Mission

Arizona Land and Water Trust protects Southern Arizona's vanishing western landscapes, its farms and ranches, wildlife habitat, and the waters that sustain them.

In addition to our role as land steward, we also support programs that carry out our purpose, including appropriate legislation, public education and outreach. We believe the preservation of Southern Arizona's landscapes and ecosystems to be vital to the well-being of all residents, present and future.

What We Do

The Trust is part of a growing movement of land trusts across the nation, which take an entrepreneurial approach to protecting the land. We work with willing landowners, municipalities and other organizations to protect resources through donated or purchased conservation easements. Due to our small size, expertise and a talented board of directors, the Trust can expeditiously pursue protection opportunities that may be more difficult for larger organizations or agencies.

Having worked with agricultural producers for over 40 years, Arizona Land and Water Trust understands the critical role that farmers and ranchers play in the stewardship of our desert waters. Leveraging funding from private and public partners, the Trust offers landowners the opportunity - and financial incentive - to support their local river or stream. Completely voluntary, market-based water transactions provide landowners with the flexibility to choose how to use their water, and where and when to conserve that water, in any given season. Launched in 2007, our Desert Rivers Program was established to restore desert streams and rivers in the Upper Gila, Lower San Pedro and Upper Santa Cruz watersheds.