Arizona Water Resource Vol. 1 No. 1 (Spring 2009)

Abstract

Arizona has another Wild and Scenic River; Fossil Creek with it’s the travertine geological formations and crystal clear waters now shares the same protected designation as a segment of the middle Verde River, the state’s only other Wild and Scenic River. Approving Fossil Creek’s special designation was a detail in a massive piece of legislation, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, a package of over 160 bills, that set aside more than 2 million acres of newly protected wilderness in nine states. More than 3.3 million acres of public lands in Arizona gained permanent protection. President Obama signed the law on March 30. Fossil Creek is an Arizona success story, an environmental rags-to-riches tale. Dammed early last century for power generation, Fossil Creek’s once quick-running water was a mere a trickle until the turn of this century. In 1999, Arizona Public Service shut down the power plants, and restoration efforts commenced. The dam was lowered and diversions ceased in June 2005, restoring full flows to the creek. This is the first Arizona watercourse to have a major water retention structure retired. In its heyday Fossil Creek was considered the fourth largest travertine system in the world. Fed by underground streams, it ran year-round almost 17 miles to the Verde River, its waters rich with calcium carbonate from the limestone aquifer below. Fossil Creek was one of 86 newly established Wild and Scenic Rivers with others located in California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming. Efforts are underway to gain support for a Wild and Scenic listing of another Arizona River, the Blue River, a tributary to the San Francisco River. Rivers or segment of rivers are designated Wild and Scenic to protect special qualities including scenic, recreational, geologic, and fish and wildlife; they are not to be dammed or otherwise impeded to protect their free-flowing condition. The recently passed law also provides other water-related provisions benefitting the state. Funding was authorized to support the federal government’s role in a comprehensive effort to preserve wildlife habitat along the lower Colorado River. The bill also authorized the Secretary of the Interior to consider ways to supplement water supplies in the Sierra Vista Subwatershed to benefit Fort Huachuca and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.