Inter-Annual and Seasonal Variability of Flows: Delivering Climate-Smart Environmental Flow Reference Values

Environmental flow (eflow) reference values play a key role in environmental water science and practice. In Mexico, eflow assessments are set by a norm in which the frequency of occurrence is the managing factor to integrate inter-annual and seasonal flow variability components into environmental water reserves. However, the frequency parameters...

What Do Environmental Flows Mean for Long-Term Freshwater Ecosystems’ Protection?: Assessment of the Mexican Water Reserves for the Environment Program

Almost a decade ago, the Mexican government targeted to establish environmental water reserves (EWR)—a volume of water allocated for ecological protection based on the Environmental Flow Mexican Norm (eflows, NMX-AA-159-SCFI-2012, ratified in 2017)—in strategic low-pressured for water use and high conservation importance river basins throughout...

Frequency of occurrence of flow regime components: a hydrology-based approach for environmental flow assessments and water allocation for the environment

Hydrological methodologies are the most efficient approaches for environmental flow (eflow) assessments. This paper presents a hydrological methodology for determining eflows in rivers with scarce development to promote proactive environmental water allocations that limit flow alteration and unsustainable water use. The analysis includes the...

Determining Mexican climate-adaptive environmental flows reference values for people and nature: A hydrology-based approach for preventive environmental water allocation

Environmental flows (e-flows) science has significantly advanced in the last decades. In Mexico, a standard for e-flow assessments was recently published as a regulatory instrument to support water planning and management. However, the appropriateness of the technical procedure in a climate change context has not been investigated. Do the e...

Environmental flows and water reserves: Principles, strategies, and contributions to water and conservation policies in Mexico

Since the Brisbane Declaration in 2007, implementation of environmental flows in public policies has witnessed a steady increase around the globe. Environmental water reserves are an annual volume that is designated to remain in the ecosystem for the sustainable management of river basins. In Mexico, these reserves are determined on the basis...