The New River was formed in the early 1900s when the Colorado River flooded. An international river, it originates 20 miles south of the Mexican border meanderingthrough agricultural fields until reaching its destination, the Salton Sea.
The New and Alamo Rivers acquire nutrients and heavy metals from sewage; nutrients, silt, selenium and pesticides from agricultural drainage. The concern is that the pollutants carried by the New River is increasing the degradation of the Salton Sea.
In early 1997, a concerned local organization, Desert Wildlife Unlimited, looked for a solution for the New River pollution problem. This group has worked with local, state and federal agencies to obtain grant monies, permits and has constructed two wetlands.
The purpose of the pilot Wetlands system was to implement pollution control to reduce pollutants and improve quality of water discharged from the New River into Salton Sea.
To determine the success of the pilot program, extensive water quality monitoring will be conducted for three years. When monitoring proves the project successful, wetlands will be constructed in other selected sites along both rivers.
The Imperial and Brawley wetlands provide the following benefits:

• Reduction of pollutants
• Habitat for a wealth of plants, fish,wildlife and migrating waterfowl
• Recreational benefits such as:
• hunting / fishing
• bird watching
• hiking / family outings