Ciénega Creek
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Ciénega Creek (English: "Hundred Springs Creek" or "
Marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
Creek") is an intermittent
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
located in the
Basin and Range Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...
region of southern
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, and is one of the most intact
riparian corridor A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
s left in the state. It originates in the
Canelo Hills The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Cany ...
and continues northwest about to an area just outside
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
, where it becomes known as Pantano Wash. Pantano Wash continues through Tucson and eventually connects with the
Rillito River The Rillito River (; Spanish "Little River") is a river in Pima County, Arizona. It flows from east to west across the northern boundary of the City of Tucson from the confluence of Tanque Verde Creek and Pantano Wash to the Santa Cruz River ...
.


Course

From its origin in the Canelo Hills of Santa Cruz County at , Ciénega Creek flows northwesterly through the upper Ciénega basin, a wide alluvial valley separating the northern Santa Rita and Empire Mountains to the west and the
Whetstone Mountains The Whetstone Mountains is a mountain range in Cochise County, southeastern Arizona. Geography The range is located south of Interstate 10, between the Santa Rita Mountains to the west, and the Dragoon Mountains to the east. Higher elevations ...
to the east. A bedrock high, called "the Narrows," serves as a hydrologic barrier dividing the upper and lower basins, and is characterized by riparian vegetation and perennial flow. Ciénega Creek continues northward through the lower alluvial basin until it bends west/northwest in the vicinity of Anderson and Wakefield Canyons. After crossing
Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
near the town of
Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numero ...
, Ciénega Creek again crosses a bedrock high, and once more the flow becomes perennial. In these stretches, groundwater is forced upward through faults in the bedrock from aquifers near the surface. Just north of Vail, Ciénega Creek becomes known as Pantano Wash, which continues northwest through Tucson and links up with the Rillito River.


Flora and fauna

Ciénega Creek is located within the transitional zone between the Sonoran and
Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower P ...
s, and exhibits some features of each region. The creek supports "outstanding examples" of cottonwood-
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...
and mesquite bosque, which are home to many bird species that have become rare due to the loss of riparian habitats. Some of the birds that live along the creek are the
Southwestern willow flycatcher The willow flycatcher (''Empidonax traillii'') is a small insect-eating, neotropical migrant bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. There are four subspecies of the willow flycatcher currently recognized, all of which breed in North America (inc ...
,
Yellow-billed cuckoo The yellow-billed cuckoo (''Coccyzus americanus'') is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often presaging rain or th ...
, and
Bell's vireo Bell's vireo (''Vireo bellii'') is a songbird that migrates between a breeding range in Western North America and a winter range in Central America. It is dull olive-gray above and whitish below. It has a faint white eye ring and faint wing bars ...
. Important lowland populations of riparian and xeroriparian amphibians and reptiles are also known to live along the creek. Included in this group are several
toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...
s, the checkered
garter snake Garter snake is a common name for generally harmless, small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus ''Thamnophis'' in the family Colubridae. Native to North and Central America, species in the genus ''Thamnophis'' can be found from the sub ...
, the Madrean alligator lizard, and the giant spotted
whiptail lizard Teiidae is a family of autarchoglossan lizards native to the Americas. Members of this family are generally known as whiptails or racerunners; however, tegus also belong to this family. Teiidae is sister to the Gymnopthalmidae, and both families ...
. The Mexican garter snake, which has declined throughout its range in the United States, retains a strong population in Ciénega Creek. The federally endangered
Chiricahua leopard frog The Chiricahua leopard frog (''Lithobates chiricahuensis'' syn. ''Rana chiricahuensis'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae, the true frogs. Distribution and habitat It is native to Mexico and the United States (Arizona and New Mexico) ...
occurs only in the upper reaches of the creek. The lowland
leopard frog Leopard frog is a generic name used to refer to various species in the true frog genus Lithobates. They all have similar coloration: brown or green with spots that form a leopard pattern. They are distinguished by their distribution and behavior ...
and the Sonoran mud turtle inhabit the stream throughout, rounding a full complement of aquatic, native vertebrate species originally inhabiting the ciénegas of southern Arizona. An unstudied
mollusca Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000  extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
n fauna also lives in the stream. Ciénega Creek is one of the few remaining streams in southern Arizona that has not been invaded by non-native fish.
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area The Las Cienegas National Conservation Area is a National Conservation Area of Arizona, located in the transitional zone between the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert. Description Facing housing and commercial development, more than of ro ...
supports the largest natural population of the federally endangered
Gila topminnow The Gila topminnow or charalito (''Poeciliopsis occidentalis'') is a species of fish in the family Poeciliidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Description The Gila topminnow has an elongated curved body. Males are rarely over and ...
in the United States, as well as a healthy population of endangered
Gila chub The Gila chub (''Gila intermedia'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. The Gila chub is closely related to the roundtail chub.Rinne, J.N. 1969. ''Cyprinid fishes of the genus G ...
and the longfin dace.


