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- All Subjects: Riparian ecology
- All Subjects: Water table
- 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.
The final version of the report issued in early 2001. County staff responded in writing to clarify misunderstandings in the letter by Tucson Water. Pima County will continue to assess and look for ways to contribute to the protection of the resources in the Tanque Verde area.
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.
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.
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.