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848 NATURALRESOURCES/OURNAL [Vol. 40 Fall 2000] MANAGING ECOSYSTEM CONSERVATION 849 Yuma clapper rail.1I9 In 1971, nations of the world protected designated wetlands, including the Colorado River delta, in an agreement commonly known as the Ramsar Convention.I2O In 1986, both Mexico and the United States established a mandate and process for the protection of wetlands in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan,121 and listed the Delta as a continentally important habitat. And as recently as 1994, the United States, Mexico, and Canada together formed the Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation and Management. In 1983, the United States and Mexico negotiated the U.s.-Mexico Border Environmental Cooperation Agreement,l22 commonly known as the La Paz Agreement, creating workgroups that bring together environmental authorities from both countries to address environmental issues in the border region. 123 These workgroups were reinvented as Border XXI124 under the Integrated Border Environmental Plan (IBEP),I2S created in 1992 and revised in 1996.126 In 1997, Secretary Babbitt of the U.s. Department of Interior and Secretary Carabias of Mexico's Department of Environment, Natural Resources, and Fisheries signed a joint Letter of Intent announcing the following plans: to expand cooperation in the protection of contiguous, natural protected areas,.. .to harmonize activities directed at the con- servation of biological diversity,.. .beginningwith.. .pilotpro- jects.. .in Mexico, the Biosphere Reserves of the Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Rfo Colorado.. . [including] harmonization and coordination of policies leading to the conservation of natural and cultural resources. IV Pursuant to this letter, the agencies have collaborated on several projects in C;~ the Delta.l28 These activities are also reported under the Natural Resources 0 Workgroup of Border XXI.129 Most recently, in the spring of 2000, the W Secretaries of each country's natural resource agency. (001 and ~ SEMARNAP) signed a Joint Declaration to enhance cooperation in the r-' Colorado River delta,l30 committing to coordinate research on transboundary species, establish compatible infonriation systems, and develop strategies for environmentalsustainability. While promising, the good intentions expressed in the Letter and the Declaration are not sufficient to protect the Delta until formalized in a treaty that, at a minimum, dedicates water to the Delta ecosystem. One possibility for creating an effective binational agreement to dedicate Colorado River water to the Delta is to construct an environm.ental minute to the Treatyl31 that allocates Colorado River water between Mexico and the United States. This treaty has already been amended to address Mexico's water quality concems.132 B. United States Federal Law and Legal Remedies Independent of any binational effort to restore and protect the Colorado River delta, U.S.1aw could be used to require U.s. river managers to define and provide minimum instream flows for the purpose of preventing further harm to the endangered species that live in the Delta's habitats. The Endangered Species Act (ESA)l33 prevents federal agencies 119. See Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, Oct. 12, 1940-Dec. 16, 1965, 56 Stat. 1354, 161 U.N.T.S. 193. 120. Convention on Wet1andsofIntemationalImportance Especiallyas Waterfowl Habitat, Feb. 2. 1971, T.I.A.S. No. 11,084, 996 U.N.T.S. 245 [hereinafter RaDlSar Convention]. 121. U.S. FISH AND WlLDUFESERV., U.S. DEP'ToFnmlNmuoR&:CANADIANWlLDUFE SERV., ENv'TCAN., NORni AMERiCANW ATERFOWL MANAGEMENTPt.AN (1986). 122. Agreement on Cooperation for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area, Aug. 14, 1983, U.S.-Mex., T.I.A.S. No. 10,827, 123. The La Paz Agreement aeated six binational workgroups to deal with border environmental issues of air, hazardous waste, water, pollution prevention. contingency planning, and emergency response. See MUMME, supra note 73, at IV.S. 124. The Border XXI Program builds on the efforts of the Integrated Border Environmental Plan and inaeases its scope to include environmental health and natural resource issues. See U.S.-Mexico Border Program. Border XXI Program Framework Document Executive Sumtnllry, (visited AUS' 9, 2000) <http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborcler/ef.htm>. 125. U.S. ENvn. PROTECTION AGENCY, EPA NO. 160-R-96-003, U.S.-MExIco BoRDER XXI PROGRAM: FRAMEWORK DocUMENT (1996). 126. Released in 1992, the IBEP identifies priority environmentallssues in the border area and projects aimed at addressing those issues. 127. Bruce Babbitt &: Julia Carabias, Letter of Intent between the Departmentof the Interior of the United States and the Seaetariat of Environment, Natural Resources, and Fisheries of the United Mexican States for Joint Work in Natural Protected Areas on the U.S.-Mexico Border 1-3 (May 5, 1997) (unpublished document, on file with author). 128. For further information contact agency representatives in the United States or Mexico (Javier De La Masa, Coordinador de Areas Naturales Protegidas, INE-SEMAmAP, Ave. Revolud6n 1425, Nivel25, Colonia TIacopac, San Angel Delegad6n Alvaro Obregon. Mexico Of, 01040 MEXICO; or Susan Ueberman Goodwin,. U.S.-Mexico Coordinator, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 CSt. N.W. (ms4426), Washington D.C. 20240). 129. See Report from the Workgroup on Natural Resources to the U.S,-Me:cico Border XXI Nation/ll Coordin/ltors EnseruulR, Baja CIIlifornu" (last modified Aug. 22, 2000) <http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/ef..nr.htm>. 130. Babbitt ok Carabias, supra note 98. 131. Treaty with Mexico Respecting Utilization of the Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, supra note 62. 132. See Minute 242, supra note 63, at 1105. 133. 16 U.S.C. SS 1531-1544 (1994).