After decades of pollution and abandonment, the Santa Cruz River is buzzing with life again, and the Sonoran Institute is celebrating that comeback throughout the month with its 6th annual Dragonfly Festival.

The Santa Cruz River Dragonly Festival started as a one-day experience at a Marana location along the river and has since blossomed into a month-long celebration and reconnection of the community with the river. In partnership with Pima County, the University of Arizona, Mission Garden, the Town of Marana, Queerd Science, and Tucson Water, the festival offers learning experiences for all ages.

Once nearly devoid of freshwater, the river’s return to health is now visible in the hundreds of dragonflies that hover above its waters, a living symbol of ecological recovery and community reconnection. The Santa Cruz River was dry and polluted until the early 2000s, with the reintroduction of freshwater in 2013 sparking the river’s revival.

Dragonflies, which spend about a quarter of their lives underwater and can only thrive in clean water, soon became a clear sign of that recovery. When different species began to flood back to the river in large numbers, members of the Santa Cruz River Program took notice.

“What the Sonoran Institute has been doing is working with researchers to understand the condition of the Santa Cruz River, then using that information to drive policy that changed the way that water was introduced into the river for it to finally be really clean after decades of it being barely treated sewage,” Program Director Luke Cole told Tucson Spotlight.

The festival includes a series of virtual talks about dragonflies, from their underwater beginnings to their diversity in species, take-home craft kits, and guided river tours where participants can observe dragonflies in their natural habitat and enjoy time along the river.

With the free iNaturalist app, anyone can snap a photo of a dragonfly or plant and get help identifying it from experts. Each observation adds to the database, supporting scientists and helping track the health of the Santa Cruz River.

“You can provide valuable data for real scientific research in the Dragonfly Bioblitz,” Cole said.

Other festival offerings include dinner and drinks at The Playground, where researchers will talk about local insects.

“There is truly something for everyone,” Cole said. “We hope that connections with this river are established and that existing connections with this river are strengthened even more.”

The festival also includes a riverside art installation called “Landing Place” by Kimi Eisele and Maxie Adler, featuring intricately designed windsocks that represent aspects of the river’s plants, animals, and landscapes. First unveiled in May, the installation has returned for September to complement the tours and celebration.

Because the river touches so many different Southern Arizona communities, organizers knew it needed to be accessible in Spanish.

“Bilingual programming is so important because people in Tucson either speak both languages or some people have family members that only speak Spanish at home,” said Marketing Coordinator Kashja Iler. “This river and this ecosystem is for everyone who lives in the area. We are making sure that everyone is able to participate in a meaningful way is part of the reason why we do all of our events.”

To help keep people connected with the river year-round, the team also published Living River magazine. The free, 12-page guide is mailed to thousands of households, available in every Pima County library, and bundled into kid-friendly “Nature to Go” kits.

Published in both English and Spanish, the magazine aims to make river science more approachable for everyone, from families to community decision-makers.

Organizers say the dragonflies that populate the Santa Cruz River now are a testament to the river’s resilience. The festival celebrates that renewal while also inviting Tucsonans to build deeper connections with their local waterway.

McKenna Manzo is a graduate student at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at mckennamanzo@arizona.edu.

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