This page provides information on special studies and projects (both ongoing and completed) in which CRP has lead or assisted. In addition, you can find find out what kinds of scientific research projects have been and are being conducted by other entities throughout the Rio Grande Basin. Lastly, you can download the CRP GIS data and find links for other GIS resources.

SPECIAL STUDIES | SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PORTAL | GIS DATA

Special Studies/Projects Reports

Upper Rio Grande

El Paso Community College (EPCC) Service Learning Program Cooperating Entity, 2010-2013. USIBWC CRP is collaborating with EPCC to create hands-on learning experiences for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students by providing opportunities such as water quality monitoring, outreach presentations, the creation of watershed education materials, and river cleanups through USIBWC's Adopt-A-River Program. This 3 year project with include training for faculty on integrating the experiences into the classroom to meet curriculum objectives.
Metals in water, 2010. USIBWC CRP will use TCEQ sampling kits to collect total and dissolved metals samples at 5 stations in El Paso and Hudspeth counties. Metals data will be posted on our website on a continuous basis.
Bacteria, 2010. The Paso del Norte Watershed Council (PdNWC) is receiving 319(h) grant funding from EPA and New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to develop a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) to address a bacteria impairment in the Lower Rio Grande of New Mexico. The efforts to address bacteria contamination by PdNWC are unique because they cross jurisdictional boundaries. This section of the Rio Grande weaves in and out of Texas and New Mexico for about 16 miles, and Texas segment 2314, which overlaps with 3 New Mexico assessment units throughout this 16-mile stretch, is also impaired for bacteria. USIBWC CRP will support the monitoring efforts and provide assistance for the WRAS.
Biological control of saltcedar, 2007-2011. The US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has been studying means of controlling the aggressive, exotic saltcedar (tamarix) by introducing a biological control agent, the Diorhabda spp. beetle. IBWC has participated in binational discussions of the transboundary affects of the biological control projects.
Bacteria Source Tracking, 2000-2012. El Paso Community College and its Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program have been collecting water samples with IBWC Clean Rivers Program for many years for ongoing research, including bacteria source tracking and other pathogen analaysis.

Big Bend Area
Salinity and nutrients, 2005-2009. Diminished flow, high salinity and the occurrence and distribution of nutrients in the Rio Grande from Presidio to Amistad Reservoir have been indirectly implicated in the development of toxic algal blooms. Objectives of the study included: quantifying flow, characterizing salinity and nutrient concentrations, determine possible nutrient loading sources, and develop recommendations for long-term monitoring. USGS, the National Park Service, IBWC, TCEQ, and Mexican agencies collaborated on the research and a report should be made available in 2010. View the scope of work.
Mine Tailings, 2002. USGS, TCEQ, IBWC, and Mexican agencies participated in a study of historic mercury, silver, lead and gold mines upstream of and within Big Bend National Park. Draining from the mines was a suspected source of contaminants affecting the quality of the Rio Grande in the area. Sediment and water samples were collected from the Rio Grande (above and below tributary confluences) and from tributaries identified as transporters of mine runoff. The 2009 USGS report of the study discusses the results of samples that showed elevated concentrations of trace elements and metals, some exceeding TCEQ standards.

Middle Rio Grande
Laredo Bacteria, 2010-2012. A new project in its conceptual stage is to identify bacteria sources in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo, where bacteria continues to be a significant problem. More info will be posted as it is available.
Manadas Creek Metals, 2004-2008. Texas A&M University – Kingsville with cooperation from USIBWC CRP and Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) completed an assessment of nutrient and heavy metals in Manadas Creek, a tributary of the Rio Grande, and its potential impacts to the Rio Grande in Laredo, TX. The study showed that the heavy metals arsenic and antimony exceeded state water quality standards and that phosphorus values were also periodically higher than the water quality standards. Impacts to the river were measured in the Rio Grande relatively far from the confluence. At those sites, the nutrient and metals contamination in Manadas Creek were not present. Journal Article: "Assessment of Organochlorine Pesticide Levels in Manadas Creek, an Urban Tributary of the Rio Grande in Laredo, Texas," B. Flores, C. Camarena, J. Ren, S. Krishnamurthy, W. Belzer, Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. Sept. 2008.
Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Study, 2000 Binational Study Regarding the Intensive Monitoring of the Rio Grande Waters in the Vicinity of Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Between the United States and Mexico November 6-16, 2000. (Final Report, October 2002) In November 2000, the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico (IBWC), along with other federal and state agencies, collected seven sets of water quality samples in the Rio Grande along the Laredo/Nuevo Laredo reach to determine the ambient water quality during low flow conditions. The objectives of the study were to: 1) make a comparative analysis of water quality conditions in the Rio Grande; 2) enhance permanent water quality programs and, 3) measure the beneficial water quality effects of the Nuevo Laredo International Treatment Plant in the river.

