Chart a new course for western rivers and save the Rio Grande

Across the American West the combination of climate change and a century of unsustainable water use and mismanagement has harmed the ecological health of rivers. The Rio Grande is a perfect example of this.

Use your voice to ask Congress to lead the way to heal those historic injustices and to forge a new path toward equitable and integrated river management. Please personalize the letter to your senators and representative and include what the Rio Grande (or other western rivers) mean to you and/or share what it would mean to you if this living river was lost.

Photo Credit: Jen Pelz

Recipients

Your Senators
Your Representative

To send the letter below, please provide your personal information.

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Message

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Dear Decision Makers,

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Western rivers are in peril. Over the next few months, the Rio Grande and its communities may be the first casualty as the climate, water, and biodiversity crises collide across the West.

The Rio Grande is both literally and figuratively the lifeblood of the desert Southwest. Its waters grow crops, provide drinking water to communities, sustain recreational and tourist economies, support a diverse array of plant and wildlife communities, and provide people with spiritual nourishment. Those waters are threatened like never before and I write today to ask for your leadership to ensure living rivers for generations to come.

This summer, the Rio Grande is predicted to dry through Albuquerque, New Mexico if the valley is not blessed with a strong monsoon season in July and August. This is an unprecedented event that will shock and cause harm to communities, cultures, wildlife, and many people's quality of life in central New Mexico. Unfortunately, a dry river has been the reality for communities in southern New Mexico and West Texas since Elephant Butte Dam was completed in 1916. The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo only flows during the summer irrigation season in Las Cruces and that season this year is likely only a few short weeks, maybe a month or two at best.

Change is desperately needed in how we value and manage the Rio Grande to ensure water is available to support all life and inequities in access are remedied for the generations to come. This is true across the West.

As you may know, scientists predict climate-induced flow declines by the end of the century in all western rivers, but the Rio Grande may be the most severe. To add insult to injury, the Rio Grande flow reductions will not be distributed evenly throughout the Basin as scientists predict a 25 percent decline in Colorado, 35 percent decline in the middle valley of central New Mexico, and over 50 percent decline in southern New Mexico due to the operation of the 80-year old compact that prescribes allocations. These changes in flows will impact all life including farmers, cities, outdoor recreationists, traditional communities and cultures, and the wealth of biodiversity that makes the Rio Grande Basin such a special place.

These tensions are not unique to the Rio Grande and are being felt across the American West as we grapple with tough conversations about how to sustainably manage water for all life. We know this summer will be one of the hardest the Rio Grande and its people have faced; however, these challenges also present opportunities to listen to voices unrepresented historically, to remedy injustices to both people and ecosystems, to rethink old laws and policies, and to focus on and bring urgency and funding to implement long-term solutions to chart a new course for the Rio Grande and other western rivers.

I ask for your leadership in ensuring that moving forward, water management encompasses all needs and values, including recreation, endangered species, ecosystem health, and quality of life for communities throughout the Basin. We will not find long-term solutions in a business-as-usual approach that includes a narrow set of interests. It is only through ensuring that everyone has a meaningful place at the table, a variety of perspectives, and knowledge of social as well as environmental inequities, that we can find solutions that work for us all.

The West and especially those in the Rio Grande Basin need your leadership to find an equitable path forward for a living Rio Grande. This western icon is too special to lose; it harbors too many connections. I ask that you do all that you can to protect and restore this artery of life in hopes we can protect living rivers throughout the West.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]