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Urgent Action Needed for the Santa Cruz River!

UPDATE, August 1, 2023: 

Andy Jackson has withdrawn his two rezoning proposals due to the public opposition!


By David Robinson

Green Kingfishers have made a great comeback in the Rio Rico area. Photo by Alan Schmierer

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is considering rezoning 3,550 acres of agricultural land along the Santa Cruz River in Rio Rico for commercial and industrial uses, including mining-related activities such as manganese smelting. The rezoning would severely impact a globally important reservoir of biodiversity that Tucson Audubon and many others have worked for many years to protect and restore.

After several months of private dealings with the landowner, the County started an extremely rushed approval process with minimal notice to the public. Fortunately, community members leapt into action to find out more and to demand an inclusive, transparent, reasonably paced review process. In response to this public opposition, the Board of Supervisors postponed their vote on the proposal from August 1st to August 15th. But they’ve scheduled public comment for the end of the meeting, rather than the beginning, which means public comment will come after the supervisors have voted.

That’s why Tucson Audubon is calling on you, our members and supporters, to make your voices heard at the Board of Supervisors meeting this coming Tuesday, August 1st. We urge everyone who values the rich, vital ecosystems along the Santa Cruz River, and the health and well-being of Rio Rico’s residents, to speak out right away! Comments are due by 5pm Monday, July 31st!

Here’s how:
Before 5pm Monday 7/31, email the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors at clerkoftheboard@santacruzcountyaz.gov and request to speak at the next Board of Supervisors meeting. Make sure to provide the following information:

  • Meeting Date: August 1, 2023
  • Agenda Item: Item C
  • Item Title: Call to the Public
  • [Your] Name : __________________
  • [Your] Telephone Number: _______________

Then, by about 9:15am Tuesday, August 1st, either show up in person at the Board of Supervisors meeting or join via Zoom. The meeting starts at 9:30am. Instructions for joining, and the agenda, can be found here.

If you can’t attend the meeting, please submit comments in writing to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors clerkoftheboard@santacruzcountyaz.gov before 5pm Monday 7/31. 

And/or contact the Supervisors directly by phone or email this week:

Please make your comments personal! Let the Board of Supervisors know:

  • If you live or work in Santa Cruz County
  • If you live or work in Rio Rico
  • If you have contributed to the protection or restoration of the Santa Cruz river and its natural ecosystems
  • If you go birding along the Santa Cruz River in or near Rio Rico
  • If you go birding along the Santa Cruz River downstream of Rio Rico (after all, what happens to the river in Rio Rico won’t stay in Rio Rico)
  • If you spend money in Santa Cruz County when you participate in nature-based activities

For further points to consider addressing, see the comments made at the July 18th Board of Supervisors meeting by David Robinson, Tucson Audubon’s Director of Conservation Advocacy.

And to stay abreast of this issue – especially to receive alerts about future opportunities to take action – please sign up here for Tucson Audubon’s Action Alerts (make sure to check the box next to “ACTION ALERTS”).

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Testimony during the “Call to the Public” at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 18th, 2023:

My name is David Robinson, and I am the Director of Conservation Advocacy for Tucson Audubon Society. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

On behalf of Tucson Audubon, I am speaking in opposition to the proposal to rezone and reclassify approximately 3,550 acres of land along the Santa Cruz River to allow a range of commercial and, most dangerously, industrial uses, including mining-related uses.

Tucson Audubon Society, founded in 1949, is a member-supported, non-profit organization, dedicated to inspiring people to enjoy and protect birds and their habitats through recreation, education, wildlife conservation, advocacy, and protection and restoration of the environment on which we all depend. Tucson Audubon has approximately 3,200 members, many of whom live in southeast Arizona, including Santa Cruz County, in areas that would be directly and indirectly impacted by the proposed rezoning.

The proposed rezoning would severely impact a globally important reservoir of biodiversity that Tucson Audubon and many others have worked, and continue to work, to protect through a wide range of efforts, including the establishment of the Upper Santa Cruz River Important Bird Area.

The proposed rezoning in no way comports with Santa Cruz County's hard-won restoration plans for the river, plans to which Tucson Audubon and many other organizations, community members, and government entities have contributed many hours, a great deal of expertise, and many other resources.

For thousands of years the Santa Cruz River was a year-round, perennially flowing river that supported both wildlife and humans along its entire length. But last century it was drained dry by humans' reckless over-use of the river and the underlying aquifer. Since then, we and countless others have been working to restore the river. The proposed rezoning threatens to undo decades of our work. And it flies in the face of the legal requirement to ensure that any proposed development is guaranteed to have enough water for the next 100 years.

The proponents of the rezoning are creating a false opposition between economic needs and environmental needs. Tucson Audubon would like to remind you that nature-based activities, including bird and wildlife watching, bring a great deal of money to this area, as well as a great deal of recreation, learning, and joy to the many people who spend time exploring and appreciating the habitats and ecosystems along the Santa Cruz River.

Tucson Audubon Society believes in finding solutions that support both wildlife communities and human communities, especially those in greatest economic need. Rushing through this rezoning proposal virtually guarantees that such solutions will not be found.

Likewise, Tucson Audubon believes in addressing the climate crisis with the urgency it demands. We understand that mining will play a crucial role in helping our society transition to renewable, sustainable energy. And we understand that difficult choices will need to be made. But running roughshod over environmental and conservation issues, human health issues, and the right of local communities for a meaningful, genuine role in shaping and evaluating such solutions, is just the same old boondoggle — enriching the already rich, allowing serial polluters such as South32 to once again poison our environment and local human communities, and destroying already imperiled natural ecosystems and driving more and more species to extinction.

We urge you to slow down this process, make it completely transparent, and embark on a genuine process to design, approve, and implement solutions that enable both wildlife and people to thrive.

For recent coverage of this issue, see the following articles:


David Robinson is the Director of Conservation Advocacy for Tucson Audubon.

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