The Vegetation Response to Environmental Flow Deliveries and Restoration Actions in the Colorado River Delta

An experimental pulse flow of water was delivered to the Colorado River delta in the spring of 2014 as part of the U.S.-Mexico binational agreement, Minute 319. In addition, base flow deliveries and augmented restoration activities will be implemented over the 5-year term of the agreement through 2017. The purpose of these environmental flow deliveries and restoration actions is to improve the hydrologic and ecosystem conditions in the riparian corridor of the delta in Mexico. Monitoring efforts are underway to evaluate the success of these actions. We will assess native vegetation establishment and survival over one growing season following the pulse flow release in areas of varying levels of management to understand the effectiveness of different restoration treatments in promoting native species establishment. Restoration treatments include nonnative species removal, revegetation with native species, irrigation, inundation with environmental flows, and combinations of these treatments. We seek to provide managers with an evaluation of the success of different restoration approaches in promoting native riparian species establishment. This information can shape future restoration practices and inform strategies for environmental flow deliveries. No results were available at the time of submitting this abstract.