- Issue: Spring 2015
The Rio Grande, called the Rio Bravo in Mexico, flows through the heart of America’s arid Southwest, fueling both amazing biodiversity and growing economies in the US and Mexico. But increased human demands coupled with forecasts of hotter, drier seasons to come threaten its future.
Arundo donax, locally known as "giant cane," compounds those threats. Many parts of the river have become overrun by this highly invasive plant, which catches and holds sediment, preventing accumulated deposits from being naturally flushed when the river runs high. This causes an unnaturally narrow river channel, which offers greatly reduced habitat for native species and undermines natural flood protection for riverside towns.
But would eradication of giant cane help foster a river that provides high quality habitat as well as flood protection? We believe it would. To test our theory, WWF, The Coca-Cola Company, the US National Park Service, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, and a mix of partners from both sides of the border have cleared giant cane from about 25 miles of the river’s banks over the last three years.
This work has already fostered more natural river conditions, enabling better connections to the river's historic floodplains and improving conditions for communities, both wildlife and human, that depend on a healthy river ecosystem.