 |
Rio Salado UpdateSpring 2001 |
| |
Rio Salado UpdateSpring 2001 |
The following also is provided in Spanish. Lo siguiente también es provisto en Español .Last Modified on 07/19/2001 14:09:25
Phoenix Rio Salado Gateway Celebration June 4
Phoenix Rio Salado Gateway Celebration June 4
You are invited to attend the Phoenix Rio Salado Gateway Dedication & Signing Ceremony.
Central Avenue (northeast side) at the Salt River
7:30 a.m. Continental breakfast
8 a.m. Ceremony
Monday, June 4, 2001
Parking available at the siteWork on Rio Salado began last June, and what a difference eleven months make. The low flow channel, which will carry water releases and a meandering stream, is 50 percent finished. The City, in partnership with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County, will begin construction on the second half of the project this July. Workers are placing the final artistic pieces on the columns of the shaded walkway for the Gateway plaza. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ready to sign the official construction agreement with the City of Phoenix, which will release the flow of federal money to construct water wells and develop habitat this fall. Please join us on June 4 to celebrate the dedication of the Rio Salado Gateway plaza and the signing of the federal construction contract with the Corps of Engineers.
The Phoenix Rio Salado Gateway at Central Avenue and the Salt River.Return to top of Rio Salado Update
More Support From Flood Control District
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors recently gave its approval to the Phoenix Rio Salado environmental project. At their March 21 meeting, they approved adding an additional $7 million of Flood Control District funds to the $11 million they already have committed to construct the flood control elements of the project.
Rio Salado will create a series of wetland ponds and landscaped recreational trails along the dry Salt River bed. The Project spans 580 acres, stretching from the Interstate 10 bridge at 28th Street west to 19th Avenue. The first phase of the flood control elements, a low flow channel, is completed from 4th Street downstream to 19th Avenue. The 200-feet wide and 10-to-15-feet deep low flow channel will carry upstream water releases to help protect the vegetation and ponds developed outside the low flow channel.
"Rio Salado's time has come," Mayor Skip Rimsza said as he spoke before the Board at their March 21 meeting. "The City has a great partnership with the Flood Control District…Rio Salado will be more attractive and beautiful for years."
Members of the county Board of Supervisors were equally enthusiastic. "Rio Salado is a culmination of a lot of dreams for a lot of people," Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said. "People have worked very hard to see the scar across no man's land change…this can bring economic opportunities." Supervisor Andy Kunasek noted the partnership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Rio Salado and their two-thirds contribution of federal money to the $85 million dollar project.
A gabian wall, which consists of "blocks" made from cages filled with rock, allowed the designers to elevate the Gateway to street level. By using rock from the nearby river bed to fill the cages, designers matched the look of the surrounding terrain.Return to top of Rio Salado Update
"The Phoenix Rio Salado Project will provide extremely positive growth for our community. We should all be proud and excited about the great possibilities and the world of learning which is opening up for all students."
Dr. Russell Jackson
Superintendent Roosevelt Elementary School District
Educators, citizens look to Phoenix Rio Salado as teaching tool
As Phoenix Rio Salado designers and engineers work in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to plot the project's streams, ponds, plants and over 10 miles of trails, others are thinking about the benefits Rio Salado can provide to environmental education.
An enthusiastic group of educators and community members have started to outline Rio Salado classroom opportunities and field trips for fourth-to sixth-graders. "With Rio Salado under construction, " said Karen Dada the city's Rio Salado habitat manager, "now is the perfect time to plan ahead and explore the opportunities Rio Salado provides as a resource to teach science."
Educators say they like the benefits: helping children gain knowledge about Arizona flora and fauna; teaching the history of the Salt River and what the river gave to its indigenous people -- food, tools, medicine; providing hands-on experiences; and offering opportunities to observe wildlife.
"We have just started holding focus groups to find out what features the public would like to include in a future Rio Salado interpretive center," Dada added, "and to find out what environmental education programs should be explored for all ages and education levels."
We would like to thank the following groups for getting involved in the February focus group:
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Murphy Elementary School District
Pendergast Elementary School District
Phoenix Clean and Beautiful
Phoenix Union High School District
Rio Salado Advisory Committee
Roosevelt Elementary School District
The shade structure during construction.Return to top of Rio Salado Update
How to Get Involved
Rio Salado an Educational Tool
Contact us and tell us your ideas for environmental education programming surrounding the future Rio Salado interpretative center.
Do you have expertise in lesson plans and hands-on activities for students in grades four through six? Rio Salado is looking for volunteer assistance in developing Rio Salado related classroom-based activities connected to the Arizona Academic Standards.
Stories and Pictures of the Salt River
Many Phoenix residents remember either playing in the Salt River or have an experience with desert rainstorms with the Salt riverbed. Share a picture or a special memory of the River for future editions of the Rio Salado Update. We can't promise we'll be able to print all photos, but we will make a serious effort to return all photos submitted.
Rio Salado Speaker's Academy
Want to tell others about the Rio Salado project? Join the Rio Salado Speaker's Academy and share information about Rio Salado with interest groups, neighborhood groups, school groups and community organizations. Training will be provided.
Donate Reading Room Books
One of the potential features of the future Rio Salado interpretative center is a Reading Room with information on the history of the Salt River, the Sonoron flora and fauna and desert riparian systems. Donate books or journals that have a connection with the Salt River for the Reading Room. Donated items will be evaluated to determine if they are appropriate for inclusion in the collection.
Who do I contact to get involved?
Please contact Karen Dada, Rio Salado habitat manager, at 602-495-5720 or email at kdada@ci.phoenix.az.us or mail materials to: Rio Salado, City of Phoenix, 200 W. Washington, 16th floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003.
Palo verde and cottonwood trees, as seen here in the Gateway, are a sample of
the vegetation that will "green" the slopes of the river.Return to top of Rio Salado Update
Bond Funds OK'd
Today a visitor looks at the Salt riverbed cutting through Phoenix and sees an eyesore, a scar on the landscape. With $16 million of approved bond funding from the March 13 election, we'll begin this fall with cleanup of the Salt River and restoration of natural habitat as part of Phoenix Rio Salado. An additional $1.1 million of approved bond funds will pay for a Parks, Recreation and Library Department operations center on the northeast corner of 7th Avenue and the Salt River. Thank you Phoenix voters!
TAKE PART IN SHAPING RIO SALADO
Add your input into the Rio Salado Project by sitting in on a meeting of the Rio Salado Citizens Advisory Committee. The meetings are held at the
Travis L. Williams Family Service Center,
4732 S. Central Avenue, Phoenix, from 3 to 5 p.m.THEY WILL MEET:
May 17
July 19
September 20
November 15
Bike racks and a drinking fountain, which is only partially completed in this photo, help make the Gateway bicycle and pedestrian friendly.Visit us on the Internet
www.phoenix.gov/NBHDPGMS/rioproj.htmlReturn to top of Rio Salado Update
