Funding Area: Environment
Founded in 1992 and headquartered at Eastern Arizona College Discovery Park Campus in Safford, AZ, The Gila Watershed Partnership (GWP) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit Arizona Corporation. GWP strives to protect and improve the overall health of the Upper Gila Watershed of Arizona. Our watershed issues affect everything we do. Both the quality and quantity of our water plays an important part in our lives.
Projects We Support
Increasing Nursery Capacity at Gila Watershed Partnership
The Gila Native Plant Nursery, a division of the Gila Watershed Partnership, is a unique growing environment. Our nursery staff gathers and propagates only plants native to the Chihuahuan-Sonoran crossover region with only two exceptions (fig and pomegranates), providing plant materials for botanical gardens, conservation programs, and restoration nonprofits from all across southern Arizona, through southern New Mexico and across west Texas.
For two years now we have been trying to build a third shade house to allow our contracts to increase. Many of our customers need even more than we can currently provide, simply because of space, and new contracts are generated each month. An additional shade house will help the nursery reach its goal of becoming self sufficient by 2025.
Gila Watershed Partnership (GWP) is a boots-on-the-ground, field-based conservation organization with a mission to engage the community in improving water quality and ecosystem condition of the Upper Gila Watershed in Arizona through education and economic opportunity. We work with diverse partners to confront issues in the Upper Gila Watershed that include polluted rivers, soil erosion, invasive weeds, loss of habitat, drought, fire, and flooding. We strive to address the root of these issues, while employing and purchasing locally to benefit the economy and community. Our work always includes opportunities for public participation and education through outreach, internships, volunteerism, and public information. GWP has been working since 2014 to restore over 200 acres of native habitat within a 54-mile stretch of the Upper Gila River to create habitat that is safe for wildlife and the local communities. We transform sections of the river choked with invasive plants into riparian forests where native species thrive. Restoring native species decreases the fire risk, improves the water quality, and creates better habitat for wildlife.
The Gila Native Plant Nursery is comprised of a 2,800 square foot greenhouse with an extra 3,100 sq ft of shade house space. The facility grows the plants to support our restoration efforts and is increasingly sought after by partner organizations to contract grow outs for their projects as well but our capacity to meet the growing demand is limited by our current space. Expanding the nursery through the build out of a new 1,500 sq ft shade structure will increase capacity to take on new grow out contracts that will support staff salaries and increase opportunity for volunteerism and education.
Support Dates: March, 2023 – – March, 2024
