The Colorado River is Mighty No More

Trying to understand the life of the Colorado River has taken up the lifetimes of many historians, lawmakers, farmers, urban planners and artists. As this enormous river becomes the life source for 7 states and a significant portion of Northwest Mexico, every drop of it has been spoken for. It is used for recreation, for power generation, for farming, for urban sources of drinking water, for industry. It has been subjected to numerous diversions, enormous dam projects and by the time is reaches its end point near Mexico's Gulf of California, it is nothing more than a trickle in most years. Anyone who has tried to learn about The Law Of The River, a series of laws, compacts and agreements that cover all uses of the Colorado, faces a staggering project.

Two films, released by Green Planet Films, now explore vital, but separate issues revolving around environmental issues related to the Colorado. Powell to Powell:Portraits of the Upper Colorado (2013) looks at the first 600 miles of the river. A Changing Delta:Restoring the Colorado Rover Basin in Mexico (2013) covers the last journey of the same body of water. Both begin to open up our eyes and educate us to the complexities of such a valuable and ever changing source of water.
Powell to Powell features four college students who have decided to walk, kayak,swim and pontoon their way from the beginning of the river, in Rocky Mountain National Forest, to the second Lake Powell, one of the southwest's largest man made lakes, in southern Utah.

The first Lake Powell, starts at 9,500 feet above sea level, and the travelers start there. They move quickly by kayaks and start to reveal every spot where the Colorado River meets diversions. Some of these diversions are so massive that they have to walk for miles before getting back to the river. Their journey starts to reveal how the river has now been exploited for numerous uses by an ever expanding population in the state. They talk to farmers, ranchers, urban planners, eco-activists and numerous other people who all have a stake in the survival of the river. By the time they get to the end of their journey they have, in a very brief amount of time, been able to show us the beauty of the river and the land it cuts through, as well as the incredible dangers facing its very existence. By the time the second Lake Powell is reached, we can see how overwhelming the demands of man has made on this river. And we have learned about how ever increasing thirst for this limited resource stretches everyones idea about the river's survival to a series of breaking points.

800 miles further downstream, after the Colorado has been diverted for use by another 5 states, been held back by impediments as large as The Hoover Dam, we get to Colorado River Delta in Mexico.
Here is where A Changing Delta begins. Before the Colorado was reduced to less than 2% of its original flow, the wetland ecosystem and estuary was the size of Rhode Island. Devastated by the loss of water, this part of Mexico is in a state of eco-disaster and scientists, eco-activists, lawmakers, students, teachers and families earning a living off the waterway are struggling to find ways to restore their ancestral estuary.

Andy Quinn, the writer, cinematographer and editor of the film presents us with numerous individuals who are not only trying to find ways to restore the ecosystem, but who are banding together to do consciousness level raising among citizens of all ages. This integrated approach to reclaiming this vital delta is necessary, because Mexico's share of the Colorado is minuscule and much of the water that finally makes it to the end point is choked with debris, chemicals and salt. Money, as well as new laws, have to be in place, along with the political will of the populace in order to reimagine what the delta was once like and why it is necessary to try to restore it to its green and fertile past.
The energy of the Mexican attempts to reclaim their environment is met by harsh facts that surround the exploitation of the Colorado. But many of the citizens of this region now are willing to put the time, energy and political muscle in attempting to bring their almost forgotten way of life back to the present day. Without their commitment this estuary will become a desert, something it had never been until the Colorado started to be taken from them throughout the 20th century.