Project Description

The Va Shly'ay Akimel project will restore ecosystem functions and values to about a 14-mile reach of the Salt River, within the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the City of Mesa, beginning immediately downstream of the Granite Reef Dam and continuing down to the Pima Freeway (L101) and the Red Mountain Freeway (L202) interchange. The recommended plan includes the following measures to support the restoration plantings: re-shaping of abandoned quarry pits and the river channel to provide a low-flow channel and terraces; Construction of new drainage channels, irrigation diversions and pipelines, and/or spillways; Installation of a groundwater well to nourish vegetation planted on the terraces along the river; Construction of a grade control structure across the channel at the abandoned Gilbert Road quarry; A passive recreation plan consisting of approximately 5.1 miles of multi-use decomposed-granite trails, parking lots with trailheads, rest stops spaced approximately at one per mile, and interpretive signs. Additionally, the reporting officers recommend that the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers participate in cost-shared monitoring and minor modifications, as may be required to ensure success of the project, as identified and described within the monitoring and adaptive management plan of the report. The recommended plan for the Salt River (Va Shly'ay Akimel) ecosystem restoration project would restore and improve approximately 1,487 acres of habitat, including 883 acres of Cottonwood/willow community, 380 acres of mesquite bosque, 200 acres of wetlands, and 24 acres of Sonoran desert scrub shrub. Restoration of this resource in this urban setting is significant because riparian areas in the Southwest represent only 1 percent of the landscape, yet the survival of 75-90 percent of wildlife in the West is dependant on riparian areas. In Arizona, over 90 percent of riparian areas have been lost due to impacts from European settlement and urbanization.

For more information, please contact:

Public Affairs Officer
Jennie Ayala
(602) 640-2989 x285
3636 N. Central Ave. Suite 900
Phoenix, Arizona 85012-1936
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