If one species had to be chosen to preserve and restore, perhaps it should be cottonwood. Cottonwood-willow forests, where they exist and are healthy, indicated the presence of a viable riparian area, which is in turn the key to conserving great proportions of our native species. A reflection of the dire status of our riparian systems is that the Sonoran cottonwood-willow and Sonoran mesquite-cottonwood forests.

Water as we talk in terms of growth, habitat protection and it is probably the limiting natural resource in this valley and region. Sustainability was drafted into the groundwater proposal in 1980 and it required all of the Active Management Areas of Arizona to achieve a safe deal within 45 years after balance of plan. The groundwater code had a very unique way to meet the assured water supply requirements. Before you can subdivide property you have to show that there is adequate water supply for 100 years.