Springs Monitoring at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: 2024

The Sonoran Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network monitors four springs each year at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. We assess the condition of the site, measure spring discharge and wetted extent (area that contained water), collect core water quality and water chemistry data, note the wetland plants and invasive plants and animals present, and sample for environmental DNA (eDNA) to inventory springs for rare species, invasive species, and pathogens. Each spring is somewhat unique, and Arizona has not adopted water quality standards that apply across the diversity of springs in the state. We continue to collect water quality data at the springs to form a baseline reference of natural variance. We detected one of our eDNA target organisms, red-spotted toad, at one spring (Snake Pit Tinaja) in 2024. Water persistence data were unavailable for the four springs in 2024. Dripping Springs emerges from inside a cave and from a seep on the cliff face. The spring was wet when we visited in 2024. A trail leads to the spring, and we found trampled vegetation and soil disturbance around the site. We did not find any invasive plants or animals at the spring. Monkeyflower was the only wetland plant we detected. East Arroyo Spring is a tinaja spring in a narrow channel below a tall, seasonally dry waterfall. Another pool sits on the ledge above. The spring had water when we visited. A social trail leads to the spring, and trash was present. There were no invasive plants or animals, and wetland plants included flatsedge and monkeyflower. Quitobaquito Spring emerges on a hillslope and flows into a concrete channel that pours into a large, man-made pond. There are several smaller pools in the channel. The spring had water when we visited. A heavily used trail goes by the spring orifice and springbrook. Scattered patches of Bermudagrass (invasive plant) were growing at the site and were present in some prior years as well. Wetland plants included bulrush, cattail, mule-fat, sedge, and spikerush. Snake Pit Tinaja, a pool of water in a bedrock basin, is shaded by a large juniper tree and had water when we visited, but there was no outflow. This spring had no invasive species or wetland plants, and there were no signs of any disturbances at the site.