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28-425: San Luis Río Colorado is a city and also the name of its surrounding municipality in the state of Sonora , Mexico . In the 2020 census, the city had a population of 176,685. The city is the fourth-largest community in the state, and the municipality is also the fourth-largest in terms of population. Lying in the northwestern corner of Sonora, the city marks the state border with Baja California . It also stands on

56-571: A Biosphere Nature reserve in June 1993. Within this 12,000 km (3,000,000 acres), over 4,000 km (990,000 acres) nearest the Colorado River Delta are designated as the Reserve "core area", with the remaining 8,000 km (2,000,000 acres) of open water and shoreline designated as a "buffer area". UNESCO considers areas for designation as Biosphere Reserves only after the nation in which

84-404: A Biosphere Reserve, 2,500 km (620,000 acres) within Colorado River Delta (Humedales del Delta del Río Colorado) are designated as a Ramsar Wetland under the U.N. Convention on Wetlands . Ramsar Wetlands are wetlands of international importance in terms of their ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. The U.N. designation is considered following a nomination by the nation in which

112-451: A Mexican Latin beat singer recorded a song called "San Luis Río Colorado" as a tribute to the river. San Luis Río Colorado has a desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ), with extremely hot summers and mild winters; it is one of the hottest and driest cities in Mexico. The record high temperature is 52.0 °C (125.6 °F), recorded on 25 June 1951. The record low temperature

140-482: A large population of plant, bird, aquatic, and terrestrial life. Because most of the river's flow reached the delta at that time, its freshwater, silt, and nutrients helped create and sustain a complex system of estuarial wetlands that provided feeding and nesting grounds for birds, and spawning habitat for fish and marine mammals. In contrast to the surrounding Sonoran Desert , the Colorado River delta's abundance

168-596: A location in the Mexican state of Sonora is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Colorado River Delta The Colorado River Delta is the region where the Colorado River once flowed into the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) in eastern Mexicali Municipality in the north of the state of Baja California , in northwestern Mexico . The delta

196-399: A series of flood events throughout the 1980s and early 1990s resulted in flood releases that reached the delta. These flows reestablished an active floodplain and revegetated many areas of the floodplain within irrigation and flood control levels, and helped to reestablish riparian forests. A scheme is currently in place which aims to rejuvenate the wetlands by releasing a pulse of water down

224-486: Is General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada International Airport near Mexicali . San Luis Río Colorado has highway connections to other parts of Mexico (State highway 40 and Mexican Federal Highway 2 ). There is a border crossing with San Luis, Arizona. Several intercity bus companies (including TUFESA ) stop at the San Luis Río Colorado bus station. San Luis R%C3%ADo Colorado (municipality) The municipality

252-507: Is part of a larger geologic region called the Salton Trough . Historically, the interaction of the river's flow and the ocean's tide created a dynamic environment, supporting freshwater, brackish , and saltwater species. Within the delta region, the river split into multiple braided channels and formed a complex estuary and terrestrial ecosystems . The use of water upstream and the accompanying reduction of freshwater flow has resulted in

280-633: Is the location of the city of San Luis Rio Colorado , the community of El Golfo de Santa Clara , and the Bahia Adair biosphere preserve. The municipality is in the Lower Colorado River Valley , with the Colorado River along its west, the U.S.-Mexico border along the north, and to the Colorado River Delta on the southwest, and the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) along the south. The largest cities, towns, and villages within

308-405: Is the principal freshwater marsh in the region. A total of 358 bird species have been documented in the Colorado River Delta and the upper Gulf of California region. From these, two are listed as endangered, six as threatened, and sixteen are under special protection in Mexico. Two wintering species and five breeding species have been locally extirpated, including the southwestern willow flycatcher ,

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336-444: Is −6.5 °C (20.3 °F), recorded on 2 January 1950. Maquila factories in San Luis Río Colorado include TSE Brakes , Daewoo Electronics , Bose , Flextronics , Yazaki , SANA International, and Gaming Partners International. San Luis Río Colorado Airport used to be the general aviation airport serving this city until it was demolished in the early 2020s. However, the nearest International airport to San Luis Río Colorado

364-556: The fulvous whistling duck , and the sandhill crane . The Gulf of California lies within the jurisdictional boundaries of Mexico and its states of Baja California and Sonora . In 1974, the Mexican government designated portions of the upper Gulf and lower Colorado River Delta as a reserve zone. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated over 12,000 km (3,000,000 acres) of Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve as

392-520: The international border with the United States, adjacent to San Luis, Arizona . It is located about 75 km from Mexicali . The municipality covers an area of 8,412.75 km² (3,248.2 sq mi) in the Sonoran Desert . Before Spanish colonization, the area now known as San Luis Río Colorado was inhabited by the indigenous people of Halyikwamai who lived in the San Luis Río Colorado region until

