BACKGROUND
The Verde River is one of Arizona's most valued natural treasures. Walking along its tree-shaded banks listening to the rush of water flowing by is like a step back into yesteryear. After visiting dewatered, denuded rivers such as the lower segments of the Salt, Gila, and Santa Cruz Rivers, the Verde is a breath of fresh air. The water is sweet, the air is filled with birds of all descriptions, the banks are protected by lush stands of cottonwood and willow trees, and fish and wildlife thrive in and along the year-round river.
The natural values that still exist within the Verde River Corridor are simply outstanding. It is easy to take these resources for granted until one looks at the loss of rivers and riparian areas statewide and realizes that the Verde could easily go the way of Arizona's other desert rivers if nothing is done to prevent it.
The Verde River is the principal north-south river system of central Arizona. The Verde and its tributaries drain a basin that encompasses 6,646 square miles and includes portions of Yavapai, Coconino, and Gila counties. Originating at the confluence of the Big Chino Wash and Williamson Valley Wash north of Prescott, the Verde flows through steep canyons and the broad Verde Valley before terminating at its confluence with the Salt River, east of Phoenix (ADEQ, 1988).
The Rio Verde, which means "Green River" in Spanish, is an obvious referral to the lush ribbon of trees, bushes, and grasses, called riparian vegetation, that thrives along the river's edge. This impressive river is one of Arizona's major perennial desert watercourses, supporting many diverse lifeforms, with humans the dominant user.
Explorers traveling through the arid Southwest were impressed that anything could manage to survive the hostile desert environment that covers much of Arizona. While many plant and animal species have adapted nicely to the rigors of desert living with no need for open water, most animal species, including humans, require a regular source of open water. This means that most life in Arizona depends on the state's rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands for their survival.
Prehistoric Indians centered their families and villages along rivers as evidenced by the magnificent ruins at Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle National Monuments. Early Spanish, European, and American colonists also located their forts, farms, and communities along the region's rivers. Later, the mining and agriculture interests relied on the rivers to build their industries. Towns sprang up around these early settlements forming the communities we know today. The river and its resources are still the basis for these communities, providing water for homes, farms, livestock, businesses, and recreationists, and riverine land for agriculture, sand and gravel, homes, and parks and open space.
This settlement process and importance of readily available water is no different than any other state in the union, except for the degree of the river's importance. While rivers are important resources in all areas of the country, there is a disproportionate contribution of rivers and their riparian areas to the support of life in arid regions. In Arizona, less than 0.5 percent of its land is classed as an aquatic environment, namely, rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands (SCORP, 1989a). Rainfall is unreliable and scanty at best, ranging from 3- 12 inches a year in most desert areas. Several years may pass with absolutely no rain received in an area. This sporadic nature results in intermittent and ephemeral streams. Perennial or year-round streams are at a high premium.
The Verde River is considered a desert stream even though much of its watershed begins in the surrounding mountains. Arizona's desert streams, including the Verde, face a serious peril. To enable humans to live and thrive in a desert environment, the desert rivers have been substantially altered by dams, channelization, riprapping, soil cement, land conversions, water diversions, and groundwater pumping. These alterations have had economic and safety benefits, but they also come at a high price to the natural environment. Many streams which once flowed year-round now only flow after heavy rains or when water is released from upstream dams. In most cases, the riparian vegetation that grows along watercourses has been substantially reduced and changed, creating a critical loss of habitat for wildlife.
As flows are lost, the trees and shrubs die and fish and wildlife can no longer thrive. The river and its associated riparian areas can no longer function as a healthy river system-- purifying water, recharging groundwater tables, and slowing floodwaters. While some commercial uses are made available by the dying river, others are lost. Any value for tourism, recreation, or scenery is substantially diminished.
The Verde is one major desert stream that still is free flowing and substantially unchanged in its upper reaches, making it extremely important to humans and wildlife and the natural systems that depend on it. Much of the Verde River contains unique, scarce, and irreplaceable resources, and therefore, it is not considered feasible to mitigate impacts of substantial development or change (USDI FWS, 1989).