Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: A service project involving more than 300 youth from the Gila Valley and several leaders gathered on Saturday to clean up Cluff Pond #3 before its re-opening this summer. The group cleared and rehabilitated a trail that goes around the pond and more.
More than 300 youths perform maintenance at the pond
By Jon Johnson
CLUFF POND #3 – After roughly a year of delays, Cluff Pond #3 is being filled and should be open for fishing and other recreation this summer.
On Saturday, a youth service project spearheaded by the Pima Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints saw more than 300 youths and numerous adult leaders show up for a massive clean-up effort. In two hours, an army of volunteers swarmed the area and left it cleaned and repaired. While Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area Manager Matt Pelto advised the work would hasten the pond’s reopening, he said the participation of the youth was invaluable.
“This is going to help me get this pond open sooner,” said Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area Manager Matt Pelto. “But it’s just a huge experience for these kids to come out here and get this experience to do this and be part of getting this place open again . . . This was a huge thing I had to get checked off the list before I could open it again, so this is going to help open it a little bit sooner. And once this pond is open to the public again I really hope people are going to take care of and respect this place and not litter and be respectful of other people because this has taken a lot of work to get this back and I hope people take care of it.”
The refilling of the pond had stalled awaiting the delivery of a permanent replacement valve to fill the pond. According to Arizona Game & Fish Department spokesman Mark Hart, the first valve allowed a brief diversion from Ash Creek but it was discovered to be faulty when installed in April 2023 and the inflow was halted. Precipitation from the Monsoon season wasn’t enough to fill the pond, and the permanent valve was critical to the completion of the project. Hart also described the restoration of the pond as being important for public safety as well as recreation, and that when completed the project will not only enhance the area but will make it safer and attract wildlife.
“In addition to allowing Pond #3 to (be) refilled for outdoor recreation, it will also help protect public safety by preventing flooding,” Hart previously told the Gila Herald. “It will also enable filling Pond #1 once regulatory reviews are completed, which will further expand the recreational opportunities available at Cluff Ranch.”
The gate located a short hike down the road is still locked, but those wanting to walk in are welcome and the pond is on schedule to be fully reopened this summer with a potential start date as early as June 1.
Pelto told the Gila Herald that he has been feeding the pond from Ash Creek for about six weeks and the water level is currently at about 9 feet. He said he is looking at adding a couple more feet and having the water begin to go up the boat ramp before reopening to vehicular guests.
“As long as I keep the water flowing we should be opening up this summer,” he said.
Pelto added that the pond currently has Redear sunfish in it and that the Game & Fish Department will start stocking it with catfish and bluegill in May but didn’t think there was enough time to stock bass this year.
While the pond was dry, the Game & Fish Department installed several different types of aquatic habitats for fish to improve the pond as a fishery.
Service project organizer Cliff Davis opened what was originally an LDS service project to the entire Gila Valley through the Just Serve volunteer organization.
“We did not know what to expect,” Davis said. “We just said we’ll do this and see what happens. I’m thrilled.”
The service project cleared brush and maintained a trail that navigates around the perimeter of the pond. Additional walk-down points were created for people to access the pond at different locations. The project also picked up trash and made burn piles of weeds and other plant material.
“I’ve come out here for years and I never realized there was a trail back over on the south side,” Davis said. “You could always get over to some of these points over here but that was it, so now the trail will, hopefully, be clearly marked for that whole thing so you can do the full loop. To me, that’s really exciting.”
Davis said while he was thrilled to have the number of youth participating in the project, it was surprising to see the number of those attending who didn’t realize the pond existed.
“Hopefully, people gain a bigger respect after hearing the reports and seeing it in the paper and things like that knowing that this many youth came out here and spent time on it. Hopefully, it will kind of raise the care. The fact this is still a non-fee area and to keep it open is a big deal.”
To view the Gila Herald’s Photo Album of the event click here.
Recent history of Cluff Pond #3
Arizona Game & Fish has been working on the area since the Frye Fire in the summer of 2017 burned the Ash Creek drainage and subsequent floods damaged the water delivery system. While the drainage was repaired over the next few years, a temporary diversion in Ash Creek lower down the creek was utilized, but the water volume was less than previously.
Then the drought of 2020 stopped the water flow of Ash Creek and caused Pond #3 to drop very low. At that point, the decision was made to drain the pond and replace the valve, according to Pelto. Unfortunately, when the draining began, workers found sediment had accumulated to the point where it buried the valve. Dredging was proposed as the solution, but that forced an additional round of environmental assessments.
The dredging work was completed in the spring of 2022 and additional earthen structures were created to improve the aquatic habitat, according to Game & Fish. Additionally, a large dirt pad was made northwest of the pond to become future campsites.
A replacement valve first arrived in July 2022, but it was found to be missing a piece that needed to be custom-made and took an additional 20 weeks to be created and arrive.
While waiting for the valve, workers installed new aquatic habitat structures in the pond, and an extensive cleanup was completed. Additionally, 760 feet of the pipeline that delivers water to Pond #3 from Ash Creek was replaced and the temporary diversion was rebuilt, making Pond #3’s water delivery system functional again.