420-515: The Americas and have inhabited the delta for nearly a thousand years. Spanish explorer Hernando de Alarcón made the first recorded contact with the Cucapá in 1540 and reported seeing many thousands. The Cucapá used the delta floodplain extensively for harvesting Palmer's saltgrass ( Distichlis palmeri ), a wild grain that grows in salty soil, and for cultivating maize (corn), beans , and squash . On

448-418: The United States and Mexico have reduced the delta to a remnant system of small wetlands and brackish mudflats. As reservoirs filled behind dams and captured floodwaters, freshwater could no longer reach the delta. The construction of Hoover Dam in the 1930s marked the beginning of the modern era for the Colorado River Delta. For six years, as Lake Mead filled behind the dam, virtually no freshwater reached

476-575: The administrative center for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city is located on a mesa, characterized by a flat and sandy terrain. On Easter Sunday 2010, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the region. The Sears department store (formerly Dorian's ) and 5 schools were destroyed, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the region. San Luis Río Colorado is home to four regional medium-wave radio broadcast stations, among them 1350 XELBL-AM, all of which are popular long-distance reception targets for medium-wave DX radio enthusiasts. Josse,

504-529: The delta. Even spring flooding was captured. This ecologically devastating event was repeated from 1963 to 1981 as Lake Powell filled behind the Glen Canyon Dam . With these reservoirs now filled, the dams are used to regulate flow so that water can be reliably apportioned among the users of the Colorado River Compact , and its use maximized. Most flood flows can be contained, regulated, and added to

532-461: The ecological health of much of what remains. Stress on ecosystems has allowed invasive plants to out-compete native species along Colorado River riparian areas. Native forests of cottonwood and willow have yielded to sand and mudflats dominated by the nonnative tamarisk (also known as salt cedar), arrow-weed , and iodine bush , a transformation that has decreased the habitat value of the riparian forest. Full reservoir conditions coupled with

560-559: The loss of most of the wetlands of the area, as well as drastic changes to the aquatic ecosystems - an ecosystem collapse . Until the early 20th century, the Colorado River ran free from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado southwest into Mexico , where it flowed into the Gulf of California . Significant quantities of nourishing silt from throughout the Colorado River Basin were carried downstream, creating

588-673: The map the Delta was bisected by the river, but in fact the river was nowhere and everywhere, for he could not decide which of a hundred green lagoons offered the most pleasant and least speedy path to the Gulf. Today, conditions in the delta have changed. Like other desert river deltas, such as the Nile Delta and the Indus River Delta , the Colorado River delta has been greatly altered by human activity. Decades of dam construction and water diversions in

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616-612: The mid-19th century, merging with the Maricopa tribe . San Luis Río Colorado was once an important inland port for steamers traveling the Colorado from the Gulf of California . Since the early 1900s the Colorado has been completely or nearly completely drained for irrigation. The once-formidable Colorado is usually dry or a small stream. Awarded city status in July 1958, San Luis Río Colorado serves as

644-594: The municipality include: Former historical settlements sites within the current municipality, many along the Colorado River that served shipping by steamboats on the Colorado River , include: The first vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico arrived for medical personal on January 13, 2021. Eleven people were arrested for possession of weapons reserved for the military on March 13, 2021. 32°28′N 114°47′W  /  32.467°N 114.783°W  / 32.467; -114.783 This article about

672-399: The river delta. The delta supports a variety of wildlife, including several threatened and endangered species. Mexico's Environmental Regulations on Endangered Species lists the following endangered species found in the terrestrial and aquatic regions of the delta (Diario Officiel, 1994): Although not extensively studied, the delta's significance for migratory birds is indisputable, as it

700-551: The river's capacity to sustain the Western United States ' urban centers and agriculture . Floodwaters are released only when the Bureau of Reclamation , the agency managing the dams, predicts flows that exceed the system's capacity for use and storage. The loss of freshwater flows to the delta over the twentieth century has reduced delta wetlands to about 5 percent of their original extent, and non-native species have compromised

728-668: The site is located submits a nomination. Once designated, Biosphere Reserves remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the countries where they are located. Federal Mexican governmental agencies with administrative authority over the Biosphere Reserve include the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas ( CONANP ) and the Secretary of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries ( SEMARNAP ). In addition to designation as

756-512: The vast Colorado River Delta and preventing intrusion of seawater into the Mexicali and Imperial Valleys . Prior to the construction of major dams along its route, the Colorado River fed one of the largest desert estuaries in the world. Spread across the northernmost end of the Gulf of California, the Colorado River delta's vast riparian , freshwater, brackish, and tidal wetlands once covered 7,810 km (1,930,000 acres) and supported

784-505: Was striking. Early explorers reported jaguars , beavers , deer , and coyotes in the delta, in addition to the abundance of waterfowl , fish , and other marine and estuary organisms (Spamer, 1990; { Aldo Leopold , 1948}). Early explorers also encountered local people known as the Cucapá , or the people of the river. The Cucapá are descendants of the Yuman -speaking Native Indigenous peoples of

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