Abstract: Pecos River, Texas Restoration and Water Recovery

Saltcedar trees have virtually destroyed much of the native habitat needed by certain animals, birds and plants along Texas rivers. Saltcedar has the ability to change the physical environment giving the plant a competitive advantage over native trees and shrubs. This occurs through increased surface soil salinity, lowered soil water potential, depressed water tables, and increased fire and flood frequency. The Pecos River stretches over 300 miles in Texas before emptying into the Rio Grande near Langtry. Most of this river mileage is armored with dense, mature stands of saltcedar that have created a monoculture. From 1999 through 2002, 128 miles of saltcedar along the Pecos River and its tributaries in Texas (6341 acres of saltcedar) have been treated with Arsenal herbicide using state-of -the-art application technology. Monitoring programs have focused on salinity monitoring, estimates of water use by saltcedar and subsequent water salvage following control. Water use by saltcedar is monitored using shallow groundwater monitoring wells. Estimates of saltcedar water use along the Pecos are from 3-7 feet per year. Water salvage estimates are also being estimated and will be presented. Re-vegetation efforts to date have occurred naturally with much of the banks covered in dense grasses three years following treatments.

Return to the Schedule and links to the 2003 Tamarisk Symposium