With no water to draw attention to, it’s easy to lose sight of the drainage. Drainage canals can be seen emerging in neighborhoods, burrowing into downtown culverts, and reappearing along city lanes in disjointed segments of undeveloped waterways. When the Rio River dries up for most of the year, it’s easy to forget Flagstaff’s main waterway.

But when the water comes, you can’t ignore Rio Defragmentation.

In this recent season of significant snowmelt, Rio has swelled to seldom-seen depths, swallowing roads and renewing the realization that even unpretentious waterways represent considerable flood risk. It was the Rio de Flag that flooded the town from the site of the pipeline fire.

Rio’s flood risk is so real that the City of Flagstaff and the Army Corps of Engineers have invested in a $122 million project designed to increase Rio’s capacity and lift much of downtown Flagstaff off the floodplain. have been collaborating on projects for more than 20 years. This massive infrastructure project could break ground as early as this spring.

To better understand Rio Defragmentation, the Arizona Daily Sun sat down with Rick Miller, former chairman of Friends of Rio Defragmentation (FoRio), to discuss the history and future of Flagstaff’s fickle waterways.

First of all, “Rio” is a misnomer.

“We don’t have a river,” said Miller. “Most of the time, it gave me a dry ditch with occasional water.”

But don’t mistake temporary for frivolous. In Miller’s perspective, the course run by Rio de Flagg “ties the town together” as much as it connects present-day Flagstaff with its ancient origins.

Rio’s headwaters are at the San Francisco Peaks near Leroux Springs. Just downstream of these springs, the Rio River is perennial for some time before turning into a temporary wave again as it cuts through Fort Valley, eventually flowing into the Cheshire neighborhood of Flagstaff. From there, head southeast, roughly following the trails of Highway 180, past the Northern Arizona Museum, past the Coconino Estate, and onto Francis Short Pond.

From there, it winds its way through downtown Flagstaff, crossing the railroad, through the South Side, and onto Sinclair before reaching the wetlands just south of Interstate 40. The Rio River then continues south and east through the Forestdale area before turning north near the Rain Valley. Cross Herold Ranch Road before heading to Foxglenn Park and the Continental Country Club area. It then makes a steep hairpin near the Bottomless Pit, crosses Interstate 40 (again) and resumes its course north into Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve.

The Rio River heads north past Townsend Winona Road, crosses the high desert eastward, meets Donny Park, and finally joins the San Francisco Wash, Canyon Diablo, and the Little Colorado River. Last stop before joining the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

If a drop of water tries to flow from the highest point to the lowest point in Arizona, the first leg of its journey follows Rio Defrag.

Across the length of this winding course are sites of undisputed cultural significance. Leroux Springs is named after Antoine Leroux, who guided European explorers through northern Arizona in 1850. Petroglyphs of the Sinagua tribe lived in the area from AD 600 to he AD 1,400. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Picture He’s Canyon, but according to Miller, petroglyphs can also be seen near the Northern Arizona Museum.

According to the research compiled in the FoRio 2022 Watershed Plan, “pottery fragments found in the Fort Valley area indicate that Sinagua used the Rio de Fragge and associated headwaters at least seasonally and possibly over a long period of time. increase.”

“It’s really great that all of this is in line with Rio,” said Miller.

In recent history, Rio has also been reorganized. When European settlers began building the town of Flagstaff in his 1880s, they built directly on Rio’s floodplain. They learned quickly. At some point in the 1890s, the Rio River was altered from its original course and runs through hand-dug channels on Flagstaff’s South Side, where it still runs today. The exact parties and reasons for this diversion are not clear in the historical record.

“There are some rumors,” Miller said. “One rumor was that the sawmill sent a crew because it was flooding in the yard. Another rumor was that the county sent a crew. Someone sent a crew to move it, but someone sent a crew to move Rio, and when they moved, this part of town [the Southside] A flood has begun. ”

The aforementioned troubled reorganization is the focus of the Rio Defragment Project, which aims to restore Rio’s original roads, “except put it in a big box and put it underground,” Miller said. Told.

The Rio Defragmentation Project will help undo historic injustices, Deborah Harris, a city council member and executive director of the South Side Community Association, said in a series of interviews collected by the city about the project.

“Historically, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans all lived on this side of town,” Harris said. “So people see it as less valuable than other parts of town.

Rio’s historic reroute through the South Side has created the current situation where “people have to have flood insurance,” Harris said. “And that means they can’t improve their property. They can’t access that equity.”

“We have been fighting to get Rio back together so that the South Side is not flooded,” she added.

The importance of this mission to Miller is clear, but he’s not thrilled to have Rio run underground in a concrete culvert. I would like to see water that can stay on the surface. Doing so would “increase the diversity of wildlife here, increase the diversity of plants, and make the people of Flagstaff proud,” Miller said.

He also believes that people in Flagstaff will benefit from Rio’s accessibility on the ground.

“Water is essential to humans,” said Miller. “In addition to physical needs, I think there are also psychological needs. I really like being near flowing water.”

Seeing Rio running in its current state is a hopeful sight for Miller. The flowing water shows the momentum he hopes to bring into Rio’s plan. It combines flood protection and public access, wildlife restoration, and a celebration of Flagstaff’s unique waterways.

“I feel like I have a chance,” said Miller. “Just one more thing to tie”

For more information on the Rio De Flag Project, please visit: www.flagstaff.az.gov/4189/Rio-De-Flag-Flood-Control-Project.