Celebrate Colorado River Day by Watching ‘Watershed’!

Join us in celebrating Colorado River Day by watching WATERSHED. July 25, 2018 is the 97th anniversary of this day in 1921 when U.S. federal legislation was passed to officially re-name the river from the “Grande” to the “Colorado”. We now commemorate this day by encouraging people to come together across divides in support of maintaining a sustainable Colorado River.
WATERSHED — the film that launched the Raise the River initiative to restore water and life to this region — is available for viewing on both Netflix and iTunes.
Executive produced and narrated by Robert Redford and directed by award-winning filmmaker Mark Decena, WATERSHED tells the story of the threats to the once-mighty Colorado River and offers solutions for a new water ethic for the new American West. As the most dammed, dibbed, and diverted river in the world struggles to support forty million people and the peace-keeping agreement known as the Colorado River Pact reaches its limits, WATERSHED introduces hope.
Since its’ 2012 release WATERSHED has:
  • Been an official selection of 53 film festivals, worldwide
  • Won awards at the Bend Film Festival, the Barcelona International Film Festival, the Red Rock Film Festival and the Colorado Environmental Film Festival
  • Screened in a dozen countries, in over 500 community settings (and counting)
  • Broadcast on PIVOT TV
  • Enlisted celebrity support to elevate the profile of the project, specifically Robert Redford, Will Ferrell and Kelly Salter
Join us in celebratingColorado River Day on July 25 by watching WATERSHED, or by adding it to your watch-list. And, when you add your review or rating, it helps to make the ranking higher for this award-winning story of the Colorado River Delta.
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RESILIENCE!

After a decades-long decline, a dying wetland gets a second chance, with the help of cross-border collaboration between the United States and Mexico. A comprehensive summary of the efforts of Raise the River in the Colorado Delta — including the 2014 pulse flow and its long-term effects. This story features our on-the-ground coalition team members including Jennifer Pitt, Francisco Zamora, Karen Schlatter, and Yuli Dimas — as well as many other project supporters. From onEarth by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/colorado-river-delta-proof-natures-resiliency

 

SEEKING SOLUTIONS

From our friend and supporter at the Walton Family Foundation, Ted Kowalski offers his thoughts on finding long-term solutions to the usage of water from the Colorado River: “While the challenges facing the Colorado River are significant, this does not mean that there aren’t solutions — there are. But we must improve how we use and manage the water resources of the Colorado River Basin.” From Tucson.complease read and share:

 

Why It Matters

Karen Schlatter of Sonoran Institute‘s Delta Program honors International Migratory Bird Day (May 12) by explaining the benefits to habitat and wildlife that the pulse flow and our restoration actions have had in the Colorado River Delta.
“At the Las Arenitas wastewater treatment wetland — a project Sonoran Institute has been working on since 2008 — the number of bird species went from eight to more than 160 in just over five years, with a maximum bird count of 18,000 birds!”

Read the full story here, on Mother Nature Network.

WATER IN THE WEST PROFILE

We were thrilled to see this beautiful profile of Raise the River’s Osvel Hinojosa Huerta, coalition partner Pronatura Noroeste, and their work in restoring the Colorado River Delta.

“For me, the Colorado River, it’s a symbol of hope,” he says. “It is the lifeline of the western North America. It is a very resilient ecosystem.”

Water in the West is a series of stories featured on the Walton Family Foundation Blog about the people working to address threats to water supply in the Colorado River basin and find conservation solutions that make economic sense for people and communities.

Please read, watch the video, and share!