Announcing the ‘Colorado River-Memorable Moments’-Hunter Matching campaign

Today — July 25 — is Colorado River Day, marking the 94th anniversary of the Grand River being renamed the Colorado. We’re celebrating this mighty river that we are helping to restore by launching a new awareness and fundraising campaign, with the notable support of Hunter Industries.

From July 25 to October 31, Hunter Industries will generously match, dollar-for-dollar, all contributions to the Raise the River initiative, up to $25,000. Donate today and be a part of bringing water and life back to the Colorado River Delta.

 ©Bill Hatcher 2015Because 30 million people in the West rely on the Colorado River, the river no longer meets it Delta. Communities and ecosystems south of the U.S./Mexico border no longer have the water needed to thrive. Hunter is resolute in its commitment to helping restore the Colorado River Delta, and has partnered with Raise the River, Change the Course, The Sonoran Institute, and Protect the Flows in this effort.

Right now, when you donate to Raise the River you double the impact of your giving, through this important match by Hunter. These contributions will help plant native cottonwood and willow tree saplings as well as provide critical support for scientific data collection, youth education programs and ongoing restoration efforts in the Colorado River Delta.

Later this week, we’ll be announcing our Colorado River Memorable Moments photo and video sharing contests. This is a way for you to contribute to our project by helping to spread the message of the importance of water conservation and the restoration of the Colorado River Delta. When you participate, you’ll have the opportunity to win a special experience in the Colorado River Delta…stay tuned for details!

We’ve come a long way with your help. Last year, the Colorado River reconnected with the ocean for the first time in 60 years. We’ve also planted more than 160,000 cottonwood and willow trees on 654 acres of restoration sites. These trees provide critical food and shelter for birds migrating along the Pacific flyway – and have attracted birds not seen in the Delta in 50 years, like the yellow-billed cuckoo. Beyond these environmental gains, the real results are much richer – the residents have their river back again, and with it comes pride, new forms of economic opportunity, and community.

To join us and add your donation, please visit https://rally.org/raisetheriver, and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to follow our progress.

About Hunter Industries: Hunter Industries is committed to helping restore the Colorado River and its Delta, through water conservation, direct efforts and stewardship. Hunter’s efforts for conservation extend far beyond their product lines of innovative solutions that save water and energy. The practice of minimizing resource use is alive in every aspect of their business to ensure a promising future.

Connecting Youth with Nature

a story of Sonoran Institute’s community engagement in the Colorado River Delta

Gaby

Gabriela González Olimón, Environmental Education Coordinator for the Colorado River Delta Program at Sonoran Institute Mexico

By: Gabriela González Olimón

Mexicali, Baja California‒ I am watching kids skim their fingers on the water, sitting on the edge of what is left of this river.

Restoring a fragile ecosystem is a very ambitious project; nonetheless Sonoran Institute has been working in the Delta for nearly 20 years. Our goal from day one: Reconnect the Colorado River with the Gulf of California and actively engage the communities of the Delta in this process. Reconnecting the River will contribute to the restoration of the riparian and estuarine ecosystems of the Delta and renewing the relationships between these ecosystems and their people. Community involvement will ensure that future generations build on this work.

We started by involving the community, especially children and youth, to help them gain a basic understanding and sense of awareness of the Colorado River Delta and its associated challenges and opportunities. A major component of this effort became formal when we were able to officially start an environmental education program in January 2015. Sonoran Institute’s education program aims to provide the community with opportunities to be actively involved in working towards resolving environmental problems in the Delta, and create positive behavioral patterns necessary to restore the ecosystems to a more sustainable and healthier form. We currently offer in-school programs to teach kids about the local riparian and estuarine ecosystems. We also offer field trips to our restoration sites (Laguna Grande Restoration Site, Hardy River, and the Colorado River estuary) and native tree nursery where we are growing over 100,000 trees to be planted each spring. There, through observation and games, children explore and study plant and animal relationships as well as the importance of water to the dynamics of the ecosystem and region.

We hit the ground running in January and so far our environmental education program has conducted more than 47 restoration site visits and in-school workshops. Numerous national and international government agencies, NGO’s, K-12 and university students, community members, and donors have visited one or more of our restoration sites or have attended our workshops.

This spring we hosted a reforestation event where, with the help of 250 volunteers, we planted more than 5,624 cottonwoods and willows at Laguna Grande. Josué Reyes, a high school student and volunteer, said that “Reforesting sustains nature, as well as our own existence” as he dug a hole for his young cottonwood tree. For as little as $25, you can sponsor a child to attend environmental education workshops and birding activities.

