In urban contexts, restoring riparian ecosystems can have widespread benefits, but these efforts are often limited by needs to mitigate flood risks. To evaluate restoration potential in urban riparian systems, we studied responses of a diverse lizard community, including several species that occur in California, to combined flood control and habitat restoration efforts along two waterways over 15 years in urban Tucson, Arizona. We used a before/after-control/impact design to estimate responses to treatments that included bank stabilization and detention basin construction for flood control combined with passive water harvesting, native vegetation planting and seeding, and targeted creation of microhabitats. Overall impacts were mostly positive or neutral, and negative for just one of six focal species. Most species recovered to pre-treatment abundance within 2-3 years, but recovery dynamics varied among species. In general, widely-moving, faster-maturing terrestrial species recovered quickly and responded most positively to restoration, whereas more arboreal species with longer generation times and smaller home ranges took longer to benefit. Our findings suggest management of urban riparian systems can provide simultaneous benefits to humans and herpetofauna. Future efforts may be improved by fostering more heterogeneous cover and potentially translocating animals into restored but disconnected patches of habitat in urbanized landscapes.