Life returns to the Colorado river delta

The twentieth century saw the bonanza and splendor of the Colorado River, but also its deterioration. The Colorado River Delta was nothing more but a dry riverbed for decades, but a strategy to recover the Colorado River’s health is making history in the twenty-first century: the allocation of water for environmental purposes, negotiated between Mexico and the United States in which is known as “Minute 319”.

Signed on November 20th, 2012, Minute 319 is an agreement between the United States and Mexico that allows new cooperative measures for the management of the river. Through equal contributions from Mexico, the United States and civil organizations, the minute defines new shortage criteria, establishes water conservation projects, and allocates 195 million cubic meters of water for the environment and the restoration of the river. These environmental flows were called “Pulse Flow” and “Base Flow”.

Pronatura Noroeste has been a key actor in the negotiation and implementation of Minute 319 and the restoration of the Colorado River Delta.

Under the framework of Minute 319, on March 23rd, 2014, the Morelos Dam opened its gates to initiate the release of the “Pulse Flow” to restore the Colorado River Delta, an unprecedented event in the world. This achievement was the culmination of years of work to design the best strategy to capitalize on the historical agreement between Mexico and the United States, that allowed the allocation of water for environmental purposes in a binational watershed.

The Pulse Flow released 130 million cubic meters of water during eight weeks, from March 23rd to May 18th, 2014, which not only led the water to flow down and connect with the Gulf of California, but also allowed the revitalization of the river’s ecosystem. The “Base Flow”, consisting of 65 million cubic meters of water released in a prolonged period of time, will maintain the restoration projects and the habitat created by the Pulse Flow.

After almost 70 years of interruption, the Colorado River came back to life along more than 100 miles. With this, the project is expected to restore 1,000 hectares of habitat along the river, and to benefit hundreds of species of birds and other animals. With the opening of the gates at Morelos Dam, not only did the river flowed again, but the regeneration of the delta was started, which marks a new era in the sustainable management of this very important binational watershed.