Developing a Database to Examine Environmental Flows in Desert Rivers of the United States and Mexico

In many cases data are lacking on the environmental flows needed to support riparian and aquatic ecosystems despite how critical they are to desert life. With funding from the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative (DLCC), the Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) at the University of Arizona and the Watershed Ecohydrology Program at Northern Arizona University created the Desert Flows Database. Using the Database, the research team conducted a study to analyze the extent and distribution of environmental flow data, including the most frequently studied species and common stressors, throughout the desert river basins of the U.S. and Mexico.