Colorado River Delta: Water For the Environment and Environmental Benefits
In 2012, the U.S. and Mexico signed the historic Minute 319 Agreement to improve binational water management of the Colorado River system. The agreement allowed for a one-time “pulse flow” release of 105,392 acre-feet (130 million cubic meters) of water from the Morelos Dam on the U.S. (Arizona)-Mexico border in March of 2014 to restore the dry downstream stretch of the Colorado River Delta. Bureau of Reclamation scientists are tracking the immediate and long-term effects of the flood pulse on the delta ecosystem.