Kids splash in the water. Merchants sell coconuts and ice cream. The people in this Mexican town are celebrating something they have been missing. River water.

Families drive up in their trucks. They look at the river. “Just last week,” they think, “this riverbed was dry as a bone! But now it is filled with water!”

The Colorado River Delta flows through the United States. It goes on to flow through Mexico. At one time, the riverbed was full of water. Trees and plants grew up all around it.

The river brought water to seven states in America and two states in Mexico. It irrigated land to grow crops. The power of its flowing water was used to generate electricity for millions of people. But then, the river dried up. Farms, businesses, and homes used a lot of river water. They used too much. They dried up almost 100 miles where the river once flowed! Plants and animals died.

Having no water is a huge problem! People upriver must think about the good of people downriver. The United States and Mexico had to work together to fix the problem. They made a deal. Together, they decided to open a gate at Arizona’s Morelos Dam. They let millions of tons of water go. Water surged into the dry riverbed. It was a huge, man-made flood! The flood lasted for eight weeks.

The people are rejoicing. The water is back! But will the new water help the riverbanks come to life again?

Time will tell.