Value Nature More
As the temperatures rise in my new home of Tucson, climate change, fire and drought are impacting communities across the Colorado River Basin from the Rocky Mountains to the Delta in Mexico. Our water-supply bellwethers, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are falling to historically low levels, as 40 million people brace for a new era of uncertainty.
Never in the Sonoran Institute’s 30-year history has our mission to connect people and communities with the natural resources that nourish and sustain them been as urgent. Sonoran Institute is making huge strides to support communities at this critical juncture and to keep water flowing in the Colorado River.
Sonoran Institute is making huge strides to support communities at this critical juncture and to keep water flowing in the Colorado River.
At our virtual Colorado and Arizona Growing Water Smart workshops in May and June, community leaders created plans to align urban growth and development with available water supplies. Offered in partnership with the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, our award-winning program has now reached governments representing almost two-thirds of Colorado’s population. The goal: reduce Colorado water demand per person more than 10% by 2026. Arizona is headed down the same path and we hope to introduce Growing Water Smart in California in the next 12 months.
Right outside Mexicali, we are working with our partners to promote U.S.-Mexico collaboration to reconnect the Colorado River to the sea. Thanks to our work on the bilateral agreement, known as Minute 323, to share water in the Colorado River, water is flowing in the Delta this summer. Our team has literally cleared the way for the restoration and recovery of communities and wildlife in the Delta. We are generating a circle of benefits—restoring and maintaining nature generates multiple opportunities for our communities, who in turn value nature more.
There is still much work ahead. Bringing communities together, hand by hand, to ensure drop by drop nature has a place in all water discussions.
Blog post by Mike Zellner, chief executive officer of the Sonoran Institute.
Este mensaje del blog está disponible en español: Valorando más a la naturaleza
