Location has a lot to do with the values associated with a particular project. Designed generally to accommodate human interest and use, urban projects often have great quality-of-life value. Ecosystems within city boundaries, however, are often heavily degraded; completely revitalizing the river is neither practical nor possible given available water supplies. Moreover constructing restoration projects often depends on voter approval. As a result, such projects often include civic amenities and opportunities for passive recreation to attract voter interest, including hiking trails, picnic grounds, campsites, and river parks. Examples of degraded urban rivers include the Santa Cruz in Tucson, the Salt in Phoenix, and the Lower Colorado where it flows through Yuma. All three rivers now have major restoration efforts underway. Sponsors at these sites, for the most part, are not tackling the Herculean task of bringing back the river?s historical conditions. Instead, they are focusing on what the city?s residents can gain from an improved riparian ecosystem. Consider, for example, work being done along the Salt River.

A Sept. 26, 2007 Arizona Republic editorial described the sad state of affairs that has afflicted many urban waterways: ?For most of the Valley?s modern history, we?ve turned our backs on rivers. We?ve seen them as hazards that overflow their banks or hindrances that restrict development with sprawling floodplains. ... We?ve seen them as unsightly blemishes on the landscape, a place fit only for the coarse business of sand and gravel or the dumping of old tires and radiators.?

The Salt River was once perennial, swelling during the springtime as snow melted in the mountainous parts of its watershed. Before the Roosevelt Dam was constructed, gallery forests of cottonwood and willow lined its lower reaches for hundreds of miles. During the twentieth century, the river was harnessed by dams, and its water diverted for agricultural and urban uses in the growing Phoenix area. The river?s flows became smaller, and then ceased; the water table dropped. Today, only isolated fragments of the original riparian corridor remain.

The Rio Salado Project sought to bring back the historic woodlands of cottonwood, willow and mesquite. First conceived by James Elmore in the 1960s, the project evolved over two decades to include 23 miles of lakes, with a price tag of $2.5 billion. When brought to voters in 1987, it was overwhelming defeated. Today?s project, encompassing five miles of river, and costing $100 million, is much scaled down.
Project sponsors had to obtain water to irrigate the new vegetation they planted along the riverbanks. (See more on obtaining project water on page 10.) Four years, 76,000 trees and nearly 100 government permits later, the area made a Cinderella transformation from garbage dump to nature park. The dedication ceremony on Nov. 5, 2006, was attended by 800 people. Hiking trails are open daily and frequented by varied users, from horseback riders to bicyclists to people in wheelchairs. Shaded by mesquite trees and willows, blackbirds build new nests among the cattails, while blue herons settle in pools of water. With the community?s approval, the river restoration will continue in two subsequent projects, Rio Salado Oeste and Tres Rios.

A Phoenix urban area restoration project now in the works, El Rio Watercourse project will be an amenity in the newly developing West Valley along the Gila River. The plan is to develop a greenbelt by reclaiming a channel, restoring vegetation along the river and creating a wetlands area. Willow, ironwood and mesquite trees would line streambeds and two lakes would be located adjacent to the Estrella Mountain Regional Park. The purpose of the project is to create a natural and scenic area that will attract compatible development.

Rio Salado offers urban residents various kinds of recreation including hiking, horseback riding and birdwatching. Also Rio Salado enables children to investigate the fascinating qualities of water. The above children are observing fish.