After a 1944 United States Mexico Treaty the Morelos Dam was built in 1950 across the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

. It is located about below the junction of the California border and the Colorado River between the town of Los Algodones, Baja California, in northwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Yuma County, Arizona Yuma County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 203,881. ...

in the southwestern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The eastern half of the dam lies inside United States territory; but Mexico is responsible for all maintenance. The dam allows Mexico to divert its allotted water from the Colorado River to highly developed crop lands in the Mexicali, Mexico Valley. The Morelos Dam is the final dam on the

. It is run by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). On March 23, 2014, an eight-week flood was begun with the opening of a gate at Morelos Dam. The goal is to rejuvenate a desert riparian habitat which naturalist

Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, Philosophy, philosopher, Natural history, naturalist, scientist, Ecology, ecologist, forester, Conservation biology, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a profes ...

explored in 1922 and described as "awesome jungles" and "lovely groves" in his memoir '' A Sand County Almanac''. The dam is noted as the location Chris McCandless crossed into Mexico by kayak.

References

External links

IBWC Morelos Dam Information
{{Colorado_River_system Dams on the Colorado River Dams in Arizona Dams in Mexico Dams of the Lower Colorado River Valley Buildings and structures in Baja California Buildings and structures in Yuma County, Arizona Mexicali Municipality Dams completed in 1950