Lower Rio Grande
Bacteria, 2010. USIBWC CRP is working with the University of Texas at Brownsville to conduct a special study to identify the source of and characterize the bacteria impairment in Segment 2302_07 in the Brownsville area of the Lower Rio Grande. The project’s Quality Assurance plan has been approved and the intensive monitoring was conducted March 8 and April 26, 2010. A report will be out by fall 2010. Scope of Work and QA plan is Appendix F on the FY10 QAPP. You can also see a video of the sampling events on our gallery.

Pecos River
Salinity, 2008-2010. The CRP is assisting in a multi-year special study on the Pecos River to evaluate salinity with TCEQ, Texas Water Development Board, Texas A&M, and Texas AgriLife. TCEQ is collecting data on a monthly basis, and report will be made available in the next year.
Watershed Protection Plan, 2006-2015. Another special project on the Pecos is the Pecos Watershed Protection Plan led by TWRI, AgriLife, EPA, and other organizations. The watershed protection plan creates a management plan for the Pecos River region. For more information please visit the Pecos River Basin Assessment Program.

Basin-wide studies
Rio Grande Toxic Substances binational studies, 1992

Binational Study Regarding the Presence of Toxic Substances in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and its Tributaries along the Boundary Portion between the United States and Mexico (Final Report, September 1994) English Version
Second Phase of the Binational Study Regarding the Presence of Toxic Substances in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and its Tributaries along the Boundary Portion between the United States and Mexico (Final Report, Vol I of II, April 1998) English Version
Second Phase of the Binational Study Regarding the Presence of Toxic Substances in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and its Tributaries along the Boundary Portion between the United States and Mexico(Final Report, Vol II of II, September 1999) English Version
Segunda Fase del Estudio Binacional Sobre la Presencia de Sustancias Tóxicas en el Río Bravo/Río Grande y sus Afluentes, en su Porción Fronteriza Entre México y Estados Unidos (Informe Final, Vol I of II, April 1998) Versión en Español
Third Phase of the Binational Study Regarding the Presence of Toxic Substances in the Upper Portion of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Between the U.S. and Mexico (Final Report, June 2004) English Version

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PORTAL

USIBWC CRP Bibliography of Rio Grande Research

Download the draft Bibliographic Database of books, reports, articles and other documents on Rio Grande Research. (Version June 2009)

Other online Resources

Rio Grande publications database at River Systems Institute
Rio Grande - Rio Bravo Studies, Center for Research in Water Resources, The University of Texas at Austin
http://www.crwr.utexas.edu/riogrande.shtml
1997 USGS Bibliography of Rio Grande Biology This bibliography includes 1,913 references to the literature of the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo del Norte).

GIS DATA

Download the USIBWC CRP GIS GeoDatabase for the Rio Grande Basin (320 MB, last updated spring 2010). This includes stations, base data, watershed, TCEQ river segments and assessment units, etc. (NOTE: This is a Geodatabase for ESRI ArcGIS 9.3)
Rio Grande Basin ArcHydro Model and more
ftp://ftp.crwr.utexas.edu/pub/outgoing/PATINOC/RioGrandeInfo
Texas State University Rio Grande Basin GIS Data Viewer
http://147.26.138.223/ArcGIS/Riogrande/dataviewer/
Paso Del Norte Watershed Council Coordinated GIS Database http://www.pdnwc.org/
Texas Natural Resources Information System (TNRIS) http://www.tnris.org/
New Mexico Resource Geographic Information System Program (RGIS) http://rgis.unm.edu/