Buoys in the Rio Grande could change southern border, SIUE researchers find

[riversedge]

Source: St. Louis Public Radio




St. Louis Public Radio | By Will Bauer Dec. 27, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. CST


The flow of the Rio Grande River on the U.S.-Mexico border has been fundamentally changed by the buoys placed to deter migrants from crossing illegally, according to preliminary findings by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville researchers.

“The buoys are changing where flow is occurring, and anytime you change where flow is occurring, you’re changing where erosion and deposition are occurring,” said Adriana Martinez, a professor of geography and environmental sciences at SIUE and a native of Eagle Pass, Texas. “Ultimately, that’s going to change the channel shape in that spot.”

Martinez and third-year SIUE student Emma Prott have been studying the effects of the buoys placed by Texas in July 2023, which have been the subject of a legal battle between the state and federal government over who has authority over the southern border.

The SIUE professor and student visited the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass twice over the past two months, capturing drone images and collecting sediment samples to document and quantify how the buoys change the river.

The researchers say long-term implications of the river’s ecology are at question.

So far, water flow around the buoys has slowed down, causing sediment to build up underneath them. The shallower water has meant plants have started growing. As more plants grow, more sediment is displaced, setting off what Martinez calls a “chain reaction.”

“It's going to change the international boundary,” Martinez said. “We could add land to the U.S. and take it away from Mexico or vice versa. It just depends on what ends up happening more long term or how long the buoys are in place.”

Martinez believes the buoys will create a sandbar and eventually a small island in the middle of the
Rio Grande....................


Read more: https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2024-12-27/buoys-rio-grande-southern-researchers-siue-illinois

---

Very interesting research by these women.



https://bsky.app/profile/oceancalm.bsky.social/post/3lecdjojr3c2e
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville professor Adriana Martinez, left, and third-year student Emma Prott, right, have been studying the effects of the buoys placed in the Rio Grande by Texas officials in July 2023.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

1. Whew buoy! What a mess of grande proportions.

Leave it to Republicans to screw up the course of a river. Maybe Trump can get his sharpie out and fix the course to his liking.

[Wonder Why]

2. Buoys in the Rio Grande or Boyz in the band? Make a good song.

[70sEraVet]

3. If a creek separated my propery from my neighbor's property,

and my neighbor placed some obstruction in the creek that altered the flow of water and created a potential erosion problem that would affect my property, I would have my neighbor remove it.
Mexico deserves a better neighbor.

[tonekat]

4. It's a very troubled river without the buoys

The Rio Grande is contaminated with toxic pollutants and infectious microorganisms. These pollutants include heavy metals, sewage, agricultural and industrial chemicals, and salts.
The Rio Grande's flow has been reduced by dams, irrigation, and other human uses. This has caused the river to no longer flood naturally, which is important for wildlife and vegetation.
The Rio Grande often has high levels of bacteria, especially in areas downstream from the Falcon International Reservoir.
The Rio Grande's pollution has caused at least seven fish species to disappear from the Big Bend area, including the American eel, the sturgeon, and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. (Source: Google)