The Quitobaquito pond in Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is getting a new liner to stop water loss, requiring the closure of the Quitobaquito site beginning April 11, the National Park Service (NPS) announced March 29.
The work to replace the current liner is expected to take approximately four weeks, the NPS states, with the site reopening around May 6. A Temporary Closure Order issued for the project includes its access road between the site and the junction of South Puerto Rico Blanco and North Puerto Blanco Drives, the NPS reports.
The NPS reports the pond's old liner had started failing in recent years, causing water seepage. The reduction in stream flow, increasing amounts of sediment in the pond and invasive vegetation growth and several "extreme pond drying events" have exacerbated water loss from the pond and threatened the survival of the endangered Sonoyta mud turtle and Quitobaquito pupfish, the NPS reports.
"Replacing the old liner will stabilize the pond by stopping leakage, providing habitat for these and other species that rely on this precious water source," the NPS states in the announcement.
The current project to replace the failing liner is paid for in part by donations, NPS reports, including a $100,000 donation coordinated by the International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA). The NPS is funding the balance.
“We are excited to be able to implement this important restoration project, and appreciate the continued collaboration with our partners,” Scott Stonum, superintendent of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Park, said in announcement.
Human habitation at and migration through Quitobaquito date back thousands of years, according to the NPS. The area is associated with the Old Salt Trail, a prehistoric trade route from Sonora, Mexico. The spring is part of the historic homeland of American Indian tribes; in the late 1690s, European missionaries arrived and began establishing missions, according to the NPS.
Settlers in the 1800s installed irrigation ditches and mined for gold; by 1947, the pond was about two feet deep and a half-acre in size and supported 4,000 feet of irrigation ditches to water eight fig trees and 22 pomegranate trees, according to the NPS. In 1957, the NPS purchased the last of the privately owned land for $13,000. Improvements to the site in the years since include draining and deepening the pond, as well as installation of liners and other measures to protect natural habitat, the NPS reports.
“This project is necessary to protect aquatic habitat that is vitally important to the conservation of Endangered and other wildlife species,” Danny Martin, park wildlife program manager, said in the announcement. “We anticipate the reconstructed pond to be more resilient to more frequent and severe droughts, higher temperatures, and decreased spring flow in the coming decades.”
