Loading Publication...
close
Feb 2011

Wet/Dry Mapping: Using Citizen Scientists to Monitor the Extent of Perennial Surface Flow

Dale Turner and Holly Richter
Freshwater Assessment
Riparian-aquatic
San Pedro River
Abstract

Published in Environmental Management, this article describes a simple method for monitoring the flow status of interrupted perennial streams, with the example of a 12-year effort on the San Pedro River. We found that surface flow increased for parts of the river, apparently due to conservation actions, while other parts were stable or may have declined. The data allowed us to map areas with surface flow in every year, totaling 32% of the river length through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA). These maps show areas with high year-to-year variation in flow length, which indicate changes in local groundwater conditions and may provide early warning of ecological changes.

Links
Wet-Dry Mapping to Monitor Perennial Flow
PDF, 604.8 kB
 

Explore Our Science

For publications and reports from our science team, please search here. However, to see the rest of our content, including many new science stories, please go to our new page here.

Explore Our Science

Jun 2025
Papers
Arizona
Forest
Forest Restoration Benefits
USFS
Evan Hjerpe and Anne Mottek Lucas, Conservation Economics Institute
Regional Economic Contributions of the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI) in Northern Arizona in 2023
A regional economic contribution analysis of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) was conducted for Calendar Year 2023, illustrating regional employment and output from 4FRI in five northern Arizona counties. Forest restoration in communities with high wildfire risk is done primarily throug[…]
Dec 2024
Maps
BLM, NGO
Freshwater Assessment
Riparian-aquatic
San Pedro River
Dale Turner, Brooke Bushman, Lisa McCauley, Patrick Hellmann
San Pedro River Wet/Dry Map Animation
Every June groups of volunteers walk the entire 170 mile length of the San Pedro River and record where it is wet and where it is dry during the hottest, driest time of the year. Twenty years’ worth of data on summertime surface flows in the San Pedro River within the San Pedro Riparian National C[…]
Dec 2024
Maps
BLM, NGO
Freshwater Assessment
Riparian-aquatic
San Pedro River
Turner, D., L. McCauley, P. Hellmann
San Pedro River Wet-Dry Maps
The San Pedro River wet/dry mapping dataset is a community effort to track the river’s health by monitoring the persistence of surface water during the driest time of each year. It is created by recording the end points of every wet section of the San Pedro River during June each year. Maps depict[…]