A new University of Arizona report indicates that attempts to restore the Colorado River Delta are working. Four growing seasons after an engineered flood of the delta, its birds, plants and groundwater continue to benefit. 

The report documents the flows in the delta from the initial release of water in 2014, as well as other deliveries of water through December 2017.

As it turns out, a little bit of water applied at the right time and in the right places, can do a lot of good. UA professor Karl Flessa said almost 1,000 acres of river habitat have been created.

“They’ve done that by clearing out a lot of the invasive species and by planting cottonwoods and willows and other trees and very carefully taking care of them, watering them and such," Flessa said. "The result is really staggering. These trees are thriving.”

Flessa says some of the trees planted in 2014 are now more than 14-feet tall.