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\V ~ COLORADO RIVER DELTA BI-NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS ENGLISH 12 Beltran Corona, CPA, since without his support this event would not have been possible. The Colorado River in the Mexican territory has a Delta that is unique in today's world, as the waters that gave it its original form have been used by both Mexico and by the United States primarily for urban and agricultural purposes, which has allowed the development of the states of Baja California, the northwest of Sonora, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The cost of this development, whose benefits are enjoyed by tens of millions of people, is that the Delta of this river tends to be dry. In this context, any changes made to the way the basin north of the Morelos Dam is managed, which would result in this body receiving even less water, are cause for permanent concern in Mexico As a matter of fact, Mexico has already expressed through diplomatic channels its disagreement with any modifications in the operation or infrastructure of existing and future projects that affect the quality and availability of the water in Mexico, including the Colorado River Delta. Therefore, it is of prime importance to quickly identify the means and actions that are needed for recovering this body of water, which reflects the relevance of this symposium. During the following two days we will have the opportunity to take a detailed look at the legal aspects that have a bearing on the manage- ment of the flow, the operating conditions of the hydraulic infrastructure and the level of under- standing with regard to the ecological needs of the Delta. Consequently, this symposium will become one of the ways I have pointed out for identify- ing in the short term the actions necessary for protecting the ecological environment of this body of water. Gentlemen, you have the floor and I wish you the greatest success in your presentations. CARLOS RAMIREZ UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER, INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND W A- TER COMMISSION (VERBATIM): Good Morning. The International Boundary and Water Commission has the pleasure of joining with officials of the United States and Mexico in welcoming you to participate in the United States-Mexico Colorado River Delta Symposium. We are especially pleased and honored to express our appreciation to the Autonomous University of Baja, California and the City of Mexicali for providing these facilities. This Commission in partnership with the United States Department of the Interior and Mexico's Secretariat of Environment and Na- tional Resources entrusted the preparations for this symposium six months ago to our bi- national planning group. We appreciate the hard work and dedication to the task of conven- ing this forum as a means of providing a techni- cal information base to stakeholders in the two countries concerning this part of the Colorado River system. This planning group, made up of govern- ment, academic and non-government organiza- tions, did a remarkable job of establishing mutually acceptable terms of reference for this symposium. But most importantly, for the politically sensitive subject that is the Colorado River system, we take great pleasure in stating those terms in the form of the following sympo- sium objectives. .- In recognition of the respective governments interest in the preservation of the riparian and estuarine ecology of the Colorado River in the limitrophe section and its associated delta, the main objectives of the symposium are to im- prove the knowledge base of expert stakeholders and decision makers on~stitutional and le~.l ~ter~~r conveyance and distribution matter~~logical scientific studies, and to identify Colorado River delta -;y;tem needs and obstacles to meeting those needs.