Discover a Watershed Completes Colorado River Expedition
Date: 8-8-03
Press Release - For Immediate Release
Colorado River/Education/Environment/Water
Contact: Elisabeth (Lissa) or Justin Howe
(970) 375-9047
ehowe@montana.edu
jhowe@montana.edu
Title: Colorado River Expedition Follows the Steps of John Wesley Powell and Others in Quest for a Complete Understanding of the Colorado River Watershed
Between June 16th and July 30th, Discover a Watershed: The Colorado led an expedition from the headwaters to the delta of the Colorado River. The team was composed of ten competitively selected university students and four education professionals from Colorado Basin states in the United States and Mexico. Research gathered and insights gained by the participants will be incorporated into a 300-page educators guide that focuses on water resource issues specific to the Colorado River Watershed. The curriculum guide will be published in English and Spanish and will provide non-biased, science-based, multidisciplinary activities for secondary teachers throughout the basin.
Focused on gaining a holistic perspective of the watershed, the team explored the headwaters of the Colorado and Green Rivers, floated the length of the Grand Canyon, visited tribal reservations, toured agricultural fields, canoed in the delta, visited dams, diversions, and water treatment facilities, and met with a variety of local water users and resource managers.
"Everywhere we went we were welcomed by the community and were able to see the river from so many viewpoints," reflected Chrissy Jaworsky, assistant trip leader.
The team met with numerous water users from a wide spectrum of places and ways of life. Some of the people that shared their knowledge and perspectives with the group were Phil Bertrand, supervisor for the Grand Valley Irrigation Company in Grand Junction, CO; Jay Van Loan and Doug King, ranchers in Glade Park, CO; David Dawson, river ranger for Utah State Parks; Beth Sutton of Peabody Energy Company; Eric and Jane Polingyouma, Hopi educators; Bill Hedden, director of the Grand Canyon Trust; Judy Hellmich, Chief of Interpretation at Grand Canyon National Park; Pat Mulroy, Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas, NV; Ed McGrew, farmer in the Imperial Valley, CA; Juan Butrón, naturalist in Ejido Johnson, Sonora, Mexico; and José Campoy, director of the Upper Gulf of California Biosphere Reserve in Sonora, Mexico.
Prior to the trip, participants in the expedition were required to perform research on a specific Colorado Basin water resource topic of their choice. Upon reaching areas that related to these topics, students presented their research to the team. This method, combined with meetings with experts throughout the basin, helped the group to gain deep understanding of a wide range of topics. Student research included the following topics:
- Phytoremediation as a method of reducing selenium in the Grand Valley
- History of reclamation in Utah
- Coal and oil extraction on the Colorado Plateau
- Native American water rights
- Reintroduction of the California condor
- The Grand Canyon and its role in Americans' wilderness ethic
- Salton Sea fisheries
- Rates of groundwater seepage from the All American Canal to Mexico
- Ecology of Mulina Coloradensis in the Colorado River delta
- The effects of tourism on water quality
In Response to the expedition, one participant, Karen Hyun, wrote the following:
- Karen Hyun
River Voice
8/7/03
I see the world now through water goggles.
"Swim goggles, you mean?"
No, I mean water goggles. These are not for the swimming pool. They are goggles that shape the way I look at water. After our intimate expedition along the Colorado River watershed, I no longer see just the spray from the showerhead or the firing of the lawn sprinkler. Instead I envision the rush of snowmelt at the headwaters and the dry river channel in Mexico. When I drive past green alfalfa fields, I see canals and diversions from the river to the crops. When I start up my laptop, I feel the power coursing through dam turbines harnessing the work of the river. And when I see inefficiencies in water use, I see a cause to be championed. Conservation despite scarcity shall brand my goggles.
"Water glasses, you mean?"
No, I mean water goggles. These are not for clarity. They are goggles that blur the boundaries we have created. If the expedition has taught me anything it is that an understanding of a watershed requires an open mind. For we can delineate a distinction between the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin, but how helpful is this line if we do not share in a common ethic of water conservation? Similarly, the political boundary between the United States and Mexico ought to be blurred to share in a common ethic of water quality. My goggles are not transparent for the solutions to these water issues must be looked at through a different lens.
"Well then what are your goggles made of?
My water goggles are the most important thing that I've gained from our expedition. They are made of the voices of those, whom we've interviewed, with an appreciation of their local knowledge. They contain a strong glue of education that gives these voices a megaphone within the watershed. And they are framed with hope: a hope that the importance of water will be conscious in the minds and intertwined in the lives of the people in the watershed.
"Can I try them on?"
Discover a Watershed: The Colorado is a project of International Project WET, a non-profit water resources and heritage education publisher with over 30 publications (www.projectwet.org). Discover a Watershed: The Colorado is based in Durango, Colorado. You can reach Project Co-coordinators, Justin and Lissa Howe, by calling (970) 375-9047 or via e-mail at jhowe@montana.edu or ehowe@montana.edu. You can also visit the Discover a Watershed web site at www.discoverawatershed.org.
6550 Hwy 550 • Durango, Colorado 81301 • Phone: (970)375-9037
or
201 Culbertson Hall, Montana State University • Bozeman, Montana 59717-0575
Phone: (406) 994-5392 • Toll Free: (866) 337-5486 • Fax: (406) 994-1919