The Lower Gila Collaborative is the western reach of a visionary river revitalization initiative that spans 58-miles of Salt and Gila River corridor crossing the metro Phoenix area.

The Lower Gila River Collaborative was born out of the 1999 “El Rio” vision for four partners, the cities of Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, and Maricopa County. Its West Valley goals of restoring the lower Gila River ecosystem while encouraging stewardship, recreation, and compatible development, is nested within the broader geography of Rio Reimagined river revitalization initiative, which spans the majority of the metro Phoenix area. 

In 2018, regional leaders launched Rio Reimagined, a vision for thriving river communities spanning 58 miles of the Gila and Salt Rivers through the urban core of the ‘Valley of the Sun’, six cities, two tribal nations and Maricopa County. Rio Reimagined is focusing public and political attention on the region’s river systems, particularly around issues of economic development, river health, connected communities, environmental justice and river-based recreation and tourism. This recent reimagining of a 1960s concept for a connected public amenity aims to prioritize community interests, services and solutions to improve health and quality of life for residents and visitors to the corridor. 

The Lower Gila River Collaborative, the 17-mile ‘western reach’ of the RIO (Buckeye, Goodyear, Avondale, Phoenix and the Gila River Indian Community), focuses and refines this regional vision, ensuring place-based planning, continued learning that informs decision-making, and improved impact and effectiveness of projects on the ground.

Since the launch of Rio Reimagined in 2018, this long-term urban planning effort has received tremendous support and enthusiasm from the community. Project stakeholders are carrying on the challenging and time-consuming work of a comprehensive long-term visioning framework process that will define the future of Rio Reimagined.  RIO Partnership meetings are held bi-monthly and regular email updates keep partners informed. Click here for more information on Rio Reimagined and options to get involved.

Beyond regional partners like the Lower Gila Collaborative, RIO is supported nationally by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Urban Waters Partnership (UWFP), as the 20th national river revitalization project. This partnership, made up of 15 federal agencies, and 28 national non-profit organizations reconnects urban communities, particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed, with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies. Click here for more information on the UWFP and Rio Reimagined.