On the south end of Patagonia, up School Canyon, lie a series of earthworks created by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). These simple structures made of earth and rock have continued to protect the residents of Patagonia from torrential monsoon rains for 80 years. Slowing down water has many benefits, like recharging the aquifer, increasing moisture in the soil over longer periods of time, and supporting plant populations, pollinators, and nature enthusiasts. All of these benefits can lead to a return of flowing water in creeks and springs.
The town of Patagonia is currently feeling the effects of water that hasn’t been slowed enough in places. As the rain falls on our grassland home, it begins to collect and follow the path of least resistance, joining together as it flows from the top of the watershed, moving down hills and into channels and eventually to Sonoita Creek. If it is raining heavily and the rain falls on dry soil, it is like water from a bucket being poured onto a dry sponge. The water will rush off, and the sponge will remain dry. The rushing rainwater can gain momentum as it travels downhill, and we all know how destructive that erosive force can be.
Have you ever been kept from crossing a flashing Sonoita Creek during monsoon season? Have you worried your car wouldn’t be able to make it through deep puddles around town? Maybe you have witnessed a favorite cottonwood tree begin to die as its roots get exposed when rushing water undercuts the banks and a sinking water table leaves its “feet” high and dry. At the most extreme, erosion in the creek bed lowers our water table. Undercutting can creep close to houses. Structures can be flooded. These are all effects of water moving too quickly.
Water in this region wasn’t always in a hurry. Just visit the Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve to see a remnant of the Sonoita Creek cienega as a spongy habitat filled with water-loving grasses and reeds, ready to absorb heavy rains. Ask the town elders about the role the creek played in their childhoods. This spongy habitat reduced the negative impacts of storm water erosion, undercutting, and flooding.
Let’s not let gently flowing water and spongy soils be just a memory and an artifact inside a preserve. We can actively recharge our aquifer, our most valuable resource in the arid southwest, and lay the foundation of ecological restoration by infiltrating moisture, starting at the top of the watershed and working all the way down to the creek, to revitalize Patagonia’s legacy of earthwork construction. This needs to happen one community project and one rock at a time. It will take all of us together to shape a landscape to better suit the needs of everything living here. Fortunately, there are a number of opportunities both large and small for you to learn how to access sites and build structures.
Patagonia’s Tree and Park Committee has been hosting earthwork-building projects. You can see the results of recent projects by checking out the sycamore trees across from the Marshal’s office, and the serpentine mounds around the junipers by the community center. Look for further opportunities as this work continues.
The Friends of Sonoita Creek and the Patagonia Museum lead tours of watershed related topics. Find out more at sonoitacreek.org and thepatagoniamuseum.org.
Stay tuned. Borderlands Restoration will be hosting a residential earthwork project for backyard gardeners in March. Borderlands will also be hosting training workshops and hiring folks to construct large-scale earthworks on the Babocomari Ranch this spring, and we continue to develop these kinds of opportunities on both public and private lands. Visit our website at borderlandsrestoration.org.
Patagonia’s Earth Fest, to be held April 26, will offer many educational opportunities on the subject of water.