On Wednesday, July 25th, a coalition of sorts of environmental, progressive and fiscal conservative groups will draw the public’s attention to the need to focus on water conservation and cost-efficiency in San Diego. The groups will do this by holding a press conference in Mission Bay as a “Colorado River Day” event and highlight their delivery of a letter to Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar and Governor Jerry Brown outlining these concerns.
On July 25, 1921, Congress officially named the river “Colorado,” which now faces massive water supply draws to quench the thirst of the arid southwestern United States.
On July 25, 2012, Save the Colorado brings together conservationists and fiscal conservatives to ask state and federal officials – U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, Bureau of Reclamation Director Mike Connor, and the Governors in the Colorado River basin (including Governor Brown) – to implement common sense solutions like conservation and efficiency to meet the region’s future demand rather than unrealistic proposals like diverting the Mississippi River or shipping icebergs down from Alaska.
On Wednesday San Diego Coastkeeper, Save the Colorado, Surfrider San Diego, Center on Policy Initiatives, and San Diego County Taxpayers Association will host a press conference at Mission Bay Park to highlight delivering a letter to Secretary of Interior Salazar and Governor Brown about water conservation in the Colorado River basin, and will remind residents that water conservation and efficiency will lead to cost-efficient use of taxpayers dollars.
Wednesday event begins with press conference at Mission Bay Park at noon.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 25 from noon – 1 p.m. Press conference begins at noon
WHERE: Mission Bay Park at Playa Pacifica hut (first one south after Mission Bay Visitor’s Center).
Some background:
- Fifty percent of San Diego’s water comes from the Colorado River hundreds of miles away.
- Overall, nearly 30 million people in the southwest depend on the river for drinking, showering, washing clothes, watering lawns and filling swimming pools. But the supply will not last long–the river no longer reaches the ocean.
- The Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study currently underway by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation is examining the current and future imbalances in water supply and demand in the Basin over the next 50 years. The Bureau will be proposing solutions to address increasing strain upon the River’s water supply as soon as September of this year. Colorado River Day promotes realistic, commonsense solutions focusing on water conservation and efficiency.
- If we can continue to improve the efficiency of urban water use by just 1% per year, we will realize significant water savings at very low cost.
List of groups involved:
- Center on Policy Initiatives
- San Diego Coastkeeper
- Save the Colorado
- Surfrider San Diego
- San Diego Taxpayers Association,
- San Diego Green Building Council,
- Generation 3
Contact: Jamie Ortiz, JO Communications, 858-337-7466
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It’s great to see people ban together to save our natural resources. This isn’t just a problem in the West, we see it frequently in the South as well. Hopefully the organizations can raise the awareness enough to protect the river before its too late.