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- All Subjects: Cultural property
- All Subjects: Riparian ecology
- Creators: Pima County (Ariz.). County Administrator's Office
Stream flow disappearance due to groundwater pumping, floodplain development, and habitat loss due to erosion have significantly altered the biologically rich and diverse riparian corridors of eastern Pima County. Today, there are new opportunities to recreate our watercourses as a gathering place for people and wildlife.
Conservation of the Tortolita Alluvial Fan landscape has been promoted by Pima County and Town of Marana over the past two decades. An interdepartmental team was formed to evaluate flood and debris flow hazards and the potential to create an expanded Tortolita Fan Preserve. This report provides an overview of the alluvial fan characteristics and evaluates information on the significance of the biological and cultural resources to determine of the area meets the criteria to create a federal preserve.
On the County's behalf, the Arizona Open Land Trust has entered into two purchase agreements for the Buckelew Farms property. Under this conservation acquisition proposal, farming would continue in the areas currently farmed, grazing would continue on a seasonal basis, and the popular annual pumpkin festival would continue. However, the County and the Buckelew's would work together to enhance opportunities for wildlife habitat on the farm and grazing lands.
Pima County in partnership with the Arizona Open Land Trust has the opportunity to purchase 500 acres of land in fee simple from the Buckelews at a per acre price of $1,800, for a total of $900,000 plus closing costs.
A PowerPoint presentation that talked about what the Cultural Resources staff have been doing over the last three years; the process they've gone through in collecting information; and the data they've collected.
The first four sections present background information to define cultural resources and to explain the results of three years of effort ot locate, characterize, evaluate and comparatively analyze cultural resources in eastern Pima County. The last section examines each of these alternatives and concludes with a brief assessment of the effect of the no action alternative on cultural resources.
Ten watercourses in eastern Pima County were selected because, except for one, each has a 100-year discharge in excess of 10,000 cfs, and each is located within an urbanized or urbanizing area, or in an area where an increasing number of permits are being sought to develop in the floodplain.
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.
Arizona's fish story begins in 1904 with the publication of Morton Chambrlain's "Survey of Arizona Fishes", the first detailed study by an aquatic biologist of the area. He was able to count sixteen native species in Arizona. Today more than half are either extinct or listed as threatened or endangered, and most of the rest are considered to be imperiled. In Pima County, we count more extirpated native fish than remaining residents. The story, absent a fairly dramatic change in circumstances, will end with the extirpation or extinction of all native fish in the region. This report provides an opportunity to change the circumstances of aquatic and riparian systems in eastern Pima County.
Priority cultural resources are places of such importance to the history and culture of Pima County that their protection is warranted in the public interest. Out of more than 3,500 known archaeological sites and 4,000 historic buildings, 229 priority cultural resources were identified.