30+ historic photos of the Santa Cruz River through Tucson
- Rick Wiley
- Updated
The Santa Cruz River was the lifeblood of Tucson for early Native Americans, the Spanish Conquistadores and early American settlers. It languished for years and became dry most of the year as the water table dropped.
It also became a neglected trench and trash heap. City leaders envisioned something better. By the early 1970s, the Army Corps of Engineers was studying the feasibility of channeling the river and creating a park. In 1977, work began.
It is now an integral part of The Loop bicycle and pedestrian trails.
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Rick Wiley
Photo editor
Related to this collection
For Star subscribers: Researchers will use a nontoxic dye to help show whether sunlight can destroy various chemical compounds in the Tucson river water, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products.
Tucson Water officials experiment with the releases of reclaimed effluent into the river.
Releases of reclaimed water into the river through Tucson's south side and downtown were shut down for up to three weeks for some mechanical upgrades.
The river is carrying year-round water for the first time in 70 years on the San Xavier Indian Reservation south of Tucson.
But scientists don't agree on whether an enormous mesquite bosque that died out along the Santa Cruz River 60 years ago will return on the same scale.
The river once again runs dry through most of downtown Tucson. The cutback may last a few months.Ìý
The renewed stream is drawing cattails, dragonflies and egrets, after Tucson kept the river dry since spring for sediment removal and other projects.
It's unclear if water releases for the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project will again attain the levels they reached when the project started in June 2019.
A dispute over whether to serve a Catalina Foothills home with Tucson water is a test of a newly toughened city attitude about trading water for possible future annexation, far from current city limits.
The river actually benefits from dry weather, which causes algae to bloom in parts of it. That blocks infiltration of the city's reclaimed water into the aquifer, letting it flow farther downriver even though Tucson Water isn't releasing any more water than before.
Her homemade cooking, like red chile con carne, attracted locals and tourists alike.
About $900,000 in federal funds will be used to bring water to the tribe’s lands for irrigation.
For Star subscribers: "Because of the dire conditions in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, any degree of reductions may be possible" in CAP deliveries, Tucson Water Director John Kmiec says. At some point, the cuts could be large enough that the city will have to pump more native groundwater than it has in years.Ìý
For Star subscribers: Work is slated to begin on a 256-unit apartment complex along the Santa Cruz River, west of downtown Tucson. The complex will have a riverwalk.
For Star subscribers:Â Some of the new discharges into the Santa Cruz may contain low levels of toxic PFAS compounds, but in much lower concentrations than already in groundwater under the river, officials say. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero is "very excited about creating another riparian area on the south side."Â
Federal and University of Arizona researchers added red dye to the Santa Cruz River on Tuesday morning as part of a study looking into sunligh…
Water doesn’t seem terribly dramatic.
Tucson Water will start releasing reclaimed water into the river Monday afternoon at 29th Street.
Growing up in downtown Tucson and the south side, Bertha Sanchez was an irregular visitor to the Santa Cruz River in the days that it carried …
Monday afternoon, a short stretch of the Santa Cruz River will live again, when Tucson Water releases reclaimed water into the channel at 29th…
Silver Lake played host to a flour mill, a hotel, ducks, boats, swimmers and fish until floods did it in.
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