TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The Arizona Game and Fish Department is continuing its effort to bring drinking water to wildlife. Within the last four weeks, the department has delivered more than 100,000 gallons of water for animals across the state.

These catchments help keep important animals in Arizona alive such as big horn sheep, mountain lions, and even smaller animals too.

“The conditions in the past decade were pretty extraordinary,” Mark Hart with Arizona Game and Fish said of the 3,000 catchments across Arizona.

But you may not see them when you’re out and about. That’s because many are in remote areas that are hard for people to get to but easy for the animals.

“In times of low rainfall, those catchments don’t get replenished,” Hart explained. “So we’ve got to go out there and fill them up.”

However, if there’s no rain, officials must bring in the water themselves. They get that water from Marana and haul it to remote locations.

That kind of purchase isn’t cheap. Hart said the cost depends on how much rain we get, but generally costs around a quarter of a million dollars a year.

But, according to Hart, it’s a better alternative than people locally trying to help keep wildlife hydrated themselves.

“What we don’t want you to do is put out large containers of water,” he said. “If you want to put out a pie tin of water that’s fine. But if you put out a lot you’re going to draw in deer and javelina. And if you bring them in, you could bring in mountain lions. And we don’t want that.”

If you’d like to learn more about the program or make a donation, you can click on this link.

Be sure to subscribe to the 13 News YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@13newskold

Copyright 2023 13 News. All rights reserved.