A large conservation effort—with many area groups and nonprofits — is cleaning trash along the Santa Cruz River. The Sonoran Institute is no different, but director Luke Cole addressed the crucial aspect of the organization’s work on the watershed.
“What separates the Sonoran Institute in particular initiatives is we’re collecting data all the while,” Cole said. “This is nonpartisan, this is data collecting and this is consensus building, bringing people to the river.”
The Sonoran Institute of Arizona will host its recurring Clean the Santa Cruz event on Saturday, May 20. Participants will meet at the river and pick up trash as part of the institute’s commitment to keep the Santa Cruz water flowing clean.
The institute will also host a raffle based on participation, and prizes donated by local businesses will be given out at the end of the event. After the cleanup, volunteers will head to Dragoon Brewing Company to celebrate their efforts, with first drinks at $1.
Their goal is to pick up over 2,000 pounds of trash in two hours. This minimum was greatly surpassed by their last cleanup in February, where more than 100 volunteers showed up to help.
“We’re hoping to do what we did back in February, which was to pull out 7,000 pounds of trash in two hours,” Cole said. “The community really exceeded our expectations, and the Santa Cruz River is better for it.”
An anonymous sponsor has pledged to give $1 for each pound of trash picked, up to $1,000. Caterpillar has also committed to sponsoring the cleanup, partnering with the Sonoran Institute in their efforts to clean the waste they find in the river.
Part of the company’s involvement comes from a desire to maintain the environment near its location on the Santa Cruz.
“One would think they chose that location because of the beautiful waterfront,” Cole noted. “They are a community stakeholder organization that’s tied with the Santa Cruz, and saw it worthwhile to support the work that the Sonoran Institute is doing on the river.”
Along with its partnerships with Caterpillar and other organizations, the institute plays a crucial role with the Pima County Flood Control. The Sonoran Institute has completed research in over 200 locations across the river, enumerating every piece of trash they find.
They publish their research in their Living River Magazine, documenting what type of trash can be found in the river and where it is to build a public database. They will also report data to Flood Control, who may use it to improve their own efforts during monsoon season.
Although trash buildup has been an issue on the Santa Cruz, the river and its tributaries have run relatively clean for the last decade. The river used to be a bountiful resource to ancient Indigenous tribes before drying up around the time of western expansion in the 20th century. Since then, according to Cole, the water system has acted as an open sewer for the city.
“Great grandparents, grandparents and parents have cautioned their kids, understandably, from going into the river because it was so dirty and dangerous,” Cole explained.
After 2013, the Aqua Nueva and Tres Rios wastewater treatment plants were built and provided clean water to the Santa Cruz. The Sonoran Institute’s mission is to ensure the river continues to run clean and even improve the water flow and quality in the years to come.
“The work we’re doing is meant to promote positive change with respect to those who came before us…” Cole added,. “... in hopes we can reconnect people with natural resources like the Santa Cruz River that have sustained them for millennia.”
Cole explained that everyone in the community can make a difference with the Santa Cruz, even if they can’t attend a trash clean up. Collecting a bit of trash in a road, driveway or neighborhood will prevent it from making its way into the water system.
He hopes that organized clean-ups not only benefit the river but teach people the importance of water conservation as a whole, especially in a vibrant desert city that owes its existence to it.
“Everybody who lives in Tucson and Pima County should feel a responsibility for stewarding the Santa Cruz River, what’s left of it and what we’ve been able to make of it,” Cole said. “That’s being a good neighbor and a good person in history.”
Clean the Santa Cruz by the Sonoran Institute
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, May 20
WHERE: 514 N. Riverside Drive
COST: Free
INFO: https://rb.gy/v0wu9
