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  5. Mapping Conservation Management Efforts to Increase Coordination in the Rio Grande Basin

Mapping Conservation Management Efforts to Increase Coordination in the Rio Grande Basin

Mapping Management Activities for Drought and Restoration in the Rio Grande Basin
Principal Investigator
Victoria G Stengel

Dates

Start Date
2018-07-02
End Date
2020-03-31
Release Date
2018

Summary

The Rio Grande provides drinking water for more than six million people, irrigation water for two million acres of land in the United States and Mexico, and supports riparian ecosystems that are home to endangered species like the ocelot and Rio Grande silvery minnow. Climate variability and anthropogenic activities continue to stress this already limited water resource. This project was developed in response to a request from a group of stakeholders who work in the Basin and represent federal, state and local agencies, private industry, farmers, ranchers, and NGOs. These stakeholders identified the need for a comprehensive data resource that spatially depicts where conservation activities are occurring on the ground. By developing [...]

Child Items (3)

Contacts

Funding Agency :
South Central CASC
Cooperator/Partner :
Johnson, Genevieve R, Jeffery Bennett, Mark Briggs, Matthew Grabau, Aimee Roberson, Delbert Humberson
Principal Investigator :
Victoria G Stengel
CMS Group :
Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASC) Program

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RioGrandeRiver_BigBendNatlPark_PublicDomain.jpg
“Big Bend National Park (public domain)” 		thumbnail 95.35 KB image/jpeg

Purpose

The Rio Grande provides drinking water for more than six million people, irrigation water for two million acres of land in the United States and Mexico, and supports riparian ecosystems that are home to endangered species like the ocelot and Rio Grande silvery minnow. Climate change and human activities, such as population growth, agricultural production, and industrial development continue to stress this limited resource while potentially introducing environmental contaminants. Managing the Rio Grande in a manner that meets municipal, agricultural, and environmental needs is complicated by the fact that it resides under multiple jurisdictions at the international, state, and local levels. The Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative (DLCC) consists of a binational partnership of governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses, citizens, farmers, and ranchers across 15 states in major desert regions - including the Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Sonoran - of the United States and Mexico. This partnership identified the need for a comprehensive data resource that spatially depicts where conservation actions are occurring on the ground. This resource will improve communication between managers, increase efficiency for managers seeking to understand where future restoration activities should be implemented for the most effective outcome, and help managers understand which restoration techniques have proved most useful in responding to drought conditions throughout the basin. By coordinating closely with project partners, information will be sought from over 500 organizations that have already been identified as potential contributors by DLCC. This information will be incorporated into a comprehensive data resource that will be used in web mapping applications on DataBasin.org and shared with the general public through USGS ScienceBase. This data resource will improve how resource managers in the Rio Grande Basin coordinate their conservation efforts to ensure that the river meets municipal, industrial, and environmental needs in the future.

Project Extension

parts
typeTechnical Summary
valueThe Rio Grande basin is a complex coupled human-environment system that must be managed wisely to ensure that adequate water supply and basin ecosystems persist in the face of climate change, growing populations, and agricultural demand. The basin spans multiple ecological regions, ranging from arid desert landscapes to coastal plains, that are home to endangered species such as the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and Rio Grande Silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus). The Rio Grande is also of cultural and economic significance. Named as an American Heritage River by President Clinton in 1998, portions of the Rio Grande delineate the international boundary between the United States and Mexico, and borderland communities rely on its waters for agricultural and municipal uses. Climate change studies predict decreased rainfall for the basin, and anthropogenic activities continue to stress its limited water supply while potentially introducing environmental contaminants. The basin resides under multiple jurisdictions at the international, state, and local levels, which complicates efforts to manage water supply and protect basin ecology. To assist with these efforts, the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative (DLCC) assembled a binational partnership of governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses, citizens, farmers, and ranchers across 15 states in major desert regions - including the Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Sonoran - of the United States and Mexico. The partnership identified the need for a comprehensive geodatabase containing spatial and tabular data pertaining to conservation activities, which would enable partnership stakeholders to quickly visualize locations of conservation actions in the basin, identify potential collaborating agencies, research lessons learned from previous efforts, and target additional areas for conservation that will have maximum impact. The project proposed here will work closely with project partners to design the geodatabase schema, solicit appropriate data from over 500 organizations that have already been identified by DLCC, and populate the geodatabase for use in web mapping applications hosted by DataBasin.org. The methodology used, geodatabase schema, and a user manual will be documented in a single comprehensive U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report. The final products will be made available on USGS ScienceBase.
projectStatusCompleted

Budget Extension

annualBudgets
year2018
totalFunds186271.0
parts
typeAward Type
valueCOA
totalFunds186271.0

Big Bend National Park (public domain)
Big Bend National Park (public domain)

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  • National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers
  • South Central CASC

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Type Scheme Key
RegistrationUUID NCCWSC 8640d29e-cdeb-4e57-8cc0-dd267889fafe
StampID NCCWSC SC18-HD1306

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