Dr. Robert H. Webb will present a talk about his book Requiem for the Santa Cruz: An Environmental History of an Arizona River as part of the State of Arizona Research Library’s 2024 Arizona Author Series. The talk is at 12 p.m. MST, Thursday, April 18th, and will be held virtually on Zoom. Attendees are encouraged to register to receive the link to the presentation. After the talk, there will be time for questions from the audience.

This presentation will be recorded and made available on our YouTube channel. Registered attendees will receive a link to the recording once it is available. 

About Requiem for the Santa Cruz: The Santa Cruz River has ebbed, flowed, and flooded its banks for centuries. Yet, as the landscape of southern Arizona changed, so did the river and our understanding of its currents. Dr. Webb and his co-authors take readers on a journey along the history of the Santa Cruz River as it evolves from a flowing river into a resource for groundwater, mining, and the growth of Tucson. These changes have forever altered the unique habitat along the river, making its history a warning of what may happen to other precious rivers if we are not careful to protect them.

You can read and listen to books about the history and culture of Arizona for free on Reading Arizona.

Dr. Robert H. Webb has worked on long-term changes in natural ecosystems of the southwestern United States since 1976. He has degrees in engineering (B.S., University of Redlands, 1978), environmental earth sciences (M.S., Stanford University, 1980), and geosciences (Ph.D, University of Arizona, 1985). Since 1985, he was a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Tucson (retired in 2013) and an adjunct faculty member of the School of Natural Resources and the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona. Webb does interdisciplinary work to attempt to understand long-term change in the desert regions of the United States and Mexico and has authored or edited 15 books and about 250 publications and given around 400 presentations in his 45-year career.

This event is part of the 2024 Arizona Author Series. This program is supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Arizona Center for the Book, a Library of Congress Center for the Book Affiliate.