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The Upper San Pedro Partnership was recognized with the Department of the Interior's Cooperative Conservation Award today.
The prestigious award recognizes the partnership's effort to achieve a sustainable water supply and protect the riparian ecosystem along the San Pedro River.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) nominated the partnership for the award and is one of the 21 Federal, State, and local agencies and non-governmental organizations that form the Upper San Pedro Partnership. For the full list of partners and more information about the Upper San Pedro Partnership visit http://www.usppartnership.com/.
The Upper San Pedro Partnership is working to ensure that a long term water supply is available to meet social and economic needs of area residents while preserving the unique and valuable riparian ecosystem. They are designing their plans for the watershed with the help of a series of hydrologic studies designed to more clearly identify the linkages between ground water and surface water in the Upper San Pedro basin. Other similar riparian environments have disappeared from the landscape of the arid Southwest because of ground-water pumping. Knowing how water moves underground and how the aquifer and the river interact will help prioritize conservation strategies.
Congress recognized the intrinsic ecological value of the San Pedro's viable riparian system through specific appropriations to support the program. The issue for decision-makers regarding the San Pedro River is how to manage resources so that the river continues to run while nearby communities continue to thrive. The partnership's implementation is an iterative process in which policy questions initiate science investigations which feed back into policy actions.
The partnership has demonstrated that working together, pooling available resources and using the best available scientific information will ultimately lead to achievable, effective long-term solutions.
