Summer 2013 Echo (2.4 MB pdf) - Arizona Sierra Club

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6 Sierra Club Grand Canyon ChapterRio Salado: A Riparian Oasis in the Heart of Downtown PhoenixBy Steve PawlowskiThe Rio Salado Habitat RestorationArea is an urban watershed renewal projectthat runs through the heart of the Phoenixmetropolitan area. This five-mile section ofthe Salt River channel extends from 28 thStreet on the east to 19 th Avenue on the west,just a few miles south of downtown Phoenix.It encompasses 595 acres of restoredriparian habitat in a state that has lost morethan 90% of its riparian habitats.For nearly a century, the Salt River channelin Phoenix was a dry bed resulting fromupstream dams and surface water diversionsthat began in the early 1900s. In 1993, theCity of Phoenix initiated a study to design arestoration project to transform the blighted,dry river bed that was lined with waste tiredumps, construction debris, and sand-andgraveloperations into a beautiful linear parkof ponds, riparian and wetland habitats, terraces,and miles of hiking, biking, and equestriantrails. Construction of the Rio Saladobegan in Spring 2000 and was completed inNovember 2005. Approximately 1,185 tonsof waste tires and 138,572 cubic yards of debriswere removed, and more than 76,000native plants were planted.The Rio Salado is a bird-watcher’s paradise.More than 200 species of birds havebeen identified in the restorationarea, which alsoprovides habitat for smallmammals, reptiles, andamphibians. There are 88acres of mesquite bosquehabitat, 14 acres of cottonwood/willowhabitat,193 acres of lower Sonoranhabitat with paloverde and mesquite trees,39 acres of wetland marsh,57 acres of saltbush, and31 acres of aquatic habitat.These habitat features provideexceptional opportunitiesfor birding, wildlifeviewing, nature photography,recreation, and environmentaleducation.The essential element for any riparianhabitat in a desert is water. The sourceof water for the Rio Salado is a system offive wells that pump groundwater from theaquifer under the Salt River channel into therestoration area. Approximately 3.5 milliongallons of groundwater are pumped eachday into water features and are distributedthrough the irrigation system to sustain theA volunteer helps plant native species in the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area.Photo by Mark Coryell.Get Involved!wetland and riparian plants. Also, there are22 storm drains that channel storm waterinto the channel when it rains in the valley(unfortunately, it channelstrash and litter into the riverbed, too).That’s one of the reasonswhy the Rio Salado restorationarea is a work-in-progress andcan always use a helping hand.The Arizona Water Sentinelshave worked with the Cityof Phoenix Parks and RecreationDepartment to maintainand enhance the Rio Saladothrough our “Weed & Clean”program. Once a month, SierraClub volunteers gather toremove buffelgrass and to pickup trash and litter. Sometimes,we do revegetation projects,planting native plants at thegateway trailheads leading intothe restoration area.Steve is the Water Sentinels Program Coordinator.If you want to discover the beautiful Rio Salado while doing some “hands-on” conservationwork, join the Water Sentinels at our next Rio Salado Weed & Clean! ContactSteve Pawlowski at 602-254-9330 or steve.pawlowski@sierraclub.org.Livestock Grazing Threatens Upper Salt RiverBy Jim VaalerThe Salt River aboveState Route 288 is wild andbeautiful. It has one existingwilderness area, the Salt RiverCanyon Wilderness, and oneInventoried Roadless Area(IRA), the Picacho IRA. Thiswhole Forest Service sectionof the river is eligible for Wildand Scenic river status.A major threat to this partof the river comes in the formof a grazing proposal entitled“Salt River Allotment AnalysisDraft Environmental ImpactStatement.” If adopted,this proposal would set a badprecedent for managing largesections of wild and sensitiveThe Upper Salt River. Photo by Jim Vaaler.lands as it encompasses noless than six grazing allotmentscovering more than275,000 acres of publicland. The affected grazingallotments are the Chrysotile,Haystack Butte, Sedow,Dagger, Hicks-PikesPeak, and Poison Springs.The river corridorhas been closed to grazingfor almost 10 years,and the result has been asignificant improvementin the quality of the habitat,including re-growthof riparian vegetation,cow-pie-free beaches, andan improvement in waterquality. The new proposal will allow cattlegrazing and access all along and in the river.The proposal calls for a huge increase in thenumber of cattle along with a huge increasein the number of grazing structures to supportthem.This grazing proposal has no basis insound science or in having a healthy riveror riparian areas. Its premise is the repeatedlydisproved idea that cattle can be usedas a tool to improve ecological conditions onour public land. The proposal itself seemsto have been drafted primarily by the livestockindustry, so perhaps it is no surprise itviews grazing so favorably. That being said,it is the job of the Forest Service to look atthe best available science and to analyze theSee Salt River continued on pg. 10.http://arizona.sierraclub.org
