A vision To expand the existing community’s vision to protect, celebrate, reconcile, and reconnect with the Santa Cruz River.
My River, Our Refuge.Land & Water
We respectfully acknowledge that the Santa Cruz River flows through the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with the Santa Cruz Watershed being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui, whose relationships with the land and river continue to this day.
The Santa Cruz River has been a storied spiritual and cultural place for the Tohono O’odham, distinct ancestors, and the Pascua Yaqui people. The people of the San Xavier District, in particular, have ancestral ties to the flowing Santa Cruz River and the surrounding lands. They continue to access and care for these lands for ongoing cultural and religious practices.
Community Connected Efforts
This grant-funded effort builds upon the work of so many before us who worked to sustain, rehabilitate, and celebrate the Santa Cruz River and is dependent upon ongoing and expanded efforts like these.
There are multiple parallel efforts that are ongoing that are relevant to Tucsonans. One is the effort described here and a second is the pursuit of National Refuge Designation. For more information about the Federal designation effort, we encourage you to visit www.santacruzriver.org.
The work of this outreach and engagement effort builds upon and celebrates a long legacy of stewardship of and relationship with the Santa Cruz River. We also invite you to find out more and get involved, because we are better together.
The mountains and valleys that surround Tucson are some of the most biodiverse lands in the U.S. The Santa Cruz is a perennial source of water in an otherwise arid desert, and native species rely on these waters for food, habitat, and drinking water.
