Funding Sources
Bureau of Reclamation WaterSmart Program and Pima County Regional Flood Control District
Project Summary
The Altar Valley Watershed Plan builds upon decades of collaborative work in the Altar Valley to clarify shared goals, identify critical issues, determine the best stewardship practices to achieve those goals, describe where and how to deploy these practices, and build a strong foundation from which to seek appropriate project partners and funding. It is meant to be an accessible, interactive resource that supports efforts by those living and working in the Valley. It is non-binding and is designed to be available to willing landowners and managers. More specifically, the plan aims to:
- Provide a comprehensive overview of current and desired conditions in the Altar Valley
- Provide a concise reference and, a unified source of guidance to agencies and organizations working in the Altar Valley, with a focus on shared goals
- Promote solutions to complex problems and effective, sustainable management practices in the Altar Valley
- Offer a “toolbox” of information and resources on stewardship practices, permitting, monitoring, and other topics
- Identify, prioritize, and design general concepts for restoration projects important to accomplish across the Valley over the next 25 years
- Outline a framework for continued monitoring, adaptive management, and collaboration in the Altar Valley.
The plan describes strategies, projects, best management practices, and available resources for accomplishing the general goals outlined above. It is meant to be a dynamic, interactive, living compilation of resources that is consistently updated by diverse stakeholders in the watershed and adapted as progress is made and new challenges arise. It includes an approach to tracking progress on collaborative projects as well as environmental and social conditions throughout the watershed.
The plan was designed to directly support on-the-ground conservation; in fact, projects partners prioritized for the 2022 plan are already being implemented. They include:
Altar Valley Fire Operations Plan: Create and continue updating a plan for coordinating fire management response to natural and human-caused ignitions. The AVCA and Fire Coordination Group have developed a contact list of fire managers and land owners/permittees in the Altar Valley as well as drafted a web application that shows values at risk, fire management resources such as waters and staging areas, and other key information.
Well Improvements for Wildlife on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge: Update existing wells, functioning and nonfunctioning, with solar pumps, storage tanks, and polyethylene tubing or wildlife drinkers to provide water to wildlife. The BANWR has improved 2 wells to date through a cooperative agreement with the AVCA.
Baboquivari Fence Improvements: Make critical improvements to fences in the Baboquivari mountains to facilitate wildlife access and livestock management.
Altar Valley Brush Treatment Corridor: Connect brush treatments on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Santa Margarita Ranch, Elkhorn Ranch, and/or Anvil Ranch to enhance native grasslands and create a corridor for wildlife. This will involve new treatments and maintaining recent treatments.
Analysis of brush treatment results: Examine the efficacy between mechanical (grubbing and mastication), prescribed fire, and herbicide application (aerial and backpack) brush treatments for meeting woody cover goals in Altar Valley. Determine the response to treatment as they may differ depending on site-level ecological sites/states, soil types, treatment timing, and pre- and post-treatment weather (or possibly climate for the older treatments) conditions. This project is currently being conducted as part of a study by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) to analyze the efficacy of treatments of invasive woody species throughout the state. AGFD is monitoring the ADEQ herbicide treatment and the Santa Margarita grubbing treatment, and initial results will be available in 2022.
La Osa Wells Riparian Project: Create a perennial water source stocked with Chiricahua leopard frog; treat arroyos for enhanced watershed function; clear brush for improved wildlife habitat. Note: This project is being implemented. Equipment has been purchased for installing the pond, the terrain has been modified to accommodate future water flows and vehicular access, and initial wildlife inventories have been conducted.
Products Created
Altar Valley Watershed Plan (Version 1, March 2022)
Altar Valley Watershed Toolbox – An interactive, virtual interface that contains literature, maps, websites, graphics, and other materials that describe and support the best available science and known best management practices directly relevant to major management issues in the Altar Valley.
Descriptions of watershed issues and current conditions – An assessment of the land management issues relevant to all work across the watershed, including land ownership, wildlife corridors, climate and drought, and more.
Goals, Desired Conditions, and Management Strategies – Guiding principles for managing important resources to move toward desired conditions in the Valley.
High-priority collaborative projects – Descriptions, concept plans, and maps for each of the projects identified as high-priority by Altar Valley partners.
Process
In 2019, partners of the AVCA began developing the Plan to guide stewardship and identify priority conservation projects in the Valley, and through this process open doors to new funding sources and partnerships. The project was funded by a three-year grant from the US Bureau of Reclamation’s (BOR) WaterSMART program, awarded to the AVCA and matched by the Pima County Regional Flood Control District (PCRFCD). The Plan was developed by the Watershed Working Group (WWG), a broad group of individuals, organizations and agencies that had worked together for years on collaborative issues. To write the plan, the WWG formed Technical Teams to focus on four major topics of interest: Vegetation, Hydrology and Erosion, Community Resources, and Wildlife. The planning process was facilitated by Southwest Decision Resources (SDR), an independent firm that previously supported collaboration in the Altar Valley for many years. The conceptual project plans were supported by the engineering firm JE Fuller Hydrology & Geomorphology, Inc. (JE Fuller), and mapping and geospatial analysis was provided by The Quiet Creek Corporation (Quiet Creek). The AVCA convened the WWG, engaging local landowners, agencies, non-profit organizations, and university scientists in the development of this plan.
As a foundational exercise in the watershed planning process, WWG partners identified specific activities related to land management to help address the large and complex issues facing the watershed across jurisdictions.
Partners
The plan was developed by a collaborative Watershed Working Group (WWG), a broad group of individuals, organizations, agencies, and technical teams focused on Vegetation, Hydrology and Erosion, Community Resources, and Wildlife. The planning process was facilitated by Southwest Decision Resources, an independent firm that has supported collaboration in the Altar Valley for many years. The hydrology conceptual project plans were written by the engineering firm JE Fuller Hydrology and Geomorphology, and mapping and geospatial analysis was provided by The Quiet Creek. Project staff engaged landowners and/or managers in discussion of goals and projects and sought their involvement as willing landowners. The Plan is designed to be updated regularly and reflect the needs of the Altar Valley.
Partners involved in the Watershed Working Group include the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, Archaeology Southwest, Arizona Antelope Foundation, Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Land and Water Trust, Arizona State Land Department, BKW Farms, Border Patrol, Bureau of Land Management, Desert Archeology, Diamond Bell Neighborhood Organization, EcoPlan Associates, Elkhorn Ranch, Forest Service, Friends of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, JE Fuller Hydrology & Geomorphology, Inc., King’s Anvil Ranch, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Pima County – Regional Flood Control District, Pima County – Office of Sustainability and Conservation, Pima County – Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation, Quiet Creek, private citizens, Robinett Rangeland Resources, San Xavier District, Santa Rita Experimental Ranch, Southern Arizona Quail Forever, Southwest Decision Resources, The Nature Conservancy, Tohono O’odham Nation, University of Arizona, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, USDA – Agricultural Research Center, USDA – Agricultural Research Service – Southwest Watershed Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, USFWS – Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Watershed Management Group, and various individuals who live and work in the Altar Valley.