Webinar: Modeling Groundwater Support for Riparian Habitat in the Colorado River Delta
Channel: Conservation and Adaptation Resources Toolbox
Date: 2017-06-22

Presenter:
Karen Schlatter, The Sonoran Institute

Restored and remnant riparian habitat in arid western North America can be highly vulnerable to drought and changes in agricultural water management practices; yet, environmental flow deliveries have the potential to mitigate groundwater declines and sustain habitat. We used an existing groundwater model to project how such factors might collectively increase or decrease the extent of riparian habitat in the central Colorado River Delta region in Mexico. Results of this study will allow water and restoration site managers to evaluate the potential to offset groundwater declines and optimize environmental flow volumes and delivery locations. We will present background conditions in the Delta, model inputs, scenarios, and results, and management implications of the project.

About the presenter:
Karen is the Adaptive Management Specialist for the Colorado River Delta Program at Sonoran Institute and has been working in the Delta since 2010. Karen manages the Delta restoration and ecological monitoring programs and guides adaptive management of restoration sites in the Delta. She is a co-manager of the Minute 319 binational monitoring team and specializes in vegetation monitoring and riparian restoration ecology.