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Tucson’s 2019 Revival of the Century-Dry Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz River fed life at Sentinel Peak for 4,000 years until 1910, when twenty wells dried it up in just five years. For seven decades, the riverbed sat empty.
Then in 2016, Tucson Water’s Tim Thomure had a bold plan: put treated wastewater back in. On June 24, 2019, they did just that, pumping 2.8 million gallons daily as 300 people and a mariachi band watched. Nature took note too.
Dragonflies found the water within hours, and by 2020, even endangered Gila topminnows swam there again after a century away. Today at Sweetwater Wetlands Park, you can see this desert miracle firsthand.
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Ancient Farmers Tapped Into The Santa Cruz River 4,000 Years Ago
Folks first settled near Sentinel Peak over 4,000 years ago, digging irrigation canals in the Santa Cruz River floodplain…