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A large pulse of water is planned to be released into the Colorado River delta in Mexico. This is part of a historic agreement between the United States and Mexico to return water to the Colorado River delta. This engineered experimental spring flood, which will flow from Lake Mead and pass through downstream reservoirs, is the culmination of decades of applied research and collaboration to prioritize restoration opportunities and provides a rare opportunity for research at the landscape scale.
The pulse flow is designed to mimic the natural patterns that used to occur for the delta. These annual floods scoured the channel and floodplain and helped establish willows and cottonwoods, both of which require flooding for seed germination.
Researchers from the University of Arizona, Pronatura Noroeste, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Sonoran Institute and put forth a call for research to study the impacts of this pulse flow.