Monica Lewinsky isn’t the only 1998 throwback to recently. For the first time since that glorious year, when Harry Potter stole our hearts and Britney Spears , the Colorado River has reached its natural destination in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.
The reunion between the river and the sea stems from an agreement, named Minute 319, between Mexico and the United States establishing a five-year restoration of the Colorado Delta, where the river flows into the Sea of Cortez.
Before humans got in the way, the delta’s nutrient-rich freshwater and the gulf’s saltwater blended to create an optimal environment for many types of aquatic life, including the , , brown and blue shrimp, and the endangered , the world’s smallest porpoise. But Americans constructed northern Arizona’s in 1963, and since then the river has rarely reached the delta.
El Nino weather events have brought heavy snow and rain to the Rockies that helped flood the delta, but otherwise the area has remained mostly dry. The United States and Mexico hope to change that in order to revitalize a region that once featured two million acres of flourishing wetlands.
On March 23, authorities lifted the gates of the Morelos Dam, which rests on the Arizona-Mexico border, allowing a “pulse flow” of water into the southern leg of the . Scientists designed the pulse flow to mimic natural springtime snow melts and timed it to coincide with the germination of native trees. They didn’t expect the flow to travel all the way to the gulf but are pleased it has.
Minute 319’s waterflow is minute compared to how the river once flowed prior to human intervention, amounting to less than one percent of its historic volume. That’s still more than has been coursing through the region over the past few decades, and nature never had science timing ice melts to optimize interaction with flora and fauna.
The agreement extends through 2017, but authorities have already discussed an extension. One can only assume these positive results will increase the chances of such a decision.
Read more ϳԹ coverage about the Colorado River:
- Can the Colorado River Flow to the Sea?For the first time in years, water is returning to the parched Colorado River delta. Peter McBraide prepares to launch.