Laserfiche WebLink
<br />00273D <br /> <br />Opportunities for Ecological Improvement Along the Lower Colorado River <br />Mark Briggs and Steve Cornelius <br />7/24/97 <br /> <br />watershed, and addressing water allocation issues are just some of the regional <br />challenges that will need to be addressed before significant headway can be made in <br />improving the river's overall ecological condition. <br /> <br />Since the lower Colorado River is rapidly approaching the point where every drop of <br />river water is spoken for, it will be necessary to "find" the water to meet the <br />environmental needs of the basin. Given, given the current socio-politicallandscape of <br />the Colorado River, however, it is likely that years of negotiation may be required <br />before some of these long-term strategies can be implemented. In the meantime, it is <br />reasonable to look for less politically charged strategies that can bring immediate, <br />though more local, benefits to the river's ecological condition. Such strategies include <br />improving the effectiveness of recovery efforts, maintaining existing critical natural <br />areas, and purchasing marginal agricultural land to re-establish native wetland <br />ecosystems. <br /> <br />The recommendations or strategies that are presented below run the gamut between <br />policy recommendations (strategies that would require some kind of policy change <br />before they could be implemented) and restoration/protection recommendations <br />(strategies that focus on improving the effectiveness of wetland restoration and <br />protection efforts). As some of restoration and protection recommendations (e.g., <br />improving the effectiveness of riparian revegetation efforts) do not require major <br />changes in the socio-political landscape, they could potentially be implemented on a <br />much tighter time frame than the policy recommendations. However, other restoration <br />and protection recommendations (e.g., augmenting agricultural return flows to the Rio <br />Hardy wetlands) would require a change in policy before they could be carried out <br /> <br />1. Improve the Effectiveness of Colorado River Recovery Efforts <br />Evaluating the results of past recovery efforts along the Colorado River provides a <br />wealth of information regarding how to improve the effectiveness of similar efforts. <br />Some of the principal lessons drawn from these past recovery experiences are described <br />below. They are general in nature and focus more on planting strategies that can be <br />applied on a regional basis than site specific planting techniques or issues. <br /> <br />Develop project objectives that are clear and specific. <br />One of the threads that often runs through restoration efforts of all sizes and shapes is <br />the lack of attention paid to developing clear and concise project objectives. HI-defined <br />project objectives can create cracks in the very foundation of the project, often reducing <br />its overall effectiveness. The personnel that become involved in the restoration effort, <br />the strategies that are ultimately employed, the time frame for project completion, the <br />project budget, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the effort all hinge on the <br />objective of the pr()ject (Briggs 1996). <br /> <br />The objectives of the recovery efforts evaluated in this investigation varied <br />considerably. Some projects, like the No Name Lake revegetation effort, were done to <br /> <br />Page 18 <br />