Summer 2013 Canyon Echo 7Dam(n) It: Excising the Gila RiverBy Priscilla BenbrookThe Gila and its tributaries – the SanSimon, San Pedro, and Santa Cruz to thesouth and the San Francisco, Salt, AguaFria, and Hassayampa to the north – onceformed the most important river systemin the Southwest. Beginning at an altitudeof 5,551 feet near the confluence of NewMexico’s East and West Fork rivers, the Gilaends in the Colorado River near Yuma, 619miles to the west.The early Hohokam grew cotton alongthe Gila in 200–300 A.D. Their canals andwells were thought to sustain some 60,000people, the center of which was Snaketown,near present-day Phoenix. In the 1500s,conquistadors arrived and christened theriver the “Gila,” a word reportedly derivedfrom a Spanish contraction of Hah-quah-saeel,a Yuma word meaning “running waterwhich is salty.”The modern Gila reads like an accountof an oncologist racing to excise cancer – thecancer being unexploited water. The HomesteadAct of 1862 granted 160 acres to anyonewilling to farm the area for five years.All the settlers had to do was add water. By1880 diversion dams built by Mormon settlersat Florence sent nearly the entire riveroff course. Soon the Gila was lined withsmall farms producing a variety of crops,ranging from tomatoes to melons. (Indeed,Phoenix originally held the stupefying monikerof “Pumpkinville.”)It is said that nature provides mechanismsagainst the vanity of human wishes. InFebruary of 1904, the Gila flooded and dischargedinto the swollen Colorado, carryingwith it an uprooted oak tree. The tree compromiseda control gate above Yuma, causingwater to surge into the long-dead AlamoRiver. Revitalized, the Alamo found its wayto the Salton Sink and recreated the SaltonSea. Settlers were unfazed by the Gila’s complaints.Demand for water increased withthe introduction of water-intensive Egyptiancotton for use in World War I. Water wasdiverted into canals, leaving the Gila all butdead west of Gila Bend.Developers continued excising.Coolidge Dam – the first major barrier onthe Gila – was completed in 1928. (Thedam was opposed by San Carlos Apache,but a “compromise” was made. Today tribalburial grounds and Geronimo’s camp canbe “visited” at the bottom of the reservoir.)Coolidge Dam was a primary factor in slowingthe flow of the Gila near Phoenix. In1983, heavy rains required water releasesfrom Coolidge. Operators discovered thatthe gates had been rusted shut for more than10 years. It was named the most dangerousdam in the U.S. and continues deteriorating.Threats to the Gila and its 40 threatenedor endangered species, including theGila topminnow, Chiricahua leopard frog,southwestern willow flycatcher, Mexicangray wolf, and Arizona cliffrose continue.Diversions to supply water for the 5,000,000people in its basin remain primary threats(e.g,, a typical golf course uses between500,000 and 1,000,000 gallons per day…teed off yet?).Edward Abbey noted that “growth forits own sake is the ideology of the cancercell.” Cut it out!Priscilla is a freelance science writer with degrees inConservation Biology and English from ASU.Why Should We Care about the Motorola Superfund Site?By Mackenzie Kong-Sivert and Kiera MessingTwenty years ago, Motorola’s 52 ndStreet semiconductor plant contaminatedPhoenix’s groundwater supply with toxicchemicals as far north as Palm Lane, as farsouth as Buckeye Road, and as far west as7 th Avenue. That was 20 years ago. TheEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)put it on its National Priorities List andensured an effort to remove as much ofthe chemical waste as possible from thegroundwater. Even though this process isslow and the groundwater will likely not beused until about 25 years from now. Why,then, should we worry about the effects ofsomething that happened so long ago? Weshould care because the contamination ofgroundwater is only the beginning.The toxic chemicals in this water can andhave seeped into the soil that many residentsof the area use to grow gardens, many ofwhich contain plants that the residentseat. Additionally, by a process called vaporintrusion, contaminants in the groundwaterrise up through the soil and into the air,which can be especially dangerous if thevapors rise through the floors of enclosedspaces such as homes, which trap the toxicvapors inside.The EPA conducted a study in 2006with staggering results showing us thatwe cannot ignore this problem. First,concentrations in Phoenix of several toxicchemicals were found to be higher thanconcentrations in 75% of urban areas inthe U.S. In addition, the air was found tocontain elevated concentrations of variouschemicals at levels well over the cancerbenchmark. Although there is some level ofuncertainty in everything in science, it seemsvery likely that the primary source of thesecontaminants is the Superfund Site.Another chemical on the site istrichloroethylene (TCE). Upon exposure,TCE is carried through the bloodstream andaccumulates in fat and other tissues. TCEhas been linked to reduced fertility, immunerelatedproblems, brain damage, and variousforms of cancer. None of this information isnews; this has been happening for decades,but many residents of the site neitherknow nor care much about this site. Theinformation is available for those who searchfor it, but few actually do.About 100 miles from the Motorolasite is another Superfund site, the TucsonInternational Airport area. In 1985, threeyears after the area was declared a Superfundsite, Tucsonans for a Clean Environmentfiled a personal injury lawsuit with over1,600 plaintiffs and went on to win thelargest settlement in a case involvinggroundwater contamination in the entirehistory of the U.S.This is not to say, of course, that therehas been no community involvement onthe Motorola Superfund Site. There havebeen people who are active in trying to dosomething about this site, and they havebeen very dedicated, but there are notenough of them. We ought to take a pagefrom Tucson’s book: having safe water, safeland, and safe air is an important and validconcern.Mackenzie and Kiera are students at Bioscience HighSchool (a science magnet in downtown Phoenix) andcollaborators for awareness of water contamination.Learn More!For up-to-date information aboutcommunity meetings and communityinvolvement efforts for the 52 nd StreetPlant, see http://bit.ly/motorola52.http://arizona.sierraclub.org
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Summer 2013 Echo (2.4 MB pdf) - Arizona Sierra Club

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