El Chausse Backwater Restoration

Colorado River Delta
Baja, Mexico

Services Provided

Master Planning, Ecological Analysis, Landscape Architecture, Green Infrastructure, Project Management

Collaborators

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (YCNHA), Michael Meihaus, Lionheart (formerly Studio Balcones), local conservation and community partners, Fred Phillips Consulting.

A Restoration of degraded and threatened Lower Colorado River Delta habitat with design, phasing, and funding initiatives.

The Lower Colorado River Delta contains some of the most threatened and degraded critical habitat in North America. Riddled with invasive species, high salt content, and trash, El Chausse was the perfect candidate for largescale restoration efforts in the Delta and became the largest restoration project attempted to date in northern Mexico. Michael Meihaus, Principal at Lionheart (Previously Studio Balcones), was El Chausse’s Project Manager with Fred Phillips Consulting (FPC). Leading the project from 2014 - 2017, Michael finalized a conceptual design for the backwater, helped fund-raising and coordination efforts, and finalized the construction documentation. The site was analyzed for existing vegetative cover, presence of invasive species populations, surface topography, surface water, and groundwater. The concept was to maximize creation of new critical habitat for target species (mainly deep marsh, wetlands, and riparian forest) while minimizing the amount of grading and infrastructure for a site with high salt content and an unpredictable water table. After years of planning, design, fund-raising, and capacity building, El Chausse broke ground in early 2016. Planting was largely complete by mid 2017. With their newfound capacity and expertise, the site is now operated by a young local NGO that is also pursuing similar projects of their own in the region.