The Hassayampa River:
The Hassayampa River* (Yavapai: Hasaya:mvo or ʼHasayamcho:) is an intermittent river, the headwaters of which are just south of Prescott, Arizona, and flows mostly south towards Wickenburg entering the Gila River near the town of Hassayampa. Although the river has only subsurface flow for much of the year, it has significant perennial flows above ground within the Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness and the Nature Conservancy's Hassayampa River Preserve, near Wickenburg. The river is about 113 miles (182 km) long, with a watershed of 1,410 square miles (3,700 km2), most of it desert.
This lush streamside habitat is home to some of the desert’s most spectacular wildlife. Yet many of them have become dangerously imperiled as riparian areas have disappeared from the Arizona landscape. In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.
Riparian Zones:
Riparian zones dissipate stream energy. The meandering curves of a river, combined with vegetation and root systems, slow the flow of water, which reduces soil erosion and flood damage. Sediment is trapped, reducing suspended solids to create less turbid water, replenish soils, and build stream banks. Pollutants are filtered from surface runoff, enhancing water quality via biofiltration.
The riparian zones also provide wildlife habitat, increased biodiversity, and wildlife corridors, enabling aquatic and riparian organisms to move along river systems avoiding isolated communities. Riparian vegetation can also provide forage for wildlife and livestock.
They provide native landscape irrigation by extending seasonal or perennial flows of water. Nutrients from terrestrial vegetation (e.g. plant litter and insect drop) are transferred to aquatic food webs. The vegetation surrounding the stream helps to shade the water, mitigating water temperature changes. The vegetation also contributes wood debris to streams, which is important to maintaining geomorphology.
How to log this Earthcache:
Send me your answers BEFORE logging the find.
In order to claim the find, send me an email using the link just belot the Earthcache title with the answers to the following questions. A word of caution: armchair finds will result in your log being deleted.
1) At the posted coordinates, can you hear the river flowing nearby? Why do you think that is?
2) Does the Hassayampa River flow at a high rate of speed or at a lower rate of speed at this point?
3) What geomorphological features nearby influence the direction of the water flow?
4) What type of canyon is the area around you?
5) (Optional) Post a picture of yourself or your group at the posted coordinates. This is not a requirement to claim the find.
Send me the answers to these questions along with the GC code and the number of people in your party (with their geo nicknames) BEFORE you claim the find. I reserve the right to delete your log if you log the find first even if your answers are correct when I get them. I'm pretty lenient with every other requirement except this one.
