The USGS is working with partners to understand the impacts of installing structures made from rock, sandbags and wood in channels at a dryland ranch in southern Baja California. Hydrogeological instrumentation, recording observations, modeling hydrogeological scenarios, and an interdisciplinary scientific study of the watershed interactions between water, ecological systems, and human activities is being conducted. Areas of research include the potential transpiration and plant water use, adaptions to their water environment, influence of vegetation on stream flow and function, and feedbacks between ecological processes and the hydrological cycle.
Rancho Ancon is a 250-acre working ranch and research base of operations in the Sierra Cacachilas mountains near La Paz in southern Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico. Climate in the BCS is arid with a mean annual precipitation of ~5 inches. Since the early 2010’s, the ranch has hosted biology, ecology, hydrology, and geology studies to evaluate the region’s flora, fauna, and ecological systems. The ranch is installing Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) and seeks to better understand the hydrogeology of the region to manage and preserve water resources in the arid environment. USGS activities are grouped into 8 tasks that are scheduled to converge in the development of an International Water Institute, providing the scientific communities of the Baja California Sur region, a platform that translates to the larger, growing global interest in desert and dryland restoration.
As a working ranch and research base of operation since the early-2010s, Rancho Ancon (fig. 1) has implemented land-use changes and sustainable management practices to preserve and rehabilitate lands. Additionally, the ranch would like to increase groundwater recharge and streamflow discharge, improve erosion control, and increase vegetation. Recent management practices and land development includes the installation of various riparian detention structures in the dryland streams (arroyos) throughout the ranch (fig 2.). The arid climate, increasing population, and growing agricultural needs in the region make the ranch an ideal area for hydrological studies from local scientists, managers, foundations, institutes, and universities.
The USGS has a long history of providing technical assistance for the purposes of assessing and documenting impacts of land-use change on the water budget. Research conducted by the USGS Aridlands Water Harvesting Study documented the generation of soil-water-carbon sponges that are created when structures made of earth, wood, debris, or rock are installed in dryland arroyos. Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) can support development of freshwater, wetland-like sponges that facilitate water-limited environments in adaptation to and mitigation of climate change via their ability to sequester carbon, detain water, and extend the longevity and area of green growth and evapotranspiration and condensation as water vapor, thereby helping to restore and regulate increasing temperatures (Norman et al. 2022).
In support of this project, the USGS is establishing a paired watershed study, with instrumentation to capture real-time water levels, discharge, and recharge and developing models of surface -to- groundwater interactions to understand and quantify the potential impacts that structures in Rancho Ancon have on the hydrologic cycle (fig. 3). Additionally, the USGS is mapping and documenting land use/land cover and vegetation adaptation at and around structures and compare the changes to control sites to characterize the transformation from barren bedrock or impervious arroyos to reproductive wetland sponges. The characterization of the best management practices when applying land-use changes is intended to help hydrologists and managers address questions such as (1) what land-use changes have occurred and approximately when and how did they occur; and (2) how do variations in land-use practices spatially correlate with the regional hydrodynamics of recharge and ecosystem restoration? These questions will be examined using remote sensing and on-site investigative techniques to map the variations of the landscape over time.
Research is supported by U.S. Water Partnership and Innovaciones Alumbra.
- Overview
The USGS is working with partners to understand the impacts of installing structures made from rock, sandbags and wood in channels at a dryland ranch in southern Baja California. Hydrogeological instrumentation, recording observations, modeling hydrogeological scenarios, and an interdisciplinary scientific study of the watershed interactions between water, ecological systems, and human activities is being conducted. Areas of research include the potential transpiration and plant water use, adaptions to their water environment, influence of vegetation on stream flow and function, and feedbacks between ecological processes and the hydrological cycle.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Figure1. Location map of Rancho Ancón study site in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Rancho Ancon is a 250-acre working ranch and research base of operations in the Sierra Cacachilas mountains near La Paz in southern Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico. Climate in the BCS is arid with a mean annual precipitation of ~5 inches. Since the early 2010’s, the ranch has hosted biology, ecology, hydrology, and geology studies to evaluate the region’s flora, fauna, and ecological systems. The ranch is installing Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) and seeks to better understand the hydrogeology of the region to manage and preserve water resources in the arid environment. USGS activities are grouped into 8 tasks that are scheduled to converge in the development of an International Water Institute, providing the scientific communities of the Baja California Sur region, a platform that translates to the larger, growing global interest in desert and dryland restoration.
As a working ranch and research base of operation since the early-2010s, Rancho Ancon (fig. 1) has implemented land-use changes and sustainable management practices to preserve and rehabilitate lands. Additionally, the ranch would like to increase groundwater recharge and streamflow discharge, improve erosion control, and increase vegetation. Recent management practices and land development includes the installation of various riparian detention structures in the dryland streams (arroyos) throughout the ranch (fig 2.). The arid climate, increasing population, and growing agricultural needs in the region make the ranch an ideal area for hydrological studies from local scientists, managers, foundations, institutes, and universities.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Figure 2. Photographs of Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) installed at Rancho Ancon, including a. leaky weir, b. sandbag dams, c. wood log jams, and d. gabions (Photos by Laura Norman) The USGS has a long history of providing technical assistance for the purposes of assessing and documenting impacts of land-use change on the water budget. Research conducted by the USGS Aridlands Water Harvesting Study documented the generation of soil-water-carbon sponges that are created when structures made of earth, wood, debris, or rock are installed in dryland arroyos. Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) can support development of freshwater, wetland-like sponges that facilitate water-limited environments in adaptation to and mitigation of climate change via their ability to sequester carbon, detain water, and extend the longevity and area of green growth and evapotranspiration and condensation as water vapor, thereby helping to restore and regulate increasing temperatures (Norman et al. 2022).
In support of this project, the USGS is establishing a paired watershed study, with instrumentation to capture real-time water levels, discharge, and recharge and developing models of surface -to- groundwater interactions to understand and quantify the potential impacts that structures in Rancho Ancon have on the hydrologic cycle (fig. 3). Additionally, the USGS is mapping and documenting land use/land cover and vegetation adaptation at and around structures and compare the changes to control sites to characterize the transformation from barren bedrock or impervious arroyos to reproductive wetland sponges. The characterization of the best management practices when applying land-use changes is intended to help hydrologists and managers address questions such as (1) what land-use changes have occurred and approximately when and how did they occur; and (2) how do variations in land-use practices spatially correlate with the regional hydrodynamics of recharge and ecosystem restoration? These questions will be examined using remote sensing and on-site investigative techniques to map the variations of the landscape over time.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Figure 3. Research lexicon portraying tasks associated with the investigations at Rancho Ancon Research is supported by U.S. Water Partnership and Innovaciones Alumbra.