By Jayla Poppleton
Recently, the Pagosa Daily Post published several columns by Bill Hudson about the state’s water crisis that criticized the Water ’22 campaign, a statewide, grassroots initiative aimed to generate awareness among all Coloradans about our state’s water and motivate action through “22 Ways to Care About Colorado Water in 2022,” simple ways we can all conserve and protect our water.
No doubt the West’s water crisis is serious. Yet, the minimal level of impact that the vast majority of Coloradans are currently experiencing at their home or workplace can make it feel almost intangible or like some far-off future. Why should we make any different choices today as consumers of Colorado water? In addition, as state policy makers, decision makers, and water board members grapple with solutions, the average community member wonders what, if anything, is their role in making a difference for the future of Colorado water.
Water Education Colorado is the lead organization behind the Water ’22 campaign; however, dozens of additional organizations, public and private, are backing it. The reason is that we understand people’s perceptions of and relationship with water is fundamentally going to need to change if we are to be successful as a state and a broader region in implementing the kind of larger-scale solutions that the Pagosa Daily Post argues will be needed to address our warmer and drier future.
Water Education Colorado has a trusted 20-year history as the state’s leading organization for informing and engaging Coloradans on water. We offer a wide variety of programs that go much deeper into the issues and address the scale of the concerns discussed in the Pagosa Daily Post columns.
The Water ’22 campaign was never intended as a means to solve Colorado’s or the West’s water crisis. That’s a tall order for a grassroots effort that is reaching people through strategies like public service announcements, pamphlets, tabling at events, river cleanups, a book club and author talk series, and student showcase.
The goal of the Water ’22 campaign is first and foremost building awareness of water’s importance and ways that it is at risk from drought and climate change. That is followed closely by the goal to motivate and empower Coloradans to take an active role in the state’s water future — by learning about where our water comes from and getting inspired to be part of solutions. Those solutions can come at many different levels. There are big solutions, like Pagosa Springs’ possible $40 million treatment plant retrofit, and there are smaller ones. And none of these are one-size-fits-all. Every industry, community or type of water use is going to require different solutions. The context in Pagosa Springs is much different than it is in Front Range communities, for instance, where Colorado River Basin water is diverted across the Continental Divide and does not return to the Colorado River system or its native ecosystem after it is put to use.
Indoor water conservation continues to be an important tool that reduces the amount of water that needs to be diverted, stored, transported, treated and delivered (as well as the energy associated with each of those steps) in a municipal system. While that water may be treated and returned to the system, its use still comes at a cost. Indoor water conservation is a valuable tool, even if it is only a drop in the bucket when viewed in the context of a depleted Lake Powell or Lake Mead.
Outdoor water conservation is an opportunity to further move the needle. The state’s new turf replacement program and other incentive programs that already exist throughout the state locally will help make a dent on transitioning our landscapes to something with lower water demands. As our state continues to grow, our municipal demands are increasing, and are in direct competition with water for agricultural production and other values Coloradans have for their water. We need community members to support and adopt change.
Paying attention to water quality in our homes and neighborhoods is also important. Various urban communities across the state are dealing with streams impaired by polluted stormwater runoff, E. coli transmitted by animal waste, or harmful algae blooms caused by excess lawn fertilizer. Our tips to pick up after your pet and to use phosphorous-free fertilizer on lawns, applied at the right quantity and time, are meant to directly address these very real problem in order to preserve recreational access to water bodies and reduce impacts to aquatic life.
The “22 Ways to Care about Colorado Water in 2022” are meant to be a starting point to help Coloradans recognize how they interact with water and how their actions matter. Even small shifts add up, and also begin to affect mindsets and values. We’re all going to need to be part of the solution, whether it’s how we interact with water at home or in our business, how we communicate with local or state-level elected officials and other decision makers, or how we run our water utility. We all need to help stretch scarce water supplies and preserve Colorado water, and to do so to the best of our ability, using the influence and opportunities available to us from whatever seat we’re sitting in.
To that end, the Water ’22 campaign also offers resources and pathways for people, as well as options for moving beyond the ’22 Ways’, should they be inspired to make an even bigger impact or to get more deeply involved with their communities and with the water planning processes. In so doing, we’re helping more people understand how critical our water is, and to voice their opinions on our water crisis, something that must not be ignored.
Jayla Poppleton is Executive Director at Water Education Colorado.