Conservation

Las Cienegas National Conservation Area was established in 2000 to protect the upper Ciénega basin. Its headquarters is the historic
Empire Ranch Empire Ranch is a working cattle ranch in southeastern Pima County, Arizona, that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In its heyday, Empire Ranch was one of the largest in Arizona, with a range spanning over , and it ...
, which is located about southeast of Tucson, near the town of Sonoita. Spanning , Las Cienegas includes large areas of grassland and woodland, in addition to Ciénega Creek and the riparian corridor. Empire Ranch, which dates back to the 1870s, is also open to the public, and has been listed on the
National Historic Register The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
since 1976. The Ciénega Creek Natural Preserve was founded in 1986 and is about north of Empire Ranch, in the lower Ciénega basin. With in total, the Ciénega Creek Natural Preserve protects over of the creek, about half of which has perennial flow. There are also a few historic sites located in the preserve, including the ghost town of Pantano and the Ciénega Bridge, which was built between 1920 and 1921. In Tucson, much of the Pantano Wash is now part of the Pantano River Park, which includes a paved walkway alongside the wash, as well as restrooms, water fountains, and picnic tables. The Pantano River Park is also home to a Commemorative Tree Park, which will help restore about two miles of riverbank, control floods, erosion and
stormwater runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when the s ...
reduction,
carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in land ...
, urban heat, and provide shade. Since 2012, over 100 desert-adapted commemorative trees have been planted along the eastern banks of Pantano Wash. Hundreds more will be added over the following years, until the goal of 570 trees is reached.


Gallery

File:Cienega Creek Arizona 1880.jpg, Ciénega Creek in 1880 File:Cienega_Creek_Natural_Preserve_Pima_County_Arizona_2014.jpg, View of Ciénega Creek, at the Ciénega Creek Natural Preserve File:Las Cienegas NCA.jpg, View of Ciénega Creek, in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area File:Cienega_Creek_Natural_Preserve_Entrance_Arizona_2014.jpg, The sign at the entrance to the Ciénega Creek Natural Preserve File:Cienega_Creek_Natural_Preserve_Signs_Arizona_2014.jpg, Signs at the Ciénega Creek Natural Preserve, including a memorial for
Jimmie Mercer James Arthur Mercer (August 12, 1871 – December 10, 1914) was a lawman and pioneer in Arizona Territory in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was badly wounded by a suspected cattle rustler near the town of Pantano on December 2 ...
, who was ambushed by a
cattle rustler Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer.Baker, Sidney John (1945) ''The Australian language : an examination of the English language and English ...
near Pantano in 1914 File:Cienega_Creek_Natural_Preserve_Bridge_Marker_Arizona_2014.jpg, A historical marker for the Ciénega Bridge at the Ciénega Creek Natural Preserve, with the bridge in the background File:Prehistoric_Bedrock_Mortar_Davidson_Canyon_Arizona_2014.jpg,
Hohokam Hohokam () was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 AD, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BC. Archaeologists disagree about ...
bedrock mortar A bedrock mortar (BRM) is an anthropogenic circular depression in a rock outcrop or naturally occurring slab, used by people in the past for grinding of grain, acorns or other food products. There are often a cluster of a considerable number of ...
in Davidson Canyon, near its confluence with Ciénega Creek File:Pantano_River_Park_Sign_Tucson_Arizona_2014.jpg, A sign at the entrance to the Pantano River Park in Tucson


See also

*
List of rivers of Arizona List of rivers in Arizona (U.S. state), sorted by name. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Colorado River *Colorado River—(downstream-to-upstr ...
* Santa Cruz River * Cienega


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cienega Creek Rivers of Arizona Washes of Arizona Rivers of Pima County, Arizona Rivers of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Protected areas of the Sonoran Desert Chihuahuan Desert Santa Cruz River (Arizona)