While visiting an elementary school in Ejido Francisco Murguia, a small community in Baja California, México, that lies 25 miles from the US-México border, and within a mile of the old Colorado River channel, I asked a group of kids if they knew where their water came from. With their wide eyes avoiding mine, I knew their answer. A lot of the kids have never seen the River nor do they know that one –a big one!—used to flow through their community a couple generations ago. Educating communities and showing them what they have around them, so they can protect it, is exactly the reason why we are doing this project. What started with one fifth-grade group in January has grown to more than 1,300 people reached by June 2015.

I watch the kids skim their fingers on the water, sitting on the edge of a river that is making a comeback.

Gabriela González Olimón: Gabriela is the Environmental Education Coordinator for the Colorado River Delta Program at Sonoran Institute Mexico, A.C. in the Mexicali, Baja California office. Gabriela graduated in Biology from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. She has experience in wildlife monitoring and has implemented environmental education programs in Mexican National Parks and at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Now in the Delta, Gaby focuses on promoting ecological restoration in the communities near the Delta.

Spring in Bloom!

skybirds LRRaise the River is celebrating the spring renewal of the Colorado River Delta. We invite you to join in our Spring in Bloom fundraising and awareness campaign – May 25-July 25 – to help ensure that the new life that blossomed in the region this spring will survive and thrive in the future.

We hope you will help us reach our campaign goal of planting 50,000 trees in the Delta.

Just over one year ago, the Colorado River reconnected with the ocean for the first time in 60 years. This was the result of the historic Minute 319 bi-national alliance between the U.S. and Mexican governments to restore this region, which enabled the March 2014 pulse flow, the first deliberate bi-national release of water into the Colorado River delta.

With this water came life. From the time the river began to flow once again, the waters attracted migrating birds and moistened the soil to welcome native tree seeds carried on the wind. One year later, we have seen that the return of water to this region has brought back much of the native plant, bird and animal life that has been absent for many years.

Beyond the original environmental objectives, the overall results have been much richer – the community’s engagement with the river has given rise to community pride and new forms of economic opportunity for the region’s residents.

While we celebrate these accomplishments, we understand there is much more to be done. Help us complete our vision to restore the Delta to a healthy and functional ecosystem – the goal is within reach.

What has been accomplished in the past year?

  • Restoration of 654 acres of riparian habitat
  • Planting of more than 160,000 native trees

Your ‘Spring in Bloom’ donation will provide:

  • Plant 5 cottonwood & willow tree saplings — $25
  • Sponsor a child to attend an environmental education workshop and outside activities at a restored area — $50
  • Plant 20 native trees — $100
  • Support for scientific data collation — $250
  • Restore approximately 1/12 of an acre — $500
  • Donate here

The planting and growth of native cottonwood and willow trees provides critical food and shelter for many birds migrating along the Pacific flyway. So far this year over 111,000 seedlings have been produced, and a total of 5,624 trees were planted in the region during a single ‘Restoration Week’, coinciding with Earth Day.

Already, there has been a significant increase in the population and diversity of river-dependent birds using the delta. Birds not seen in 50 years, such as the yellow-billed cuckoo, are returning to the area. This enhanced riparian and marsh habitat will support 380 bird species, including more than 200,000 migratory water birds that rely on the Delta. A team of bi-national scientists is in place to continually monitor the impact and benefits of the pulse flow on the region’s natural systems.

Today is a new beginning for the Delta. The Delta can be brought back to life. Your participation in this important project is not only essential for an environment which knows no borders, but also demonstrates what is possible when governments – in partnership with private citizens – work together.

The Raise the River coalition and its Colorado River Delta team needs your help to restore the Colorado River Delta. Individuals, communities, and organizations are able to support our restoration initiative by planting trees, donating and spreading awareness about the Delta.

To join us and add your donation, please visit https://rally.org/raisetheriver, and please also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to follow our progress.

The Colorado River Delta Pulse Flow: 1 year later

Director, Environmental Flows Program, The Nature Conservancy

Director, Environmental Flows Program, The Nature Conservancy

  By: Eloise Kendy

Water creeping, then pouring, then flowing into bone-dry sand until the desiccated channel transformed into a bona-fide river once again. Children splashing and kayakers paddling in a river they had never seen before—a celebration of a river reborn. These are the images I recall from a year ago, when I travelled along this road, just south of the U.S. / Mexico border.

