"The once-mighty river is barely a trickle through much of West Texas. Scientists and advocates say local initiatives could be scaled up to restore flows to the river."
"FAR WEST TEXAS — The year was 1897. Flood waters from the Rio Grande submerged entire blocks of downtown El Paso.
The New York Times described the crash of crumbling houses and the “cries of frightened women and children” on its May 26 front page. The raging river displaced hundreds of people and destroyed scores of adobe homes.
In Mexico, the Rio Grande is known as the Rio Bravo—the rough, or wild, river—signifying the force that caused several devastating floods in El Paso and neighboring Ciudad Juárez.
Today these historic floods are hard to imagine. The river channel in El Paso-Juárez now only fills during the irrigation season. Further downstream, the river is frequently dry in a 200-mile section known as the Forgotten Reach."
Martha Pskowski reports for Inside Climate News October 23, 2024. Reporting supported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder. Aerial photography support provided by LightHawk.
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