Mission

Fly the threatened San Pedro River Valley, where Faraday Copper is looking to restart copper mining operations, with the Tohono O'odham Nation, Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, and press from High Country News, Arizona Luminaria, and the Arizona Republic.

As we climbed above the Oro Valley, we were graced with a beautiful view of the Catalina Mountains. Our flight mission covered the San Pedro River valley, which flows ~140 miles northward from the Sierra Mariquita in Sonora, Mexico, and joins the Gila River just below its confluence with Aravaipa Creek.

This undammed river fluctuates between a trickle and a raging torrent during the monsoon season. The San Pedro River supports a critically important area for avian diversity. One of southern Arizona’s most important riparian corridors, this watershed also supports species like jaguar, coatimundi, and ringtailed cat. Aravapai Creek, a name which means laughing waters, is also ecologically important because of its perennial flow, biodiversity, and native fish populations, and is an important tributary of the San Pedro.

Although the lower San Pedro Valley has a legacy of mining, recent proposals to extract more ore in the Copper Creek drainage, a major tributary of the San Pedro, would likely have tremendous ill effects. Not only would de-watering deplete regional groundwater supplies, but contaminants related to the milling process would pose severe environmental risks for generations to come.

Our partners at The Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance are working to build awareness and gather baseline data to help inform prudent management of this incredible landscape for generations to come. Thank you for flying with us and for your continued interest in these important issues.

Photos from the flights.