SEARCH
Life Returns Drop by Drop
We work in the Colorado River Basin and beyond to restore flowing rivers and healthy landscapes to enable all people and nature to thrive.
Our Work, By The Numbers
You don’t last as a conservation non-profit 501(c)(3) for over 30 years without making a significant positive impact on rivers, landscapes, ecosystems and communities. At the Sonoran Institute, we are accountable for success. Here are the communities we’ve worked with over the past three decades—and the results:
$300M
Local Investment
500,000
Acres conserved and protected
2,000
Community leaders/activists trained
200,000
Native tree seedlings planted in the Colorado River Delta region.
Find Out More
Hover over the purple points for story highlights!
Phoenix’s West Valley
California Desert
Las Arenitas Treatment Wetland
Colorado River Delta Estuary
Resilient Communities Workshop Helps Missoula Become Summer Smart
Santa Cruz River: Paradise Lost, Paradise Reborn, Will it be Lost Again?
Mexicali Fluye
Tucson C2E
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area
Our Programs
Current community-based conservation programs are focused on water in the Colorado River Basin.
Growing Water Smart
A more resilient water future is possible from the Colorado River headwaters all the way to the delta. Our workshops bring leaders together to collaborate, and each team leaves with an action plan to meet local and regional goals.
READ MORE
Santa Cruz River
The Santa Cruz River has provided life-sustaining water for more than 12,000 years. Climate aridification and a century of overuse has negatively impacted the river, however we can continue to restore its vitality.
READ MORE
Our Success Stories
We’re more than conservationists. We work to protect the environments, economies and communities of the West through unique programs and initiatives.
Santa Cruz River: Paradise Lost, Paradise Reborn, Will it be Lost Again?
The federally endangered Gila topminnow had not been seen in its native habitat, the Santa Cruz River, for more than a decade. Then, in December 2015 they came back.
READ MORE
Restoring the Colorado River Estuary
Innovative. Collaborative. Turning the impossible to possible. That is what we are doing in the Colorado River Delta and our newest effort in the estuary—one of the most productive and endangered ecosystems on earth—combines these themes.
READ MORE