These amazing memories came rushing back recently as I traveled once again to the path of the historic March 23, 2014, pulse flow. The pulse flow was an experimental release of water designed to mimic spring runoffs and rejuvenate the dry Colorado River Delta. Of course, I was anxious to see the changes the “pulse of life” had brought forth.

The release of Colorado River water back into its parched Delta was a shining star of cooperation for the environment. Discover Magazine and the US Department of Interior are among those hailing the event as a top achievement of 2014.

By all accounts, the pulse flow’s most important outcome is that it actually happened. For so long, the forces against it seemed overwhelming. In fact, the Raise the River Coalition – The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Sonoran Institute, Redford Center, Pronatura Noereste, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – negotiated on behalf of nature with the U.S. and Mexican governments for more than a decade before an agreement was reached to release water to restore the Delta!

With western water such a scarce commodity and so many entities drawing water from the Colorado River, any change to status quo water management was met with fear and suspicion. It took an earthquake, which destroyed canals bringing the water to Mexican farms, to get both nations to agree to retain enough of Mexico’s foregone water allotment in Lake Mead to enable the pulse flow to happen.

By temporarily storing water at Lake Mead, more than 105,000 acre-feet of water (equal to 34 billion gallons) was released in one large pulse between March 23 and May 18, 2014. Even though that’s less than 0.1% of the annual water allocated to the seven U.S. states and Republic of Mexico for consumptive uses, it is a lot of water – and represents the first-ever international flow restoration agreement. Since it came as such a big surge over such a short time, the river channel was inundated. Cottonwood and willow seeds floated in the air, perfectly timed for this opportunistic watering. To everyone’s surprise and delight, the pulse flow temporarily connected the river with the Gulf of California – something that hadn’t happened in decades.

I’ve been part of a bi-national science team monitoring the effects the water had on the river environment. Science, photos and anecdotes are painting a clear picture – one year later.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

In terms of restoration, everything we expected to happen, happened. We expected native willows and cottonwoods to germinate wherever the pulse flow inundated bare soil, and that happened. A natural flood would have scoured out old vegetation, leaving fresh surfaces for new seedlings to germinate. We knew the pulse flow was too small to do that critical scouring work. As a result, native plants germinated primarily on surfaces that were recently cleared, mostly in restoration areas along the river’s path.

We also expected the new seedlings to survive where they received supplemental water through the summer. That happened too. The supplemental water, officially called “base flow,” is water that’s purchased from willing Mexican farmers by the Colorado Delta Water Trust, in partnership with the Raise the River coalition.

We also discovered new seedlings did not survive where they didn’t get water through the summer. We expected that, but secretly hoped we would be wrong.

Base flow water is limited, so it is strategically delivered only to places where the groundwater table is high enough for new growth eventually to become self-sustaining. In one area, willows that germinated during the pulse flow were already well over our heads just six months later! (See photo, below.) This confirmed our theory that a pulse flow is only one of several critical ingredients – scouring, seeds, and sustained access to water — for establishing new streamside habitat.

willows

Gooding’s willows in Laguna Grande restoration area. Photo: Karen Schlatter, Sonoran Institute.

We also observed how the pulse flow benefitted existing vegetation in the Delta, well beyond designated restoration sites. In fact, there was a 43-percent increase in green vegetation in places the pulse flow inundated, and a 23-percent increase in the broader riparian area.

Bi-national negotiations for another agreement will be beginning soon. Our goal is to restore more river reaches until, over time, we fulfill our long-term vision of well-connected, self-sustaining streamside habitat that supports diverse local and migratory birds in the Delta. To that end, the bi-national science team will continue to monitor hydrology, vegetation, and wildlife through 2017 to inform the design of future pulse flows.

As a scientist who cares deeply about the environment, it’s hard to put into words what it means to be part of this successful and historic experiment.

Eloise Kendy is a member of the bi-national science team that designed the Delta Pulse Flow and monitoring program, and is the Director of the Environmental Flows Program, The Nature Conservancy.

Upcoming WATERSHED Screenings

Join us at one of the upcoming screenings of the film WATERSHED, which tells the story of the threats to the Colorado River and offers solutions and hope for the future of the American West.

Since Watershed’s release in 2012, it has aired on PIVOT tv, screened in 12 countries, and in over 500 community settings, and has been selected for 52 film festivals, winning numerous awards. It provided the inspiration for launching the Raise the River campaign and continues to play a significant role in engaging support to restore the Colorado River’s delta corridor.

Upcoming

Stay up to date with screening at the WATERSHED website.