My Journey alongside the Colorado River

This article was originally featured July 24, 2025 in the Arizona Daily Star.

Rising up within the dry warmth of Phoenix, Arizona, my household instilled in me how vital and treasured water is—particularly within the desert. Each fall, we took a highway journey to my grandparents’ home in Nevada. I keep in mind my brother and I eagerly asking, “are we nearly to the dam!?” even once we have been most definitely not near Hoover Dam. And yearly, as we pressed our faces to the automobile home windows in kid-awe of the enormous and looming concrete buildings that fashioned Lake Mead, we seen the white bathtub ring getting bigger and bigger annually because the water lowered. 

Since 2000, I noticed firsthand and all through my childhood the affect of a shrinking Colorado River at Lake Mead. The expertise caught with me. I needed to contribute to defending our water assets, so after faculty, I entered the nonprofit sector. Because the Arizona Coverage Supervisor for Audubon Southwest, the regional workplace of Arizona and New Mexico of the Nationwide Audubon Society, I analyze and have interaction with water administration points to guard rivers, streams, groundwater, and their related habitats—for individuals and for birds. 

The Colorado River and its tributaries are ribbons of life within the arid West, offering water to greater than 35 million individuals, irrigating hundreds of thousands of acres of farms and ranches, a useful resource for the 30 Tribes within the basin, and sustaining habitat for greater than 70 % of all wildlife within the area, together with a whole lot of species of birds. Prolonged drought, warming temperatures, and overuse have considerably diminished the Colorado River. We’re at a critical juncture in the Colorado River’s history and with out motion, our future is in danger.  

The excellent news is that options exist.  

Over the previous quarter-century, the Colorado River Basin’s coverage and decision-makers have prided themselves on creating collaborative options for the water customers and environmental assets depending on this vital river and its tributaries. And right now, there’s a rising motion of younger leaders stepping as much as work collectively to avoid wasting this river—standing on the shoulders of giants with new vitality, new concepts, and a deep dedication. 

In my residence state of Arizona, we’re getting ready by investing in water resilience and bettering water administration to spice up our water outlook. A recent poll signifies that Arizonans overwhelmingly help devoted funding for water resilience and conservation tasks and are involved about Colorado River and groundwater provides being out there into the long run. 

We’ve seen some success already. One instance is thru the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona’s Water Conservation Grant Fund. I’m honored to serve on the Committee that gives suggestions and experience to find out which water conservation tasks warrant funding. To this point, the Water Conservation Grant Fund has awarded $214 million to achieve long-term water savings of up to six million acre feet in agricultural, industrial, and municipal sectors throughout the complete state. Water resilience tasks have been additionally awarded underneath the grant, together with to the Sky Island Alliance which can set up 150 erosion management buildings to sluggish water down and improve groundwater recharge close to the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. Extra conservation, elevated efficiencies, and resilience tasks are all wanted to avoid wasting water and enhance the well being of our watersheds.   

I invite others to hitch me in defending the river. Join Audubon’s Western Water Action Network to obtain well timed motion alerts and water information. You need to use your voice to weigh in on water administration selections that may form the way forward for western rivers (just like the Colorado River) and the individuals, birds, and wildlife that rely upon them. We should proceed to develop revolutionary water administration instruments, insurance policies, and applications that acknowledge the distinctive situations and differing wants of water use sectors, the Higher and Decrease Colorado River Basins, Tribes, and the surroundings.  

There may be a lot work to be executed—together with settling Tribal water rights settlements—to make sure the Colorado River and all who rely upon it will probably plan for the long run. However we will construct upon the legacy of collaboration that the Colorado River Basin has thrived on, whereas together with extra voices than up to now. Collectively, we will make sure that the Colorado River continues to maintain life, habitat, meals, fiber, tradition, and group for generations to come back.