2010 Before and After Pictures of the YEW (separate window)
Click for the Yuma East Wetlands slide show (separate window)
Click to view a video of the Yuma East Wetlands Before Restoration
Click to view a video of the Yuma East Wetlands After Restoration

Yuma East Wetlands
Prior to restoration activities, the 1,400 acre Yuma East Wetlands (YEW), located along the lower Colorado River, was one of the most ecologically altered riparian and wetland landscapes of the Southwest due to nearly a century of flow regulation, channelization, non-native species invasion, deforestation and wildfires. The area was dominated by dense monoculture thickets of invasive salt cedar and phragmites, which compromised the ecosystem integrity and caused a decline in wildlife diversity.

Fred Phillips Consulting (FPC) served as the design team to develop the Yuma East Wetlands Restoration Master Plan. To accomplish this task, FPC organized and facilitated stakeholder consensus meetings including 16 different landowners; conducted the initial biological investigations and site analyses, including vegetation mapping, soil analysis, wetland delineation, and topographical surveys; completed the environmental compliance permitting and planning process (ESA Section 7 Consultation, Clean Water Act Section 404, State Historic Preservation Office, wetland delineation); and created the restoration design.

Restoration activities were initiated in 2004. Currently, nearly 400 acres have been cleared and are being restored, ranging from revegetating riparian habitat to back water channel excavation and wetlands creation. FPC and its partners have conducted all phases of this restoration project, including securing funding, site assessment, revegetation design, excavation and grading plans, project implementation including invasive species management, planting, and irrigation, project maintenance and project monitoring. We have utilized innovative restoration techniques, including bioengineering methods to stabilize the river banks, seeding an understory layer with native herbs and grasses, raising backwater channel levels to mimic natural flooding, utilizing drip irrigation to conserve water and harvesting local native plant material. We also have engaged in groundbreaking science to measure project success and plant growth, changes in water quality due to restoration, determine optimal planting strategies for the environmental conditions present and researching the recovery of wildlife communities in the restored areas.  In the extreme environmental conditions present at the Yuma East Wetlands, including saline soils, minimal water allocation and dense invasive species, we have used adaptive management techniques to achieve project success. We have seen 100% survivorship in the majority of the projects with two-year-old native cottonwood trees exceeding heights of 20 feet. Finally, the best evidence of the success of our efforts is the return of the native wildlife communities, particularly wintering, migrating and resident birds.