Initial Progress Report for Minute 319 Colorado River Delta Environmental Flows Monitoring Released in December

The US and Mexican sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission has released the Initial Progress Report for Minute 319 Colorado River Delta Environmental Flows Monitoring. Minute 319 was signed on November 20, 2012 and created a pilot program that allows water to be released into the Colorado River Delta to satisfy environmental needs. Water withdrawals, water divergence and drought have caused the delta to remain largely dry for decades. Last year, a pulse flow of 1321 million cubic meters (107,000 acre-feet) of water was released to the riparian corridor of the Colorado River Delta from Morelos Dam, located on the Arizona-Mexico border, from the Km 27 spillway of Canal Reforma and the Km 18 spillway of Canal Barrote. The water deliveries started on March 23rd and ended on May 18, 2014. Scientists conducted ecosystem monitoring before, during, and after the March 23 to May 18, 2014 pulse flow. Participants hope that this pulse flow will increase base flow and will help restore riparian areas and wetland habitats along that section of the river.

An initial progress report summarizing the activities and preliminary results through July 24, 2014 has been released in December 2014. The report was prepared by Dr. Karl Flessa, Professor of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Dr. Eloise Kendy, Nature Conservancy and Karen Schlatter, Sonoran Institute. Click here to access the initial progress report.