History
In 2004 Ron Hummel saw a need to establish a communication link between Patagonia Lake State Park and the community it served. He called a meeting of interested folks and during that meeting the Friends of Sonoita Creek (FOSC) was founded. The FOSC’s initial mission focused on the Sonoita Creek section below the dam and key issues that pertained to the Sonoita Creek Natural Area. It has since expanded to focus on the whole of the Sonoita Creek Watershed.
In 2006 FOSC Ron Hummel called a meeting of Stakeholders. They outlined the potential reduction or disappearance of the above ground flow of Sonoita Creek which supports the extraordinary biodiversity of the area. The preliminary report addressed the watershed, stream flow, water uses and rights and water budget. It concluded that there is much uncertainty about the future of surface water flows in Sonoita Creek. It notes that there had been very little investigation of the hydrology below the dam. Previous studies focused on the Town of Patagonia and The Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve sections of Sonoita Creek.
In May of 2017 a Sonoita Creek Watershed Plan was developed that addresses some of the preliminary findings in the 2006 report prepared by Ron Hummel and the Stakeholders. → SonoitaCreek-WMP-5-12-17 (PDF)