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San Pedro River Wet/Dry Map Animation

Interactive

Arizona

Publication date: December 1, 2024

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The long-term citizen science effort, part of the Wet/Dry Mapping project by TNC and the BLM, is now visualized in an animation showing over 25 years of hydrologic change. Each June since 1999, volunteers have mapped wet and dry stretches along the San Pedro River during peak drought, documenting surface water conditions across 50 miles within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. 

View our story on wet/dry mapping in the San Pedro River

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Subject Tags

  • Rivers
  • Community-based conservation
  • Watersheds

Abstract

Every June groups of volunteers walk the entire 170 mile length of the San Pedro River and record where it is wet and where it is dry during the hottest, driest time of the year. Over 25 years’ worth of data on summertime surface flows in the San Pedro River within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) are now available as an animation. Watch to see the changes in surface flow over time. These observations were recorded by citizen scientists through the Wet/Dry Mapping project- a collaboration between TNC and the Bureau of Land Management on this particular reach of the San Pedro River.  Follow this link to see what they found since 1999 on the approximately 50 miles of the San Pedro River that flows through the SPRNCA.

Notes about the data and animation:

1. Use the play, pause, and advance buttons at the bottom to view the animation.

2. Use the plus or minus keys to zoom in on portions of the river.

3. Survey dates varied from year to year, but have been standardized to June 29 for purposes of this animation.

4. Although the animation time scale at the bottom indicates a one year date range, the data shown is actually the annual standardized June 29th survey date. To make the scale date appear as that one point in time, click on and drag one of the time markers on top of the other.

Citation 

Guarinello, M., McCauley, L.A., Turner, D., Hellmann, P.H. San Pedro River Wet-Dry Map Animation. https://tnc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/OnePane/azuretime/index.html?appid=2ec647b821654da79a52ffd795fbdd70

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