March 6, 2023 – The Salt River is perennial from its headwaters in the White Mountains until it reaches the Granite Reef Diversion Dam near the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community where all the water is then diverted into canals. From Granite Reef until its confluence with the Gila River, the Salt is ephemeral, running only occasionally during the spring runoff and the summer monsoons. So, tackling the Salt River in the urban area of Phoenix meant picking a few select spots to investigate as most of it is just dry riverbed, channelized and leveed for the times when water is flowing.
Of course, since my goal was to travel the length of the Salt from its beginning to its end, I had to see its ending at the confluence with the Gila River. The confluence occurs at the Base and Meridian Wildlife Area just east of the South Avondale bridge on the western outskirts of Phoenix. In addition to the Base and Meridian Wildlife Area, we planned to visit the Rio Salado Audubon Center, a habitat restoration area in the heart of Phoenix 13 miles upstream of the confluence, and Tempe Town Lake, an artificial reservoir another 7 miles upstream in the city of Tempe.
To get to the Base and Meridian Wildlife area, we followed Broadway Road westward for several miles. Broadway roughly parallels the Salt River and lays about a mile north of it. Along the way, we observed an odd mix of land use along the river: new housing subdivisions, rock quarries, farms, and dairies. Reaching South Avondale, we turned south and crossed the bridge. A big surprise awaited us at the other end of the bridge – the Phoenix International Raceway. So, there it was: the Salt River ironically terminated at the base of a massive NASCAR racetrack, the ultimate symbol of the excesses of our modern society and love affair with automobiles and fossil fuels.
The Base and Meridian Wildlife Area itself, though, was pleasant and we enjoyed a hike along its banks. Here the Salt flowed in a series of large sloughs with deep running water. Lining the banks were thickets of salt cedar, mesquite, willows, and cottonwoods. Mexican golden poppies were blooming on the hills. The area was much different than the dry, channelized streambed throughout Phoenix. It was not clear where the water for the wildlife area originated, though, since it is all diverted at Granite Reef. The Arizona Department of Game and Fish operates the wildlife area but did not return emails about the source of the water. The water, we deduced, must be sourced from one of the nearby canals, pumped out of wells, or both.
When our hike was completed, we returned to our truck and headed upstream to visit the Rio Salado Audubon Center. Like Base and Meridian, the Salt River at the Audubon Center was a lush riparian zone with flowing water. The river here was channelized and the banks were reinforced with concrete and rocks to prevent erosion and contain any floodwater that might arise because of a storm. According to the Audubon Center, the water here is sourced from nearby canals and wells on the property. Similarly, there is a pond at the visitors’ center which is filled with city water. The pond is an Arizona Game and Fish Safe Harbor Site that is home to endangered desert pupfish and razorback suckers.
To conclude the day’s sightseeing, we traveled next to Tempe Town Lake. The lake is without a doubt an engineering marvel and the centerpiece of downtown Tempe near Arizona State University. The lake was busy with people walking, running, skateboarding, and biking all along the boardwalk. We walked down to the dam which is a series of hydraulically operated steel plates. The plates are automatically raised or lowered to maintain a constant depth in the lake. They can also be opened to allow the passage of floodwater in the event of an emergency. The lake extends upstream for nearly two miles. The Salt River below the dam was bone dry, not even a trickle of water and thus the mystery of the origin of the water at the Audubon Center and the Base and Meridian Wildlife Area.
The beautifully architected Tempe Center for the Performing Arts sits on the bank of the lake. It is with some foresight that the city of Tempe as well as Arizona State University envisioned this area decades ago. Without a doubt, its design and construction has resulted in all the economic development hoped for by city leaders, past and present. That said, it is totally unnatural. It is a completely artificial, man-made reservoir, a lake where none ever existed. There is nothing natural about it.
It was a long day of tracing the Salt River from its end point with the Gila back through the Phoenix metropolitan area to see the Salt in its current urban form. On the one hand, it was wonderful to see the efforts to preserve parcels of the Salt River from a bygone era when it was free-flowing, perennial river. On the other hand, it was disappointing to see everything in between where the river is dry, dredged, channelized, mined, and polluted with the debris of a large metropolis. Likewise, we certainly admired the engineering marvel known as Tempe Town Lake. But the lake could have easily been improved with native landscaping.