Colorado River below Gore Canyon
Do you know where your water comes from? Do you know what happens to our rivers and streams when they become “plumbing”?
The goal of The Western Rivers Institute is to create the needed changes in Colorado water law, traditions and uses that bring a 19th century system into line with 21st century values. Only through an informed and engaged population will we create the solutions and changes needed to succeed in developing a future of healthy rivers and communities.
The Western Rivers Institute’s mission is to inform the media, public, and opinion leaders such as city councils and civic groups that Colorado’s rivers will suffer severely or even die in the face of our projected population doubling, energy development, and climate change. The overarching message is that while we need water for our homes and economy, rivers need water too, and not as an afterthought.
Today the vast majority of otherwise well-educated citizens in Colorado are wholly ignorant of where water comes from and the real costs incurred to bring it to their homes and return it to the river. Water is removed from rivers in negotiations conducted far from public view, often with utter disregard for the cumulative impact to river health. Local agriculture accounts for most of Colorado water use, yet so much growth is anticipated that up to 70% of Colorado agriculture will be dried up by 2050. If we don’t publicize this now, especially with the current pause in growth in this economic downturn, it really will be too late. Agriculture will effectively cease to exist in Colorado.