Tucked down next to the Peavine Trail off Sun Dog Ranch Road is a little gem that’s about to get even better. Michael Byrd, Executive Director for Prescott Creeks gave a tour of the Watson Woods Preserve to members of the Arizona and New Mexico chapters of the American Fisheries Society and Wildlife Society last weekend.

Watson Woods used to be a 1,000 acre riparian area that extended all the way into downtown Prescott. Prescott Creeks has taken on the task of not only managing, but improving what is now 126 acres set aside by the City of Prescott and leased to the organization.

Historically the preserve was mined for sand and gravel. Byrd says, “What we’ve come to understand through research is that a lot of the channel configuration is basically how the gravel mining operations left it. What we also came to understand is that they really weren’t thinking about channel function as they were pulling out of here. They were just making a continuous path for it to flow. So those are the challenges.”

Prescott Creeks has been working with Natural Channel Design Inc. to come up with a plan to correct the flow of water, which will mean a healthier environment for plants and wildlife in the area. Byrd says, “We’ll try to add some length to the channel, and we’re also trying to bring it out so we can disperse the water. Our depth to groundwater varies to the surface to as deep as 15 – 17 feet. As we’ve done our planning I’m always humbled by the thought that “Wow, we’ve got to get this right.” We feel like we’ve made a pretty good approach. The folks at Natural Channel have been doing this for a lot of years, and the botanist that we’ve been working with has really helped us to get a good feel for what’s going on with the vegetation, and I think we have a good plan.”

Water quality is also an issue in the creek, and research is currently being done on the sources for some slightly elevated levels of bacteria in the water. These have not been high enough to require cautionary measures, but they would still like to research the source of the bacteria. Byrd continues, “One of the projects that we are doing is about a manure management issue as far as water quality is concerned. We do have a number of properties throughout the watershed with corrals that either span the creeks or are right next to the creeks. There have been reports of property owners shoveling their animal’s manure right into the creek because, “it just washes away, right?!” There are no easy solutions. One piece at a time.”

The group has secured grant funding totaling $1.4 million which has come mostly from 2 grants; one for $582,253 from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and $798,899 from the Arizona Water Protection Fund. The City of Prescott has set aside an additional $80,000 for the project. Byrd says they are 95% funded for the project, with the remaining 5% needed for trails and user amenities. Byrd is confident that funding will come through and they look forward to starting the project in October or November of this year.

The Watson Woods Preserve has a very noticeable concrete bridge on the property, which is Prescott Lakes Parkway. Byrd is philosophical about the structure, and in fact looks at it as a good example of working together with the city. He said, “When we signed our lease the city had put in the stipulation that they would build a bridge someday and we would work together to make the best possible bridge. The options were, preserve with the bridge, or no preserve with the bridge, and we though the preserve with the bridge was the best option. We kind of look at this as a win/win situation.” When the bridge was being designed Prescott Creeks noted that the abutments were so large there was only room for a 125 foot gap in the center. They worked with the city and convinced them to redesign the bridge so there is now a 625 foot gap.

Prescott Creeks philosophy includes involving a lot of local volunteers in their projects. Byrd said, “We really try to position ourselves in a way that we’re working with community stakeholders, whether it’s with the city of Prescott who owns this property that makes up Watson Woods Preserve, or individual land owners. Throughout the Granite Creek watershed we have over 1300 property owners who we’re trying to work with on habitat issues as well as water quality issues. Watson Woods Riparian Preserve has been our longest on-going project and we’re really excited about the work we’ve done down here and the work that’s yet to come.”

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