AMARGOSA CONSERVANCY
Working toward a sustainable future for the Amargosa River and Basin through Science, Stewardship, and Advocacy.
From its headwaters north of Beatty, NV, the Amargosa River flows underground in a southerly direction. Near the Dumont Dunes, it makes a big u-turn and heads north into Death Valley National Park, finally terminating in Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the United States.
The river surfaces in a few places, around Beatty and in the Amargosa Canyon south of Tecopa, CA. At times after large rainstorms, the entire course of the river will flow above ground.
The Amargosa River and Basin provide unique desert habitats. The greater ecological setting for the river is the Mojave Desert.
In one of the hottest and driest places anywhere, the river and nearby springs provide islands of water that support a variety of plants and animals. Often these animals are unique to the area – or endemic – meaning they can’t be found anywhere else on earth.
HIGHLIGHTS
Explore
Visit the Amargosa Basin
From Birding to botany,
walking to off-highway vehicles
there is much to see and do
Save Ash Meadows from the harms of mining
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is the largest oasis in the Mojave Desert and the beating heart of the Amargosa River watershed. Join us in the fight to save it from the harms of mining on its doorstep!
Who We Are
Meet our community of passionate conservation experts and desert enthusiasts that make up our staff and board of directors
LATEST NEWS FROM THE BLOG
Putting an Oil Derrick on the Sun: Claire Vaye Watkins reflects on extractive, industrial solar in the Amargosa
Claire Vaye Watkins reading to the protest campout at the Yellow Pine solar construction project in Clark County, Nevada. Photo used with permission from Shannon Salter, 2021. mojavegreen.org It’s a beautiful day on the Amargosa River. The heat is predicted to...
SOLAR ENERGY IN THE AMARGOSA RIVER WATERSHED
ACTION ALERT VIRTUAL TOWN HALL on SOLAR in the AMARGOSA RIVER WATERSHED 6PM WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 18TH Join Amargosa Conservancy staff and board members for a virtual town hall to learn about the Bureau of Land Management's new plan for solar siting and development in the...
Extremophilia: Introducing AC Staff Scott H Williams
by Scott H Williams As an environmental scientist, I wonder at times whether the detached, data-driven approach to the scientific study of the natural world inevitably alienates us from having a deep spiritual appreciation for nature. Does quantitatively analyzing the...
