San Diego Coastkeeper® wins grant to save the Colorado River
$15,000 donation will fund Coastkeeper’s support of waste water recycling
Staff Report
GLT News Now
09/17/2010
SAN DIEGO, September 17, 2010 – San Diego Coastkeeper®, the region’s leading environmental nonprofit protecting inland and coastal waters, won a $15,000 grant from the Save the Colorado River Campaign Fund. The donation will help Coastkeeper advocate for and educate the public about waste water recycling—called indirect potable reuse—a reliable and safe way to diversify the region’s dwindling imported water supply.
Currently, San Diego imports more than 80 percent of its water, including transports from the Colorado River , the region’s second major source for water. According to the Save the Colorado Campaign, San Diego ’s drain on the river combined with needs from other regions has pushed the Upper Colorado River at the top of the basin in Colorado to become one of the “Most Endangered Rivers in America .” The river is drained completely dry at the bottom near the Arizona/Mexico border; and in between, the river is so depleted that water and electricity supplies are threatened for the entire Southwest U.S.
“The status quo is no longer working,” said Gary Wockner, Campaign Coordinator for the Save the Colorado Campaign. “The river is nearing a complete crisis, which may also be an economic crisis for the Southwest U.S. Through the Campaign Fund’s granting efforts, we are trying to support innovative projects and stimulate new activism all along the basin to help keep the river alive.”
