Channel responses to declining flow on the Rio Grande between Ft. Quitman and Presidio, Texas

Everitt, Benjamin L.

doi:10.1016/0169-555x(93)90048-7

Cited by 144 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Some workers suggest that narrowing is initiated by establishment of vegetation (Schumm andLichty 1963, Burkham 1972), while some studies show that tot some rivers, the deposition that initiated narrowing preceded vegetation establishment (Allred and Schmidt 1997). On the Rio Grande, it is clear that channel narrowing was driven primarily by the deposition of sediment that the depleted flow could no longer carry overbank (Everitt 1993).…”

Section: Channel Shrinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chronology of the spread of tamarisk in the central Rio Grande

Everitt

1998

Wetlands

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Like many dryland rivers of the southwestern United States, the central Rio Grande suffered a collapse of its native cottonwood forests and an expan.~ion of tamarisk (Tamarix spp.) in the early 20th century. A paramount example of an opportunistic colonizer, tamarisk occupied land made available by the plow, the bulldozer, and the shrinking of a channel depleted of flow by upstream water development. Changes in both the physical environment and the native vegetation were well underway by the time tamarisk became widespread. There is no evidence that it actively displaced native species nor that it played an active role in changing the hydraulic or morphologic properties of the river. Its present donfinance in the Presidio Valley is due to the chance conjunction in 1942 of a large summer flood, a seed source, and declining cotton prices that fostered abandonment of farm fields. The history of tamarisk on the central Rio Grande demonstrates the complex nature of vegetation change. The passive role of tamarisk in landscape change holds the hope that its response to geomorphie and hydrographic variables can be understood and predicted.

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Section: Channel Shrinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The channel shrank in both width and depth in response to the depletion of llow, decreasing its capacity (Everitt 1993). In response tit declining capacity.…”

Section: Channel Shrinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronology of the spread of tamarisk in the central Rio Grande

Everitt

1998

Wetlands

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“…For example, Populus-Salix woodlands occurred on the banks and islands of the Platte River prior to water development but expanded in the middle of this century so that they now occupy approximately half of the formerly active channel of the river (Johnson 1994), Few investigators have observed the third phase of adjustment to flow regulation--attainment of a new vegetation equilibrium (data type 3)~because too little time has passed for complete adjustment. For example, the major period of large dam and diversion construction on large rivers of the Great Plains began only 40 to 60 years ago (Stanford and Ward 1979), although irrigation development on many western rivers such as the South Platte, Colorado, and Rio Grande began much earlier (Eschner et al 1983, Ohmart et al 1988, Everitt 1993). Yet, new equilibria of at least some important variables may have gone undetected for lack of study at the appropriate time and spatial scales (Petts 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Adjustment of riparian vegetation to river regulation in the Great Plains, USA

Johnson

1998

Wetlands

129

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Abstract:The Missouri River and the Platte River provide opposite examples of the way riparian vegetation responds and adjusts to regulation by dams and diversions. Populus-Safix woodland has expanded rapidly into Platte River channels, while it has failed to regenerate in gaps between reservoirs along the upper Missouri River. This divergent response is the result of different geomorphologics and wate~use patterns. The Platte River is a braided-type stream with a significant portion of its flow diverted for cropland irrigation. The Missouri is a meandering-type stream with low irrigation usage. I developed a graphical model that characterizes the different ways that riparian vegetation has adjusted to regulation. The model identifies two time periods: prc regulation and post-regulation adjustment, with the latter divided into phase 1 and phase 2 subperiods. In the pre-regulation period, woodland composition shifts according to weather extremes and climate change. During phase 1, braided rivers adjust by channel-narrowing and expansion of pioneer woodland (Poputus-SaIix)~ while meandering rivers cease meandering. During phase 2, after major gcomorphic adjustments are complete, both types of rivers show sharp declines in pioneer woodland. Replacement communities in the new equilibrium (post-adjustment period) will be dominated by later successional woodland or grassland species. Gcomorphic factors of importance to vegetation establishment adjust relatively quickly (decades), but the subsequent adjustment of vegetation through succession is relatively slow (century or more).

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“…Flows become very limited downstream from the border at El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. From here, the Rio Grande flow consists mostly of wastewater and irrigation return flows until its confluence with the Rio Conchos (Everitt 1993, Miyamoto et al 1995, Schmandt et al 2000. After this point, the main contribution to the Rio Grande comes from the Rio Conchos, which has its headwaters in the Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rio Grande and Rio Conchos water supply variability over the past 500 years

Woodhouse¹,

Stahle²,

Díaz³

2012

Clim. Res.

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The Rio Grande is a major source of water for parts of Mexico and the USA. The 2 main source regions for the Rio Grande system are the San Juan Mountains of the southern Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, which is the headwaters for the Rio Conchos, the largest tributary of the Rio Grande. Precipitation and streamflow from these 2 source regions are largely independent of each other; winter snowpack is the dominant contributor to the annual streamflow north of the USA−Mexico border, and the North American monsoon is a key factor in the Rio Conchos basin. Reconstructions of water year (October−September) streamflow for a gauge in the upper Rio Grande, 1508−2002, and of October−July precipitation in the Rio Conchos watershed region, 1649−1993, also indicate a lack of correlation between the 2 basins over century time scales. Despite this lack of correlation, periods of concurrent multiyear drought have occurred over the past 4 centuries, most notably in the 1770s, 1890s and 1950s. These rare concurrent droughts in the upper Rio Grande and Rio Conchos source regions may arise from large-scale forcing out of the Pacific Ocean and will be relevant to the binational planning of these water resources, which serve a large and growing population of users.

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Channel responses to declining flow on the Rio Grande between Ft. Quitman and Presidio, Texas

Cited by 144 publications

References 6 publications

Chronology of the spread of tamarisk in the central Rio Grande

Chronology of the spread of tamarisk in the central Rio Grande

Adjustment of riparian vegetation to river regulation in the Great Plains, USA

Rio Grande and Rio Conchos water supply variability over the past 500 years

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