Where DOES our water come from?

So, I realized that I have yet to post about my collective action project, and a large part of that was due to the fact that I was struggling to think of a good idea, that went along well with water consumption and trying to scale back. Then I realized if I'm trying to be conscious about my water use and remember where it comes from each time I turn on the faucet, why shouldn't everyone else? Whether or not it cuts back on their actual consumption, at least sharing this information with people has the potential to raise awareness, which I think is the first step to behavioral change (as we're learning in this class).

With Kati, I'm going to make eye-catching signs to put up over the water fountains, bathroom sinks, and toilets in prominent-use locations (Worner being key, but also all of the academic buildings) that inform people (mostly through the use of pictures) about where our water comes from. The best part about this project is that while I know Colorado Springs gets 75% of its water from west of the Continental Divide (Western Slope), I don't know the details on how it gets here, how much energy that takes, what the costs and benefits are, etc. So that means Kati and I get to learn, and then inform! The best kind of learning.

As some preliminary research, I found this video from Colorado Springs Utilities (which, while honest about where our water comes from, definitely puts more of a positive spin on the situation than perhaps an environmentalist might). It gives a good, basic background on where our water comes from and how it gets to us. It must be noted that Colorado Springs is classified as a high desert environment, meaning that it is in a region more than 2000 ft above sea level (it's 6000 ft) that gets less than 15 inches of precipitation each year (we actually get an average of 15, but that's still fairly arid). Most major cities in the US not in the west are located on or near a major water source, but a lot of western cities are arid and far from a water source, Colorado Springs included. The Western Slope of Colorado has 80% of the state's water, yet the Front Range (eastern slope) has 80% and growing of its population...clearly a dilemma.

Those posters will be created and will be going up in the next week or so. In the meantime, just on the off-chance that you're following the State of the Rockies Project, you might know that we have two recent graduates who just recently started a float trip of the Colorado River, from Source to Sea (or, as close to the sea as they can get; the river does not currently reach the Gulf of Mexico, and hasn't since 1998). They're keeping all of us media users updated with daily spot GPS posts of their location, and just recently made this sweet video detailing the beginning of their trip. Check it out!