Campaign Launched to
Protect the Verde River
August 16, 2006 — By the Center for Biological Diversity
PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Center for
Biological Diversity announced this week that it is launching a long-term
campaign to protect the Verde River in Arizona. In response to multiple
perils facing the river, including the proposed Big Chino Water Ranch
Pipeline project by the city of Prescott and town of Prescott Valley, a
citizen action and collaboration campaign is underway to preserve the
health of this invaluable resource.
Arizona's rivers are under incredible pressure from drought, man-made
obstructions and overuse. More than 90 percent of the state's riparian
habitat has been completely lost. The habitat along many rivers has become
choked with exotic vegetation, and the assemblages of fish, amphibians and
invertebrates have become overrun with non-native species, such as small
mouth bass, green sunfish, crayfish and bullfrogs.
One of the last, best places for native species restoration in the state
is along the upper Verde River. For 150 miles, from its headwaters to the
dams at Horseshoe and Bartlett, the Verde continues to flow year round - a
rare perennial stream. The Verde originates and ends in Arizona. For many
thousands of years it has served the needs of people, plants and animals
without fail.
However, pressures are mounting on the Verde River in the form of
groundwater wells. The watershed holds more than 10,000 wells, nearly 43
percent of them drilled since 1990. Many of these wells tap the sub-flow,
or water running underground that feeds the river. Others pump heavily
from the aquifers that contribute to the Verde or its tributaries.
A massive well is planned for the headwaters of the Verde by the city of
Prescott and town of Prescott Valley. The cities plan to draw between 2.8
and 4 billion gallons of water per year from the aquifer that provides 80
to 86 percent of the flow in the upper Verde River during the driest times
of the year. In time, this withdrawal, in combination with other
withdrawals that are currently in place for domestic and agricultural use,
will devastate the rate of flow in the upper 24 miles of the river.
But the pumping would not stop there. Nearby Chino Valley also has staked
claims on "water ranches" to the tune of 1.8 million gallons per day.
Multiple large developments in the headwaters basin are also in the
planning stages.
As this tide of development is poised to steal the life of the river, the
Center for Biological Diversity is fighting back with the "Save the
Verde Campaign". See
http://savetheverde.org for more information.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a non-profit conservation
organization with more than 25,000 members dedicated to the protection of
imperiled species and habitat.
Contact Info:
Michelle Harrington, Rivers Program Director
Center for Biological Diversity
Tel : 602-628-9909
E-mail :
mharrington@biologicaldiversity.org
Website :
the Center for Biological Diversity