Sustaining Urban Rivers — Visions and Actions across the Southwest: Application for the Salt River through the Phoenix Metro Area
The 26th Annual Meeting of the Arizona Riparian Council was co-hosted by the Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-term Ecological Research Project and the Center for Biology and Society at Arizona State University. It was held April 4-6, 2013 at the Arizona State University Skysong facilities.
The workshop objective was to bring together managers, researchers, and stakeholders involved in the Salt River as it “flows” through the Phoenix metropolitan area to engage in a dialog on how to make the Salt River a more accessible and desirable place for people and wildlife.
On Thursday April 4, invited speakers shared their experiences in developing, managing, and restoring urban rivers in other aridland cities. Friday’s workshop was divided into three sessions, each initiated by short presentations by panelists with particular expertise in the Salt River.
In the first session, we discussed vegetation, wildlife, and green space. Environmental flows, water sources, and water quality were the key topics for the second session, and the third session focused on strategies for taking action and engaging the public. Workshop participants broke into groups to discuss the session topics, led by a series of guiding questions. The outcome of the workshop will be a web-available synthesis of what is known about the Salt River riparian ecosystem, management challenges, and data gaps, and effective approaches that have been taken (or could be taken) to restore desired outcomes for this long-overlooked reach of the Salt River.