Sonoran Institute Arizona Gives Day

The Sonoran Institute connects people and communities with the natural resources that nourish and sustain them. We envision a Colorado River Basin where rivers flow, landscapes are healthy, and all communities thrive.
 

For the past 36 years, Sonoran Institute has inspired a positive future by connecting people and nature. Currently, clean water-and having enough of it-is our biggest concern in the North American West. We understand the complexity of the water crisis we face today. Our work empowers local government leaders to implement plans and policies that support our communities. We all need to work together to create a better place for our future generations.
 

We believe that if the most adversely impacted communities are heard and able to build resilience, then everyone benefits alongside them. That's why we work at the community level to connect people to the natural resources they depend on. It all starts with people who care, people just like you.
  

Our accomplishments this year:

• Installed two trash traps in the Tucson area, stopping debris from flowing into the Santa Cruz.
• Partnered to host monthly Santa Cruz River Clean-ups with local partners, cumulatively removing over 6 tons of trash and invasive species from the river.
• Celebrated our 15th Santa Cruz River Research Days and are preparing to host our 16th symposium, A Watershed of Protection.
• Held our annual Santa Cruz River Dragonfly Days Festival for the entire month of September with multiple events each week, connecting arts, science and community of all ages. In 2025 we connected with 3,800 community members and hope to reach 4,000 this September! 
• Hosting the FIRST EVER Trash Clean-up 5k, the Rio Relay in Tucson on April 18th.
• Led Growing Water Smart Workshops along the border and throughout Arizona, including our most recent workshop with Graham County, Santa Cruz County, Nogales, Sonora, Bullhead City, and Willcox. 
• Funded work in Yavapai County and Town of Jerome to assist in meeting their goals laid out in the 2025 Arizona Growing Water Smart workshop. 
• Connected with the local Tucson environmental scene with monthly Green Drinks Tucson events. 

Testimonials

"Working with the Sonoran Institute, I learned both the practice and the value of partnerships and how collaboration creates community and natural wellbeing. The recent collaboration between Watershed Management Group and Sonoran Institute at New Hope-Nueva Esperanza Church in Tucson, Arizona, has proven once again that this is the way to create strongcommunities and functional landscapes. ¡Vamos por más!" - Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar, cultural ecologist, Watershed Management Group

From Advisory Council member: "The mighty Colorado River has been an economic resource for generations of my family. This river also supported the flourishing Delta of my childhood where an abundance of birds, bobcats and otters thrived. This river, which flowed to the sea, provided resources for the native peoples who historically have inhabited its banks for centuries. Forty-five years later, this majestic Colorado River and its environs are in serious trouble and my support of the Sonoran Institute is my way of giving back to the river which has given so much to me and my family. I support The Sonoran Institute because it works at the nexus of conservation, community and commerce. Sonoran Institute works in real and measurable ways to restore portions of the Delta and return the Colorado River to the sea, enhancing the lives of all who live in the Colorado River Basin." -Rowene Aguirre-Medina, Gold Canyon, AZ