Chewed Carnegiea gigantea & Dry Water Tank, Hat Mountain, 2023

One of the saddest things I've witnessed in the megadrought is this chewed up saguaro (top image) that lives next to a now dry water tank (bottom), most likely created by big horn sheep or white-tailed deer dying of thirst.

Larrea tridentata 2013-2021, Cottonwood Canyon, 2025

Hues of Dying Candelilla (jojoba), Cottonwood Canyon 2025, 2026

Dry Water Tank with Bedrock Mortars, Hat Mountain April 2023, 2026

This is one of many water tanks in the area that's now dry, along with a plethora of artifacts from the Hohokam and Tohono O'odham, such as bedrock mortars (far right image) and petroglyphs of water symbols.

Sonoran Desert Drought Map 2020-2022, 2026

This drought map is based on vegetation health indices (VHI) derived from remote sensing technologies developed by NOAA for 2020-2022.

Citation: Wilder, B.T., E. Ezcurra, W. Dorshow. 2023. Sonoran Desert Drought Story Map. ArcGIS Story Maps, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bd55950db0f34d03a4e68a3cdaafec98

Watching Sonora

documenting the drought of the Sonoran Desert 2013-26

Sonoran Desert National Monument 2019-2025, 2026

Located about 50 miles south of Phoenix, the Sonoran Desert National Monument is a valley once full of natural water tanks near the ginormous Vekol Wash, serving as an important prehistoric travel/trade route connecting the Hohokam people with regions south of Arizona thousands of years ago.

Larrea tridentata 2014-2023, Hat Mountain, 2026

Located about 100 miles south of Phoenix and needing a permit to access it, Hat Mountain remains one of the more remote and wild landscapes you can visit in Arizona, with water tanks, petroglyphs and artifacts of a distant past abundant.

Carnegiea gigantea Graveyard, Hat Mountain 2024, 2026

Lost at Sea, Larrea tridentata, Cottonwood Canyon, 2021

Located about 50 miles east of Phoenix, what was once a sea of green creosote plants quickly changed as the rain disapeared.

Shifting Larrea tridentata 2014-2022, Hat Mountain, 2024

Carnegiea gigantea Death Cycle, 2026

The Tohono O'odham of the Sonoran Desert believed their ancestors lived on through the tall saguaros surrounding them. As a visitor walking the same land, it's easy to see these anthropomorphic qualities in the giant cacti looking back at you. With the megadrought reaching new heights in 2020, and with the natural shallow root structure of the saguaro, it's becoming more common to see the dried out cacti being blown over by heavy monsoon winds.

Ryan Parra Photography

Poem About Dying Larrea tridentata, Hat Mountain, 2026

Still in the midst

Brown, black, hot, dry, dust

endless acres of dying creosote chaparrel

Death

Larrea tridentata

fading