The Santa Cruz River ( es, Río Santa Cruz " Holy Cross River") is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

river to the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...

Southern Arizona Southern Arizona is a region of the United States comprising the southernmost portion of the State of Arizona. It sometimes goes by the name Gadsden or Baja Arizona, which means "Lower Arizona" in Spanish. Geography Although Southern Arizona' ...

and northern

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. It is approximately long.

Course

The Santa Cruz has its headwaters in the high intermontane grasslands of the San Rafael Valley to the southeast of

Patagonia, Arizona Patagonia is a town in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 913. It developed in the mid-19th century as a trading and supply center for nearby mines and ranches. In the 21st century, it is a ...

, between the

Canelo Hills The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Can ...

to the east and the

Patagonia Mountains The Patagonia Mountains are a mountain range within the Coronado National Forest, and in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. Geography The Patagonia Mountains begin near the Mexico border east of Nogales, Arizona. Running north, the ...

to the west, just north of the international border. It flows southward into Mexico past Santa Cruz, Sonora and turns westward around the south end of the Sierra San Antonio near Miguel Hidalgo (San Lázaro), thence north-northwest to reenter the United States just to the east of Nogales and southwest of Kino Springs. It then continues northward from the international border past the Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tubac, Green Valley, Sahuarita,

San Xavier del Bac Mission San Xavier del Bac ( es, La Misión de San Xavier del Bac) is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Marana Marana may refer to: * Maraña, a village in León, Spain * Maraṇa, the Pali/Sanskrit term for death * Marana, Arizona, a town in Pima County, Arizona, United States * Marana, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Marana, Syria, a village in Syria ...

, and

Picacho Peak State Park Picacho Peak State Park is a state park surrounding Picacho Peak in Picacho, Arizona. The park is located between Casa Grande and Tucson near Interstate 10 in Pinal County. Its centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a distance of . Th ...

to the Santa Cruz Flats just to the south of

Casa Grande , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

and the

. Before the development of agriculture in the Santa Cruz Flats, the river's course went right through the flats. As development started, the Greene Canal was formed to divert the Santa Cruz River to the Greene Wash to maximize agriculture in the area. Because of this diversion, the original Santa Cruz River riverbed was destroyed. From the Greene Canal, the Greene Wash empties into the Santa Rosa Wash which empties into the original Santa Cruz River riverbed. This riverbed is followed all the way until it terminates at the Gila River. Between Nogales and Tucson the river valley is flanked by the San Cayetano and

Santa Rita Mountains The Santa Rita Mountains ( O'odham: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about 65 km (40 mi) southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend 42 km (26 mi) from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the Pat ...

on the east and the Atascosa, Tumacacori, and Sierrita Mountains on the west.

Hydrography

Most of the Santa Cruz River is usually a dry riverbed, unless the area receives significant rainfall. This was not always the case, but a combination of human errors and natural catastrophes in the late nineteenth century led to the decline of the Santa Cruz. Prior to this, water flowed perennially in a number of places, including along nine stretches in the Tucson area, and the river's banks were lined with cottonwood and

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

bosque A bosque ( ) is a type of gallery forest habitat found along the riparian flood plains of stream and river banks in the southwestern United States. It derives its name from the Spanish word for ' woodlands'. Setting In the predominantly ari ...

s. Although there is some disagreement among historians and hydrologists as to what the biggest causes of the river's decline was, contributing human factors included overgrazing, excessive pumping of groundwater for agricultural irrigation and industry, and the construction of dams and ditches. In the mid-20th century, the river's stretch through

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

dried up completely. The city of

Nogales, Sonora Heroica Nogales (), more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and the county seat of the Municipality of Nogales. It is located on the northern border of the Mexican state of Sonora. The city is abutted on its north by the city of Nogales, Arizo ...

, has been releasing treated sewage into the Santa Cruz River since 1951. This has resulted in the revival of approximately of riverbank within and north of the city of Nogales, Arizona.Tucson Citizen: Who will save the Santa Cruz
In recent years, due to water conservation efforts and restoration projects,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

flows have returned to a few parts of the Santa Cruz River in greater Tucson. In June 2019, the city of

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

began releasing treated wastewater daily into the Santa Cruz River bed near West Silverlake Road as part of the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project. This has resulted in renewed perennial flow in an approximately stretch near downtown Tucson. Further upstream, perennial flows returned to a half-mile stretch of the river through the

San Xavier Indian Reservation The San Xavier Indian Reservation ( O’odham: Wa:k) is an Indian reservation of the Tohono O’odham Nation located near Tucson, Arizona, in the Sonoran Desert. The San Xavier Reservation lies in the southwestern part of the Tucson metropolitan ...

of the

Tohono Oʼodham Nation The Tohono Oʼodham Nation is the collective government body of the Tohono Oʼodham tribe in the United States. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation governs four separate pieces of land with a combined area of , approximately the size of Connecticut and t ...

in 2019 as a result of reduced ground water pumping due to greater availability of water from the

Central Arizona Project The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River to the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu ne ...

. This has led to the revival of vegetated

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

zones along the river, including areas of cottonwood shoots and

seep-willow ''Baccharis salicifolia'' is a blooming shrub native to the sage scrub community and desert southwest of the United States and northern Mexico, as well as parts of South America. Its usual common name is mule fat;Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pa ...

. Further downstream at the Roger Road Waste Water Treatment Plant has been releasing treated

wastewater Wastewater is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industrial ...

, which extends the

flow of the river for approximately .

Recreation

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail parallels much of the Santa Cruz. In Marana, there are approximately ten paved miles of multi-use recreational path along the Santa Cruz, located on Tangerine Road and through the Gladden Farms community park.

Gallery

File:Little_Waterfalls_Santa_Cruz_River_Downtown_Tucson_Arizona_1889.jpg, Little waterfalls along the Santa Cruz River in downtown Tucson in 1889. File:Santa_Cruz_River_Flood_Tucson_Arizona_Circa_1903.jpg, The Santa Cruz during a flood, 1903. File:Santa_Cruz_River_From_Sentinel_Peak_Arizona_1904.jpg, View of the Santa Cruz from "A" Mountain in 1904. Notice the

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

, which has since become extinct. File:Santa_Cruz_River_Flood_Tucson_Arizona_1915.jpg, A wrecked bridge along the Santa Cruz during the flood of 1915. "A" Mountain is in the background. File:Santa_Cruz_River_Sahuarita_Arizona_2014_(2).jpg, A view of the Santa Cruz south of Tucson, facing south. The

are in the background. File:Santa Cruz river running high.webm, The normally dry Santa Cruz river wash running high and fast after much heavier than normal rains in September 2014.

References

External links

Santa Cruz River Civic Science Conservation Initiative

{{authority control Rivers of Arizona International rivers of North America Rivers of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Rivers of Pima County, Arizona Rivers of Pinal County, Arizona Tributaries of the Gila River Rivers of Sonora

Course

Hydrography

Recreation

Gallery

See also

References

External links