Watershed/river channel linkages: The Upper Rio Grande Basin and the Middle Rio Grande Bosque

Abstract

There continues to be a great deal of interest and discussion surrounding the demands of water management and allocation and the relationship to ecological integrity of the Rio Grande riparian ecosystem. Current river management too often fails to consider the importance of natural variability of flows. What is consistently overlooked is the relationship of a stream course to its forming watershed. The standard practice of managing for one or more of a few important or imperiled species by defining how little water can be left in the river is not adequate based upon new scientific understanding. Adaptive management approaches can be used to mange for whole river ecosystems concurrent with providing societal and cultural demands on these natural systems.

Parent Publication

• Rio Grande ecosystems: linking land, water, and people: Toward a sustainable future for the Middle Rio Grande Basin

Citation

Whitney, Jeffrey C. 1999. Watershed/river channel linkages: The Upper Rio Grande Basin and the Middle Rio Grande Bosque. In: Finch, Deborah M.; Whitney, Jeffrey C.; Kelly, Jeffrey, F.; Loftin, Samuel R. Rio Grande ecosystems: linking land, water, and people: Toward a sustainable future for the Middle Rio Grande Basin. 1998 June 2-5; Albuquerque, NM. Proc. RMRS-P-7. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 45-51.