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<br />, (~ 1 002740 <br /> <br />Opportunities for Ecological Improvement Along the Lower Colorado River <br />Mark Briggs and Steve Cornelius <br />· 7/24/97 <br /> <br />Some of these strategies may require years of negotiations and planning, however, <br />before they can be implemented. This underscores the need to look for creative <br />solutions that can be carried out more rapidly. Strategies such as using wastewaters for <br />environmental purposes; developing plans to protect critical refugees of native species <br />(e.g., cottonwoodjwillow forest at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers); <br />improving the effectiveness of wetland revegetation techniques, increasing areas <br />protected by state andj or federal agreements; and using community-based <br />conservation approaches would have dramatic, albeit local, effects on enhancing or <br />maintaining the ecological condition of the lower Colorado River. <br /> <br />Of these approaches, immediate attention should be given to using agricultural runoff <br />and municipal effluent for environmental purposes. Currently, some of these so-called <br />wastewaters drain north and are squandered in the dosed Salton Sea basin. Working <br />with the communities that line the Colorado River should be another top priority. Such <br />community-based conservation approaches could have the dual benefit of bringing <br />ecological relief to the river and economic andj or health benefits to riverside residents . <br />As they directly involve riverside peoples, community-based approaches also have <br />long-term staying power - a critical element in the success of any <br />conservationj restoration effort <br /> <br />Acknowledgments <br />This study was supported by grants from the Defenders of Wildlife and <br />Mexico Affairs Office of the National Park Service. We want to express our sincere <br />appreciation to Anita Williams, Gina Walther, Oaudia Schroeder (EI Museo de Baja <br />California); Oscar Ramirez and Alberto Tapia (La Universidad de Baja California); and <br />John Swett (Bureau of Reclamation) for providing background information and giving <br />us a river and delta tour that we will not soon forget We also wish to thank Maria <br />Elena Barajas and Enrique Flores (Departamento de Ecologia, Estado de Sonora); Mitch <br />Ellis and Carmen Kennedy (Imperial National Wildlife Refuge); John Fritschie and <br />Craig Miller (Defenders of Wildlife); Edward Glenn and Rene Tanner (Environmental <br />Research Laboratory, University of Arizona); Howard O. Ness (USjMexico Affairs <br />Office, National Park Service); Robert D. Ohmart and Duncan Patten (Arizona State <br />University); David Reyna Ortiz (Instituto Nacional de Ecologia); Fred Phillips and <br />Terry Shaffer (Colorado River Indian Tribes); and Carlos Valdes Casillas (Instituto <br />Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey) for reviewing, editing, and <br />supporting this effort <br /> <br />Page 28 <br />