Water infusion aims to revive Colorado River delta

With dozens of onlookers cheering on, a gate opened at 8:15 a.m. Sunday at Mexico’s Morelos Dam sending a churning stream of water into the Colorado River delta, an area decimated in recent decades by diversion of water upstream.

The United States and Mexico aim to create flood conditions in the delta over the next eight weeks with the delivery of close to 105,000 acre-feet of water. Known as a “pulse flow”, the short-term infusion supplements a less intense and longer-term base flow.

The deliveries are part of a five-year pilot program negotiated by the U.S. and Mexican federal governments, one of a series of measures reached under a November 2012 accord known as Minute 319. The aim is to revive key areas of the delta and closely study the effects of the water delivery on the environment. The pulse flow is expected to peak this week, then gradually taper off until is it shut off on May 18.