Colorado River Update: We’re Taking It To The Wall Against Denver Water!

Hi Friends of the Colorado River!

It is your support that keeps us working! Please donate online here: http://savethecolorado.org/donate/
Or mail back the enclosed envelope today.

First, we never stop, and we’re taking it to the wall against Denver Water’s plan to divert more water out of the Colorado River. We’re back in court against Denver Water’s proposal to massively expand Gross Dam in Boulder County. Although the project is currently being built now – with huge negative impacts to the neighboring community – we believe it’s critically important to hold Denver Water’s feet to the fire and seek the best outcome possible.

Further, our lawsuit continues to send a message to other proposed dam projects that we will do what’s right and we won’t back down to intimidation or against all odds in our work to protect rivers.

It’s truly INSANE to be building more dams to divert more water out of the Colorado River when the entire system is already collapsing and there’s not enough water to keep the current reservoirs operational. This lawsuit will play out over the next year. Stay tuned for all the action as we race forward in our “No New Dams and Diversions” campaign.

Second, our Rights of Nature for Rivers campaign got a big shot in the arm when Channel 9 News in Denver ran an exclusive story about our work. Recall that the Town of Grand Lake, Colorado, passed our “Rights of Nature for the Grand Lake Watershed” resolution. Channel 9 News highlighted the resolution and discussed the threats to Grand Lake – including development, wildfires, and more water diversions. We are thrilled to get this media attention, and we are working hard to amplify it.

Further, we are working with several other towns and cities in Colorado and Utah to pass more resolutions so we can create a movement across the Colorado River basin. Your local community deserves to have a living, flowing stream or river running through it, not a degraded, polluted, depleted waterway resembling a ditch. Please reach out to us if we can help bring Rights of Nature to your local community.  

Third, our voice speaking up for NATURE AND WILDLIFE continues to resonate across the political spectrum. In October and November, both right-wing and left-wing publications ran stories about our work protecting rivers and the non-human species that depend on rivers for survival. The left-leaning publication, Salon.com, ran a story highlighting our statements about how wildlife have been left out of the negotiations on the future of the Colorado River. Then, a few days later, right-leaning FoxNews.com ran a story about our campaign and work against river-destroying hydropower.

We like to say this isn’t about the Right or the Left, but it’s about what’s Right and Wrong, and dams and diversions are simply the wrong way to secure water supplies for people and generate electricity. So many great alternatives exist that keep rivers – the ribbons of life on the planet – alive and functioning for ALL species that depend on them for survival. We’ll continue to speak out about protecting rivers and we’ll continue to get support from the vast majority of Americans for doing so.

Fourth, I were thrilled to attend the 3^rd annual European River Summit in Brussels, Belgium, in September. I had the opportunity to give a presentation about our “Tell The Dam Truth” campaign which highlights the greenhouse gas emissions caused by dams and reservoirs across the planet. Speaking to about 175 enthusiastic young river-protection advocates in attendance from across Europe, my talk echoed the chord of resistance that more and more young people are embracing – rivers are the lifeblood of our fragile ecosystems that we depend on for survival.

Finally, as the Colorado River management system collapses into chaos, we are staying in the scrum offering insights, op-eds, and policy proposals as well as solutions. The Boulder Daily Camera recently ran my op-ed warning about the misuse of the federal government’s $4 billion bailout money. Will it be used for conservation, or to fuel growth? We are keeping a close eye on the federal money to make sure it protects the Colorado River rather than lines the pockets of developers.

Once again, let me emphasize that we are a very small, very aggressive river-protection organization, and that it is solely YOUR SUPPORT that keeps us working and fighting to protect the Colorado River!

We eschew money from major foundations with strings attached so we can speak Truth To Power to the public, media, and the courts. We are the VOICE OF THE RIVER.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

Please donate online: http://savethecolorado.org/donate/ Or mail back the enclosed envelope today.

Gary Wockner
Director
Save The Colorado