Verde River

For more than 20 years, bird lovers have celebrated the onset of the summer breeding season at the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival. This year’s event takes place the last weekend in April and is centered at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.

The 209-acre Rockin’ River Ranch State Park will include picnic areas and six hiking trails for biking, horseback riding and fishing along the Verde River.

State land managers have temporarily closed portions of public land and water areas across the state while bald eagles are in their breeding season.

U.S. Forest Service officials have finalized their determination that a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Upper Verde River is suitable for added environmental protections.

The U.S. Forest Service continues to explore whether to grant added protections to nearly 40 miles of the Upper Verde River in central Arizona.

While evacuation orders have been lifted for residents and businesses along Oak Creek in Sedona, a GO order remains in place for some communities in the Verde Valley.

Sedona residents who were evacuated this morning due to flooding on Oak Creek can now return their homes, but officials warn them to remain ready to leave again if necessary. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, Oak Creek and the Verde River are still surging with rain and snow but show signs of ebbing.

Low-level water releases began Friday on the Verde River to make room for the spring snowmelt. Officials with the Salt River Project say the releases from Bartlett Dam will create additional storage capacity for the snowmelt and runoff season.

U.S. Forest Service officials are considering recommending that Congress adopt heightened protections for 37 miles of the Upper Verde River under the National Wild and Scenic River System.

U.S. Interior Department officials say a study designed to mitigate sediment in two reservoirs on the Verde River is among several projects set to receive federal funding from last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.