For the first time since the 1950’s the Rio Grande has gone dry. According to the Alpine Avalanche there are only pools of water where the once-vigorous river once flowed through Mariscal Canyon in Big Bend National Park.

“It will have momentous consequences to the resources we are charged to preserve,” park wildlife biologist Raymond Skiles told the Avalanche. He indicated that similar conditions existed along the entire four-mile stretch of the Rio Grande that he and others hiked on May 9.

The river runs along 118 miles of the southern extremity of BBNP, and Skiles said that pooling conditions without flow were present for about two-thirds of that length, with the lower canyons most intact from a water-level standpoint.

Severe drought conditions, both in the immediate area and throughout the West and Southwest, have contributed significantly to the decreased water level. For the past eight years, the Big Bend region has experienced about 11 to 12 inches of rain annually, compared with a normal average of 12 to 15 inches.

In addition to the drought, irrigation, commerical and business use of water has contributed to the problem. Biologists are predicting dire consequences for fish and wildlife that depend on the river for their existence.