aquat ic It’s 2051, 30 years after the first Replenisher was powered up, and there has since been only minimal loss of aquatic habitat and biodiversity within the Cuarto Cienegas Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion. Aquifers have stopped decreasing and have even started to rise. Replenishers, which remediate agricultural practices that deplete aquifers, are arrayed along rivers, plugging into historic acequia long-lot agricultural systems and protecting aquifers which have held water and bacterial life since the Precambrian. The aquatic ecosystem of Cuatro Cienegas Basin is fed by runoff from a ring of surrounding mountains. Water saturates marshes on the basin floor and is exposed at the surface as springs. Small rivers drain the springs; some eventually feed the Rio Saldado and others terminate in no-outlet playas that drain by evaporation only. Each of these habitats (the marsh, spring, river and playa) support distinct species communities. Although much the same fish species live in the different habitats, the relative abundance of fish is inverted between the springs and the harsher habitats of the playas/ ephemeral pools/marshes. A heterogenous mix of habitat important to the overall biodiversity of the system.
Fish species abundance relative to aquatic habitat type
Seen from a fish’s perspective, the replenisher is an oasis within a drying world. Shade structures reduce evaporative loss while simultaneously providing protective cover for fish. Shallow areas provide a smooth transition between marsh and deeper pools, or poza , facilitating access to the water for many species. Beneath the elevated acequia is a favourite hang-out for many fish. Catfish are especially fond of deeper water areas. Schools of open-water fish dart about, stopping to feed on an algae-encrusted textured ECOncrete retaining wall.
Replenishers (black dots) in existing lots along rivers in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin
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on site review 41 :: infrastructure
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