Members of LSPWA understand how incredibly unique the Lower San Pedro River is … and why, as the last free-flowing river in the southwest, it is worth protecting. Of deep concern is the fact the watershed and surrounding hydrology of the adjacent Galiuro Mountains remain largely unstudied.
Threats. It’s that simple. The Lower San Pedro is facing its biggest challenge yet, with a potential full-scale mine knocking on the door. Our hydrologist and geochemist advisors, Keith Nelson and Chris Eastoe, along with our partners at Earthworks, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Mining Action Network, Partners for Dryland Planning, Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, and other conservation landholders, agree with the proactive strategy of gathering additional scientific groundwater data about the watershed so that we can:
Respond with hard facts to future federal and state environmental reviews and dispute bad science
Understand the health of the watershed, as well as impacts of mining, as we continue to provide legal standing for the community
Provide water-related educational workshops that help our local communities understand mining and associated groundwater-pumping impacts to better protect the San Pedro as an informed community
Pair our study with complementary water studies currently being conducted by Arizona Mining Reform Coalition and through a Catalyst Fund grant within the Lower San Pedro Collaborative
Share, in public campaigns, with other Arizonans the very-real threats to one of the state’s most biodiverse areas, including Aravaipa Canyon
We are currently meeting with a team of hydrologists to determine study parameters, costs and timelines. As the mining industry is enjoying new proposed laws and executive orders that favor foreign extractive industries (chanting “get your shovels in the ground now, with this Administration!”), time is of the essence.
"The Lower San Pedro River and the extremely rare Aravaipa Creek – a perennial desert stream that supports one of the most diverse ecosystems in the American Southwest – are facing unprecedented challenges,” says LSPWA advisor Keith Nelson, retired Arizona Department of Water Resources hydrologist, who spearheaded development of the Arizona Department of Water Resources’ Groundwater Flow Model of the Willcox Basin. He notes the following:
A direct hydraulic connection between the Aravaipa and Willcox Groundwater basins: Pumping in the Willcox Basin is likely lowering groundwater levels in the upper Aravaipa Watershed.
The potential for devastating dewatering impacts: Because half of Aravaipa Creek’s initial base flow originates from recharge in the Galiuro Mountains, the proposed open-pit series of copper mines in the Galiuros, located between the Aravaipa Canyon and Lower San Pedro Groundwater Basins, pose significant threats to watershed health.
Long-term reduction in natural recharge: Altering surface hydrology through open-pit mining will likely exacerbate already-declining recharge caused by rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns.
A new long-term, regional-scale study of anticipated human impacts – including mining – would capture data from the adjacent Lower San Pedro Groundwater Basin and the downstream portion of the Aravaipa Canyon Groundwater Basin (not currently in the Willcox model) and enable hydrologists, water managers and stakeholders to evaluate future/potential impacts of groundwater development at regional and local scales. “This knowledge would allow for the objective analysis of potential solutions, based on the best available science, in order to protect the Lower San Pedro and Aravaipa's extremely rare, desert base flow," says Nelson.
To undertake such a necessary, rigorous, scientific study, we will need to raise substantial funds. As we determine study parameters, we plan to seek grants to cover a portion of the costs—and we have already partnered with two organizations on complementary water studies. We hope we can count on you to support this critical research, as a linchpin of our strategy to save the San Pedro. Please consider making a donation, as your help is needed so that we can conduct this critical work.