The best days of summer when I was a kid were spent at Phon D. Sutton recreation site . My family would pack up our supplies, and take the 20 minute drive to the river. A small hill hid the site from view from the parking lot. Excitement always built reaching the crest of the hill and seeing the pale brown desert floor turn lush green, and hear the water flow into the rocks below. My brother and I would then spend the rest of our day swimming between the rock formations. The river would push us safely around many of the formations and release us in tranquil coves, where we could swim out of the river and start again.
One summer, though, was different. My brother and I raced into the water to find out that the areas we used to swim in only …show more content…
Shaun McKinnon, author of the Arizona Republic’s 2006 “Ruined Rivers” series mirrors this sentiment. He says that “rivers breathe life into people and places” (McKinnon, 8/10, p. 1).
In Arizona’s early history, people settled by the Santa Cruz River because of the life it offered to the hostile desert. However, years of overuse led it to become a lost memory. Today, a similar story seems to be starting for the Verde River. Population growth along the river may too destroy the river and the culture built up around it.
Though the two rivers are in different states of being, it seems like the Santa Cruz River can offer insight into a potential future for the Verde River. If people act to address the use of the Verde River now, future environmental, water availability and cultural problems can be …show more content…
Though most of Arizona’s rivers have been threatened by overuse, this does not mean that a piece of Arizona’s culture will inevitably disappear. According to McKinnon, “desert rivers are resilient and, given water, recover with remarkable speed” (8/7, p.1). The Verde River does not have to disappear if it is respected.
With the understanding of the Santa Cruz Rier and the difficultuies reestablishing the culture that it lost, it is best to begin work on preserving the river now. Too often, legislatures and the people wait for emergency situations in order to act. However, an emergency is a sign of the river’s demise (McKinnon, 8/6, p.3).
Connecting people with their rivers is a simpler solution than many others offered. My connection to Phon D. Sutton and the Verde and Salt Rivers is crucial to my childhood, so I will work to keep it in a similar state for my children and all of the others in my city. If rivers have become part of us, most people will work to protect them. Most will not let parts of themselves die without a