Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch

Hats off to the Town of Gilbert

In 1999, the Town of Gilbert decided to do something special with its treated wastewater instead of simply discharging it: turn it into a wildlife habitat. Gilbert had committed back in 1986 to reusing 100% of its treated effluent, and the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is a big part of how that promise plays out today. Seven basins are filled on a rotating schedule with treated water that’s allowed to percolate down and recharge the underlying aquifer, adding as much as 8 million gallons a day. In the process, it created a genuine desert wetland right in the middle of Gilbert, Arizona, and groundwater levels under the property have risen 30 feet as a result.

That habitat turned the preserve into one of the best birding spots in the Valley — it’s a designated Important Bird Area, with more than 300 species recorded here over the years, from herons and egrets to ducks, hawks, and kestrels. Between the ponds and the surrounding desert scrub, you will also find plenty of saguaros and, if you look down into the water, more turtles than you’d expect.