Springtime is here: the snow is melting from the mountains, the creeks are flowing, and the flowers are popping up after the cold and rainy winter. The Rillito River has been flowing since January 2nd, so it's been exciting to get into the creek and see the water. Since it's such a wonderful time of year, it's a perfect time for organizations to have outdoor events, including WMG. I've been busy the past two weeks with leading a clean-up and supporting Tanque Verde Flow and Feast, and I have more events that I'm coordinating and supporting through the Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative.
On March 11, I led my 4th clean-up along the Santa Cruz River, which was my final location before they start to repeat from previous monthly events. I had about 15 people attending, and it was fun to have Jessie and Mandy from our church/MVS support committee join! I recently posted a blog on WMG's website about my clean-up efforts, which you can read here! Thanks, Jessie for taking photos of me at work so I can share them with people.
On March 25th, I also helped with Tanque Verde Flow and Feast, which was a family-friendly event featuring creek walks, a creekside picnic, nature activities, and a group work party tackling the invasive species Arundo donax. I recruited some people from my house, from church, and even Sonya Eberly from my home church Virginia :) Sonya came out with her sister to see her niece and me and she wanted to see part of the work that I am doing. We had over 50 participants attend and we removed about 2 tons of Arundo, which is a huge amount compared to what we typically do during our weekly workshops. Plus, it was a perfect day to be out at the creek. You can learn more about this effort on our website.
Coming up, the Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative (where I commit about 1/4 of my time besides WMG) is having two spring forum days where water professionals, community leaders, and passionate citizens are coming together to collaborate on responses to drought and water shortage. We are organizing a field day on March 29th and a conference day on April 6th, which we are expecting about 70-100 participants to attend. This is the first time I've been in a major coordinating role in terms of communications, registrations, and supporting the main leads on the events. I'm a bit nervous, but I've grown comfortable with this role since arriving 6 months ago, and I'm impressed with the number of responsibilities I've been given during this time.
While these events are happening, I also have a few projects I'm working on which have made these past few weeks feel even more overwhelming, but I'm eager to see how these events unfold. After these events, I'll have a few days before our house heads to Michigan for our MVS National Retreat, which will be a nice break after a busy season of events and projects.
Outside of work, one of the major things happening in Southeastern Arizona is the fight to save Oak Flat, which is a 6.7-square-mile stretch of land east of Phoenix considered sacred by the Apache and other Native Americans. The court case was being reheard by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court in Pasadena, CA. We participated in a prayer hike, led by Michaela to stand in solidarity and support Apache Stronghold from afar and their right to their ancestral sacred land. I first researched this case in college, and it's been an environmental justice case I've been watching closely. I'm continuing to explore and intentionally learn what it means to live on land that was taken from indigenous people and how we care for sacred land. I've truly appreciated the way the Shalom community has continued to support Apache Stronghold through this fight to save Oak Flat from Resolution Copper.
Enjoy some photos of Tucson's spring and other unexpected and beautiful moments!
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