Cibola National Wildlife Refuge

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map showing the location of Cibola National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Cibola National Wildlife Refuge
Map of the United States
LocationLa Paz County, Arizona / Imperial County, California, United States
Nearest cityPalo Verde, California
Coordinates33°18′42″N 114°41′21″W / 33.3116995°N 114.6891244°W / 33.3116995; -114.6891244[1]
Area16,627 acres (67.29 km2)
Established1964
Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WebsiteCibola National Wildlife Refuge

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge in the floodplain of the lower Colorado River between Arizona and California and surrounded by a fringe of desert ridges and washes. The refuge encompasses both the historic Colorado River channel as well as a channelized portion constructed in the late 1960s. Along with these main waterbodies, several important backwaters are home to many wildlife species that reside in this Yuma Desert portion of the Sonoran Desert. Because of the river's life-sustaining water, wildlife here survive in an environment that reaches 120 °F (49 °C) in the summer and receives an average of only 2 inches (5.1 cm) of rain per year.

  1. ^ "Cibola National Wildlife Refuge". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.