Gila, Santa Cruz Rivers on list of 'most endangered' for 2024
Recreational users enjoy the bicycle and pedestrian path along the Santa Cruz River in Central Tucson. During monsoon season in 2020, the usually dry Santa Cruz freely flowed through Tucson and Green Valley toward Mexico.
Two of Arizona’s most scenic and historic waterways are also its most endangered: The Gila River, which begins high in the Gila Wilderness of western New Mexico; and the Santa Cruz River, which runs dry much of the time through southern Arizona, twice crossing the border with Mexico.
Human and agricultural over use, excessive pumping of groundwater, exposure to mining operations, and the weakening of environmental protections have degraded the wild rivers and places them among the top four most endangered, according America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2024, the annual report by national nonprofit American Rivers, based in Washington, D.C.
“These rivers should be important to all Arizonans in several meaningful ways,” says Mark Nothaft, a communications strategist and principal at MAP Strategies Group in Phoenix. “The Gila and Santa Cruz are connections to our distinct history and culture as well as an expression of the region’s unparalleled beauty that makes life here even more special. The rivers have economic impacts beyond the obvious applications like drinking water for thirsty cities, agricultural purposes, wildlife support and recreational uses.”
“So when some say the rivers are not imminently important to our economy and do not need protecting, the holistic picture should be considered.”
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year struck down decades of stream and headwater protections afforded by the Clean Water Act of 1972. The ruling impacted nearly 4 million miles of tributaries and wetlands, which jeopardizes the drinking water of nearly 40 million Americans.