Pima County’s Bond Advisory Committee is working to narrow down a field of proposals for a future bond election, including one to heal the Altar Wash, also known as the Brawley Wash. The severe encroachment of the Altar Wash begin in the early 20th century. The floodplain area was a travel and trade route. A major flood occurred when the Aguirre Lake breached.
The Altar Wash is now 20 miles long, 20 feet deep and 1500 feet wide in places. During rain events, high velocity water and heavy sediment loads surge out of the valley instead of recharging aquifers and supporting the microhabitats on which the region’s native species depend. Head-cutting in uplands and the erosion of banks along the main wash work destructively in tandem to vacate hundreds of acres of viable habitat. For more about the wash and its impacts in the Altar Valley, click here.
The Alliance recently wrote a letter encouraging support for the bond project, which you can read here.