The conservationists hope the pulse will bring back the willows and cottonwoods that once lined the valley, and restore habitat for the birds and wildlife that once thrived there.
My goal was more selfish. I wanted to see whether I could bash through the non-native reeds and tamarisk that clog the riverbed, and eventually make it to the ocean. I figured I’d never get another chance.
My videographer friend Todd Lynch and Victor Leon, a sea kayaker from Ensenada Mexico, saw it the same way and rallied to join me in Northern Baja. We expected to find a parched desert, but there’s water everywhere in the delta—in irrigation canals that criss-cross the region, and puddled at the edge of farm fields. It’s in the cotton, wheat and alfalfa this valley is famous for producing. The water seemed to be everywhere but in the riverbed, which was covered in sand so dry it sucked the moisture out of my skin.
We’ve been posting quotes and videos from Jeff Moag’s paddling trip down the Colorado River. For those of us who have been following the pulse flow, Jeff makes it feel like we’re there ourselves. Who knows, if all goes well, there could be a paddling trip in all of our futures.