By Jill Craig
When raindrops fall to the earth, do you know where they go?
Some are absorbed, nourishing the roots of plants or feeding into an aquifer, others evaporate, and still others run off with nutrients and debris as they roll downstream following the path of least resistance.
From the moment one drop of rain makes contact with the earth, it begins a long, important journey. Small streams of water carve shallow rivulets into the arid Southwest soil until they reach larger washes or creeks. These washes accumulate more water and move further downstream into larger bodies of water: puddles, swimming holes, ponds, lakes, or oceans.
That raindrop is traveling through a watershed.
If you live close to downtown Prescott, you live inside the Granite Creek Watershed, which flows diligently toward the Verde River. The Highlands Center for Natural History, however, is just inside the western edge of the Agua Fria Watershed.
Recently members of a new volunteer Naturalists class and I explored this watershed and visited the Agua Fria River. The headwater is close to Arizona 69, just on the other side of Granite Dells, though you’d be hard pressed to find much water there. The Agua Fria River is dry the majority of the year and, though it’s been known to flood, its flow is usually delegated to a trickle, even during our wettest season.
We started at Lynx Creek because it flows through the Highlands Center’s 80-acre site. Lynx Creek begins in the town of Walker and flows steadily north until reaching Lynx Lake, which was dammed for gold mining in the late 1800s. Today, the lake releases water steadily enough that the middle section of Lynx Creek has water year round. It’s just enough water to sustain a healthy population of native Canyon Tree Frogs, which many kids enjoy in the summer, including at our summer camps.
Lynx Creek continues flowing north until it reaches Arizona 69 and runs parallel to the highway through most of Prescott Valley. Just before Fain Road, Lynx Creek crosses under the highway and meets up with the Agua Fria River. From there the water flows down to the Salt
River to the Gila River and, eventually, to Colorado.
What a journey for one little drop. But to what end?
A watershed’s health not only affects the health of its water, but also those who live nearby, including the humans and wildlife who depend on it.
And water droplets don’t have an easy gig. They pick up anything that they touch including chemicals and debris. Each raindrop that picks up impurities feeds directly into highly susceptible riparian areas. These areas, which surround washes, streams, and lakes, make up less than 0.5 percent of Arizona and are crucial for the survival of diverse plants and animals. As many as 75 percent of resident wildlife species depend on riparian areas.
That’s why organizations like Friends of Agua Fria National Monument (AguaFriaFriends.Org), Prescott Creeks (PrescottCreeks.Org), and the Arizona Riparian Council (AZRiparian.Org) work to raise awareness of the issues facing our local watersheds and riparian areas.
There’s a lot we can do as a community to better care for our land and water. We can start by watching how much water we use and by being careful of what we throw away in our water systems. We can get outdoors and appreciate them in person, too.
When the volunteer naturalists and I visited Agua Fria we were graced with a flowing river. Countless droplets of rain had made it as far as Badger Spring that day. And to celebrate the recent rain shower, swallows swooped above the water, Gila woodpeckers called from their perches, and butterflies drank from blooming wildflowers.
All because of teeny, tiny raindrops.
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Jill Craig is education director at Highlands Center for Natural History. She oversees all educational programming for the center and facilitates the Highlands Naturalist Volunteer Program. In her spare time, Jill can be found hiking in the Bradshaw Mountains with her two dogs and husband.