Thanks for including Prescott Creeks in your blog, and thanks for the note letting us know that you were inspired to do so!

KT & Tombo:

Improving water quality in our streams and lakes is not nearly as straight forward as one might think – or at least as straight forward as we thought. Understanding the causes for quality degradation is among the first steps and this has been a challenge with our creeks because they are dry so much of the time. While the Watson and Willow Lakes do have water all the time (now – it wasn’t too long ago that they didn’t), it is the creeks that feed and fill them. So what comes from upstream also goes downstream.

After two years of monitoring and coordinating with the AZ Dept. of Environmental Quality we still have many unanswered questions. But we are making progress. Right now we are pulling together a stakeholder group that we are calling a ‘Watershed Improvement Council’ to draft a watershed improvement plan. The Council will have representatives from federal, state, local and tribal agencies as well as the business community and the public. The resulting plan will identify and prioritize the best/most-appropriate improvement projects. While the planning is only in the beginning stages, I believe we will be looking at multiple strategies that range from relatively simple revegetation (which have shown to be highly effective right here in the Granite Creek Watershed) to urban stormwater retrofits. And, of course, a little bit of education goes a long way toward keeping water clean and riparian habitats in great shape.

If you’d like more information about the water quality issues, please contact Ann-Marie Benz, our Watershed Program Coordinator. And to get information about volunteering, our Outreach Coordinator Renee Hoover (AmeriCorps Vista volunteer) is the one to chat with. All three of us can be reached at (928) 445-5669.