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Restoring the Río Grande Ecosystem Restoration project By XAVIER ROTNOFSKY LareDOS Staff
L
aredo’s Río Grande riverbend is a geographic landmark. The ecosystem at the river’s 90-degree turn below Laredo Community College is famous for its “lost lakes” and wetlands that are habitat to unique riparian flora and fauna. There is no shortage of adjectives associated with the wonder the setting inspires. Venturing through the area allows the sense of being far removed from human and urban distractions. Locals and outsiders call the area a treasure; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers calls it the Río Grande Ecosystem Restoration project. The riverbend was once home to a gravel mining operation owned by Thomas M. Dye who deeded it to the City in 1986. The lost lakes themselves are a result of the gravel excavations, which now make up a collection of shallow ponds. Traces of the operation can still be seen in the area. Concrete blankets some trails, and gravel lays about the shores of the lakes. The City of Laredo had officially authorized the restoration of the 78-acre site on July 3, 2000. However, after 9/11, federal money was redistributed for national security, and the Army Corps of Engineers lost funding for projects such as the Río Grande Ecosystem Restoration. Every year since then, director of the City Environmental Services Department (ESD), Riazul Mia, has visited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters in Washington D.C. to petition for the project. Mia’s persistence kept the project fresh within the Corps of Engineers, and now that the Corps has received funding, the project will finally begin. Mia commented, “The Lost Lakes are the environmental crown jewel of the
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river ecosystem. It will never be a park. It is an ecosystem restoration that will be a valuable bird watching and eco-tourism resource. It will be open to biologists and environmentalists who are conducting research. This is such a unique part of the city.” The Army Corps of Engineers will take the bulk of the $2,877,059 cost, and its Joint Task Force-6 will be here for the three years of construction and transition. Construction is set to begin in 2014, perhaps as early as the fall. Within the three-year construction time there will be a transitional phase of adaptive management between the Corps and the City, and eventually it will fully be the City’s responsibility for the area’s maintenance and monitoring, which will include the protection of native plants and removal of non-natives. Concerns have been expressed about local maintenance of the area once the Corps is gone. During the big 2010 flood, the entire riverbend was inundated and the native species planted earlier by the Corps of Engineers were washed away along with the drip irrigation system they had installed. Attempts to revegetate what was lost were futile because of the lack of monitoring. The new seed-
lings could not survive and were once again crowded out by the invasives. The current project seeks to implement strong natives that are self-sufficient and resistant to invasive encroachment. Invasive species are so aggressive because of the lack of predation. If there is nothing stopping them from spreading, the field is wide open for the taking, even though the metaphorical field was in a fragile balance before the invasives arrived. That’s why tamarisk, Carrizo cane, buffelgrass, and salt cedar have established themselves so well on the Río Grande riverbend. Part of the project will deal with eradicating these plants and replacing them with the native plants present long ago. Complete removal of invasive plant species will be difficult and can be detrimental. Used to line highways, buffelgrass has firmly established itself in Laredo and will be nearly impossible to fully eradicate. The grass is resistant to herbicide, so it has to be pulled by hand with the root intact or else it will re-sprout. Because its seeds are easily carried by the wind, it has proliferated throughout the riverbend ecosystem. Salt cedar and Carrizo cane are also problems because they use vast amounts of water. While
there is a good chance of completely fixing the Carrizo cane problem, the salt cedar issue is a different matter. Salt cedar has been in the riverbend area for so long that there are some tall, thick-trunked cedars that tower over the terrain and have become habitat for wildlife. The area is important to a number of federally listed endangered animals. Gulf Coast jaguarundis and ocelots, which number less than a thousand in Texas, hunt on the land, and interior least terns nest on the shores of the lost lakes. The interior least tern represents the riverbend’s flagship species for which the restoration is dedicated. The Corps plans to deepen the shallow ponds to a depth of four to five feet and use the dredged sediment to create shores around the ponds. They will also place a collection of metal barges on the lakes. These measures will significantly improve ternnesting habitat, which has been severely disturbed many times in the past. The restored riverbend area will have limited recreational access. There will be a couple of trails for hiking and some bird-watching stations, but no more amenities than that. The area is intended for environmental rejuvenation and the process will be swifter with limited human presence. Border Patrol will also be limited to their methods of patrolling the area. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the trails. The use of horses as an alternative to ATVs and trucks has been suggested. The Río Grande riverbend is a huge environmental asset. Polishing this gem is a worthy cultural and environmental investment. Thirteen years since its inception, the Rio Grande Ecosystem Restoration project has become a high profile project within the Army Corps of Engineers, meaning the project has value and is looked forward to with enthusiasm.
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