MESA, Ariz. — Mesa is taking big steps in an effort to cool down the city, and leaders there are asking for your help. The 'Trees are Cool' program is a tall task, but by completion, the project aims to positively affect generations to come in the Valley.
Mesa’s initiative is working away at its sizable goal of planting one million trees by the year 2050. It first launched around the beginning of 2023 and since then, more than 3,500 community trees and more than 1,400 city-owned trees have been recorded and/or planted. Anyone who plants a tree can record it online, and the City of Mesa has an updated map of all of those trees there too.
This is a project everyone can participate in. Mesa said it’s an important one to reduce urban heat. We have especially felt that this summer, with a record number of daytime highs hotter than 110 degrees and numerous nights with lows warmer than 90 degrees.
Laura Hyneman, Deputy Director of Environmental Sustainability in Mesa, said trees provide shade which help cool all of our heat absorbing materials like streets, sidewalks, block walls and building roofs in the Valley.
“As the night time temperatures go down, those materials begin to release that heat," Hyneman said. "Heat always moves to a lower temperature. So at night the concrete releases the heat. If that concrete or block wall or building has been shaded by a tree during the day, it hasn’t absorbed as much heat so it won’t need to release as much as night. So it's kind of an indirect benefit but they do help with our night time temperatures.”
Hyneman said they’re going forward with this initiative while delicately balancing the desert’s serious drought. She added, it’s important to plant a tree adapted to the desert environment. Those thrive in the soil and heat we have and don’t require a lot of supplemental irrigation.
Hyneman said there are also ways to contour the land so natural rain water is captured, going straight to the tree’s roots. The city is working on green storm water infrastructure and low impact development strategies from the city down to backyards, to capture rain water.
“In the past it’s gone down into our storm system and off down to the Salt River and beyond, but let’s capture that rain water on site," Hyneman said. "Just give that tree a little bit of extra water and it really reduces the demand for potable water use for irrigation by planting trees.”
The city chose priority neighborhoods where there are more heat related emergency calls to plant trees and help cool those down.
“We were able to collect satellite data showing surface temperatures," Hyneman said. "So there’s an alignment between surface temperatures and those calls for service because people who are out in this heat without a break, it’s just very difficult.”
Tree experts recommend planting in the Valley in the fall because it gives the roots time to establish over the winter months, to get ready for next summer.
There will be different events to promote tree planting in Mesa this fall. There’s a Celebrate Mesa Fall Fest on Oct. 14, where there will be a tree planting booth.
On Oct. 18, a 'Plant Your Family Tree' open house will happen at the Red Mountain Library. And on November 4th, the Mayor’s Youth Committee will plant trees for Veterans Day.
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