Join the Campaign to
Save the Verde River!

Greetings,

In response to multiple perils facing the Verde River in Arizona, the Center is launching a citizen action campaign to preserve the health of this invaluable resource.

A massive new well is planned for the headwaters of the Verde by the city of Prescott and town of Prescott Valley. The cities plan to draw between 2.8 and 4 billion gallons of water per year from an aquifer that provides 80 to 86 percent of the flow in the upper Verde River during the driest times of the year. In time, this withdrawal, in combination with other withdrawals that are currently taking place for domestic and agricultural use, would devastate the upper 24 miles of the river.

Your help is needed to let Prescott and Prescott Valley officials know that their plans are completely unacceptable. Please visit the Center's new website (http://savetheverde.org/) to learn more, or click on the “Take Action” button below to send letters to the cities' mayors and other decision-makers.

We encourage you to pass on this alert to friends, list serves, news services and other action alert services. Anyone can participate at:
http://savetheverde.org/verde/action.html

Instructions:
Click here to take action on this issue

Donate now to support this action

What's At Stake:

Arizona's rivers are under incredible pressure from drought, man-made obstructions and overuse. More than 90 percent of the state's riparian habitat has been completely lost. The habitat along many rivers has become choked with exotic vegetation, and the assemblages of fish, amphibians and invertebrates have become overrun with non-native species, such as small mouth bass, green sunfish, crayfish and bullfrogs.

One of the last, best places for native species restoration in the state is along the upper Verde River. For 150 miles, from its headwaters to the dams at Horseshoe and Bartlett, the Verde continues to flow year round – a rare perennial stream. The Verde originates and ends in Arizona. For many thousands of years it has served the needs of people, plants and animals without fail.

However, pressures are mounting on the Verde River in the form of groundwater wells. The watershed already has more than 10,000 wells, nearly 43 percent of them drilled since 1990. Many of these wells tap the sub-flow, or water running underground that feeds the river. Others pump heavily from the aquifers that contribute to the Verde or its tributaries.

The massive well planned by the city of Prescott and town of Prescott Valley would devastate the upper Verde River when combined with these existing water withdrawals, taking between 2.8 and 4 billion gallons of water every year from its main aquifer. But the pumping would not stop there. Nearby Chino Valley also has staked claims on "water ranches" to the tune of 1.8 million gallons per day. And multiple large developments in the headwaters basin are also in the planning stages.

As this tide of development is poised to drain the life from the river, the Center for Biological Diversity is fighting back with the Save the Verde Campaign. Please join today and take action to help protect and restore this magnificent watershed!

Campaign Expiration Date:
December 31, 2009