SISU Journal · Rio Salado, Phoenix

Rio Salado Transformation Site and the Arizona Environmental Convening

One acre on the south bank. Canvassed by hand before it was planned. In December it goes in front of a national room.

A SISU Journal entry · Nicole Huser · November 2026

Volunteers gathered on the bank of the Salt River after a tree planting — Protectors of the Salt River and volunteers on the bank after a planting day, Rio Salado, Phoenix.

What a transformation site is for

The Transformation Site is about one acre on the south bank of the Salt River, a short walk from the new Central Avenue light rail stop. On a map it is small. On the ground it is the first place along the Rio Salado where Indigenous stewardship, city infrastructure, and philanthropic capital are being asked to share the same piece of land at the same time.

Bare ground on the south bank of the Salt River with the mountains behind — The acre before the work began, south bank of the Salt River.

On December 3, that acre becomes a case study in front of a national audience. Arizona's Environmental Convening (122°) brings funders, researchers, elected officials, and frontline organizations to downtown Phoenix on December 2 and 3 to move capital toward extreme heat solutions. The Transformation Site is one of the projects the convening will walk through as proof of what Phoenix means when it says solutions are co-designed with residents.

I have worked alongside Protectors of the Salt River on this stretch of river since 2024. Here is how the site came to be, and what I think it is for.

Hands over an aerial map of the river corridor on a folding table — Residents work over an aerial of the corridor at a site walk. The map came after the conversations, not before.

Before there was a site, there was a canvass. Protectors of the Salt River, a grassroots collective restoring ecological and cultural relationships to the river, walked the neighborhoods closest to this bank and asked residents what they wanted from it. Those conversations shaped the vision for the space. The City of Phoenix established the Transformation Site with that vision in hand, not before it.

That order matters. Most riverfront investment in American cities arrives with renderings already drawn. The people who live nearest the water are invited to react. Here, the sequence was reversed. The organizing came first and the agreement came after, which is the only sequence I have ever seen produce an agreement that lasts.

The organizing came first and the agreement came after. That is the only sequence I have ever seen produce an agreement that lasts.

A pilot year of showing up

Through 2025 and into 2026, five community-led groups spent a pilot year stewarding the Rio Salado as one ecosystem: Protectors of the Salt River, AZ(LAND) Fund, Cultural Signage, Design Empowerment PHX, and Foodways. Volunteers filled more than 600 stewardship shifts and removed roughly 740 bags of trash and invasive plants across three acres. Native mesquite and food plants went back into the ground. Gila River Indian Community members guided the work on O'otham language for public signage, at the pace the Community sets, and the cohort advanced native seed saving and art along the river.

A community member kneels to plant a native tree on the riverbank — Planting on the bank.

A young mesquite beside a sign reading that the native trees were planted by the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department and volunteers from Protectors of the Salt River — The sign says who planted it: City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation, and volunteers from Protectors of the Salt River.

600+stewardship shifts filled by volunteers in the pilot year

740bags of trash and invasive plants removed across three acres

5 × $20Kcommunity-directed sub-grants from a $100,000 pilot

I supported the cohort with technical assistance, coaching, and fund development. The funding architecture was built so that resources followed what the community had already decided: a $100,000 pilot structured as five community-directed sub-grants of $20,000 each, and a fiscal sponsorship agreement that contractually secures community-led decision-making and community ownership of all stories, designs, and media.

April 23: the convening is announced from the riverbank

Three people on the riverbank, one pointing toward the river during a land acknowledgement — Land acknowledgement on the bank before a planting day, April 2024.

On Earth Day this year, the Arizona Community Foundation, the City of Phoenix, Arizona State University, and Desert Botanical Garden chose the Transformation Site as the place to announce the 122° Conference. Lavern Jackson and the Protectors led a blessing on the site. Aldo Gonzalez spoke about what the river has meant to generations of communities and what protecting it asks of us now. Mayor Gallego spoke. The EU Ambassador to the United States was there. Then everyone walked from the site to the Rio Salado Audubon Center, where more than 300 residents, funders, frontline workers, and researchers kept the conversation going.

Sunset over the Transformation Site with an excavator in silhouette

December 2 and 3 · downtown Phoenix If you are coming to the 122° Conference, walk down to the river. Stand on the acre. It is a short walk from the Central Avenue station. Then come find the people who cleared it. They are the ones who can tell you what it is for.

Nicole Huser is the principal of SISU Consulting and serves as fund development and technical assistance volunteer to Protectors of the Salt River. She coordinates a climate resilience and community development portfolio for the City of Phoenix as a Bloomberg Associates portfolio manager. The views here are her own.

Further reading: ACF, "Arizona Steps Up: A Landmark Morning on the Rio Salado" · Moving as an Ecosystem: Pilot Learnings from the Rio Salado · Rio Salado District Policy Plan

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