Colorado River, Strong Economy, and Clean Water

Colorado River, Strong Economy, and Clean Water Go Hand In Hand

Last week we saw the unveiling of a major new economic study by Protect The Flows assessing the financial impact of the Colorado River on the region’s economy.  The results were so startling that the study’s directors called it “Colorado River Inc.: The $26 billion recreational resource employing a quarter million Americans.” Over a dozen newspapers across the basin printed a version of this story.

Read about the economic study in the Salt Lake Tribune here.

2012 is the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.  This celebration comes at the same time that the Obama Administration is trying to restore protections to the Act that were cut by previous administrations.  Clean Water is not only good for rivers, good for the economy, and good for people, it’s also good for beer!  Jenn Vervier from New Belgium Brewing (makers of Fat Tire Beer) in Fort Collins, CO, offers this eloquent Huffington Post editorial:

Read “Clean Water is Good for Business, and for Beer!” in Huffington Post.   

The past weekend, 700 river advocates from the Waterkeeper Alliance and the River Network gathered in Portland, OR, for “River Rally 2012.”  It was an amazing confab of river protectors that included eloquent speeches and presentations from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Alexandra Cousteau, and Keen Footwear CEO James Curleigh.  Alexandra Cousteau treated the crowd to one of her Colorado River videos.

Watch Alexandra Cousteau’s Colorado River video, “Age of Limits: 21st Century Water Management.”  

Also at River Rally, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson offered an extraordinary speech about the need for clean water throughout the U.S.  Lisa told about her upbringing in New Orleans, and her later work in New Jersey, as a prelude to the EPA’s work to protect clean water in rivers, lakes, and streams from coast to coast.  Here’s an interview of  Lisa by “Portland Live” where she talks about the Clean Water Act and her visit to Portland.

Read “Portland Live” interview of EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, here.

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