has been left alone, it has a chance to recover and become a part of the larger Paseo de las Iglesias project, and a cornerstone of a more extensive effort at ecological restoration involving the mesic coorridors of Pima County, the Santa Cruz, Rillito, and Pantano.