In February 2014, taking action to implement a 2012 U.S.-Mexico agreement on the Colorado River known as Minute 319, International Boundary and Water Commissioners (IBWC) Edward Drusina and Roberto Fernando Salmon Castelo announced plans to move forward with a one-time pulse flow (a release of water into the Colorado River channel below the last dam on the River) as well as a five-year commitment by a coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations to deliver base flow water. Minute 319’s environmental water deliveries to the Colorado River Delta are intended to restore native riparian habitat along the river corridor, where invasive non-native saltcedar has displaced the native willow and cottonwood trees that provide habitat for the delta’s 380 bird species and other wildlife. This project will integrate data and models (IDM) to create a user-friendly tool for predicting the hydrologic and ecological responses to pulse flows released into the Colorado River Delta under varying climate conditions. Building on the results of the environmental flow demonstration in the Colorado River Delta (defined in Minute 319), the IDM will integrate scientific data in a rapid, unified manner to assist decision makers as they consider the results achieved under Minute 319 to inform future binational negotiations.
The IDM will be developed within the existing management framework for implementing Minute 319, and will provide:
(1) a synthesized and easy-to-navigate view of the scientific lessons learned from the 2014 pulse flow, and
(2) a tool that considers information gained during 319 actions and links such information to hypothetical pulse flow scenarios of varied timing, duration, flow rate, peak flow, flow recession, delivery points and size to projected outcomes for flow-dependent abiotic and biotic resources.
The IDM is anticipated to significantly improve binational decision-making as resource managers from both the U.S. and Mexico consider ecological responses of Colorado River Delta ecosystems.
