Tres Rios del Norte Environmental Restoration

Overview

Tres Rios del Norte Environmental Restoration Feasibility Study

Introduction

The purpose of the Tres Rios del Norte Environmental Restoration Feasibility Study is to determine the feasibility of providing habitat restoration along an 18 mile stretch of the Santa Cruz River from Prince Road to Sanders Road. The study is a cooperative effort between the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, the City of Tucson, the Town of Marana and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This study is in the process of analyzing the potential to restore and enhance native vegetation and riparian habitat within the Santa Cruz River’s channel, its overbank areas, and on some of the major tributaries. Additional elements that are being considered include recreational improvements, cultural resource preservation, groundwater recharge, and flood damage reduction.

Study Progress

An array of alternatives describing different levels of restoration was prepared and evaluated by the local jurisdictions. Several of these alternatives are being reformulated to better conform to current conditions and economic realities. This plan reformulation, to better assess changes to both land and water availability for the project, is continuing. Additionally several new alternatives are being drafted including an alternative that reflects the possibility that all of the effluent currently discharged into the Santa Cruz River will be diverted from the channel for municipal water needs. Once the reformulation of alternatives is complete, they will pass through a series of screenings, including a cost-benefit analysis, which will result in a final array of “best buy” alternatives. These best buy alternatives, along with the detailed technical analyses of how everything was evaluated and the recommended plan will be presented in the Draft Feasibility Report and its companion Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

In addition to these reports, the Corps is working on preparing a “Community Report” which will be a more user-friendly document for the public, with sufficient discussion of the alternatives and planning process to better explain how values for water use and costs were determined. The report will also highlight groundwater recharge benefits associated with the project so that the water use is put in correct context. These three reports should be available for public review in 2009.