The Colorado River’s water deal for its delta ends this year

The vaquita lives at the northern tip of the Gulf of California, where the Colorado River used to meet the sea. For most of the last half century, the river hasn’t reached it. Dams and farms on both sides of the border use almost all of its water before it gets to the delta.

That began to change in 2014. Under two amendments to the 1944 water treaty between the United States and Mexico, known as Minute 319 and Minute 323, both governments and a coalition of conservation groups started setting water aside for the delta itself. On 15 June 2026, a binational team of scientists published a report on twelve years of results. They found about 560 hectares of restored riverside forest and wetland, roughly 63 km of river flowing again, higher groundwater downstream, and birds and other wildlife returning. The scientists call it a success, and they also warn that none of it will last without more water and money.

Minute 323 expires at the end of 2026. In August, the US Bureau of Reclamation issued its decision on how to run the river after 2026, after the seven US basin states failed to agree on long-term rules. Mexico’s share depends on separate talks under the treaty, and as of early October no new minute for the delta had been announced.

To be clear about the vaquita, the river is not what is killing them. Every scientific assessment of the species, including the IUCN Red List assessment, names drowning in gillnets as the cause of its collapse. Bringing river water back would not save a single vaquita that is caught in a net.

We’re following it because the Upper Gulf is one connected place, and the same estuary feeds the shrimp and fish that local fishing families rely on.

The Colorado River’s water deal for its delta ends this year

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