Aron Ralston: Colorado River Delta Restoration

Aron Ralston discusses the ongoing restoration project for the Colorado River delta. 

For millions of years, the Colorado River flowed freely from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, across the floodplains of the Delta, and into the Gulf of California. However, due to human manipulation (in the form of massive dams and over allocated diversions) and devastating drought, water had not regularly flowed into the Sea of Cortez since 1960. The once lush Delta ecosystem, abundant with plants, fish, and wildlife became dry and desolate as a result. When I flew over the Delta in January of this year, what should have been a green water-fed landscape, was a brown desert, all but devoid of life.

Then, in an act of international cooperation on behalf of the environment, water managers released a surge of water referred to as a “pulse flow” from the Morales Dam on March 23 of this year. As the waters rushed south across the US/Mexico border, the flow marked the first time in 50 years that the two governments intentionally released water to restore the once vibrant Colorado River Delta.

Numerous brief floods in the 1980s and 1990s showed that a small amount of water can go a long way in reviving the Delta’s ecosystems. While many people feared the Delta was unsaveable, advocates from both sides of the border teamed up and undertook decades-long efforts to restore flows to the region.

The pulse flow started with an initial release of water that increased for several days and then slowly diminished, similar to how the river would naturally flow during flooding in spring. The initial pulse flow will not only bring water to the Delta, but also spread plant and tree seeds down the river corridor.

In the desert, where there’s water, there’s life. In restoring even temporary season flow, ecologists expect the former bird populations to return as well. Relief teams hope that efforts will result in the return of rural communities and economies on both sides of the border too.

The release of water into the Delta is part of a historic agreement between the US and Mexico. It provides for flexible water sharing and storage, adapting to times of surplus or drought and better management of the Colorado River.

For more information read on at http://conservationco.org/2014/03/a-little-can-go-a-long-way/