By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The Lower Rio Grande has been named one of the most endangered rivers in America,
and that designation could help a local water resource coalition find a focus for its efforts.
The Southwest Water Coalition, formed late last year, met May 30 and discussed
ramping up efforts to educate the public about water resource preservation and
conservation.
Jessie F. Fuentes, of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition, told members of the coalition he
believes the group can use the recent designation of the Lower Rio Grande as one of the
nation’s most endangered rivers as a springboard to educate communities in the region
about the importance of preserving and conserving their water resources.
Fuentes first spoke about the Rio Grande designation at the coalition’s meeting in April,
noting he has been working with the Rio Grande International Study Center “to bring
attention to the surface water and the groundwater and the whole water issue.”
Fuentes told coalition members, “We could use this designation as a public launching
point, to bring attention to our issues.”
The Lower Rio Grande, from Del Rio to the Gulf of Mexico, is now the fifth most
endangered river on American Rivers’ list, Fuentes told the group.
Other rivers on the list, in descending order, are the Mississippi River, the Tijuana River
in California, the rivers of south Appalachia that flow through Georgia, North Carolina,
South Carolina and Tennessee, the Passaic River of New Jersey and New York, the
Rappahannock of Virginia, the Clearwater River Basin in Idaho, the Susitna River in
Alaska, the Calcasieu River in Louisiana and the Gauley River in West Virginia.
On the American Rivers web site, Matt Rice, the southwest regional director for
American Rivers, says the Lower Rio Grande is “a river that sustains richly diverse
communities, an invaluable agricultural economy and important wildlife habitat (and) is
disappearing before our eyes.”
American Rivers lists threats to the Lower River Grande as “water scarcity,
overallocation, aging infrastructure and harmful border policies.”
The web site notes, “The Rio Grande is an icon of the West and the lifeblood of the
American Southwest, providing water to over six million people.
The river is a vital
economic, cultural and ecological resource for people of the United States and Mexico.
Despite its immense value to people and nature, the river has been under constant threat
for decades. Today, the danger is nowhere more urgent than in the Lower Rio Grande
basin where water scarcity, pollution and overallocation harm the river and communities
that rely on it. We must act now to protect the Lower Rio Grande and all life that depends
on it.”
During the Southwest Water Coalition’s meeting on May 30, Fuentes elaborated on his
ideas for using the Lower Rio Grande’s designation to further the goals and objectives of
the new coalition.
Fuentes presented the coalition members with four prospective logos he designed, each
delivering a slightly different graphic and message about the group.
In presenting the logos and their respective taglines, Fuentes urged the group “to take
slow baby steps” as it moved forward.
He said, “Let us take advantage of the designation of the Lower Rio Grande from Del Rio
to the Gulf as one of America’s 10 most endangered rivers as a launching point to
announce our presence within the realm of water resource conservancy.”
He asked group members present at the meeting to take some time to identify a logo for
the organization “that will reflect who we are and what we would like to accomplish.”
Fuentes also encouraged the coalition to engage a social media/publicity coordinator to
help the group build and maintain a campaign “to identify our thoughts publicly.” He also recommended setting a 30- to 60-day timeline to launch the campaign.
Gage Brown, an organizer with The Border Organization in Uvalde and Del Rio and a
member of the Las Moras Springs Conservation Association in Kinney County, who has
served as the mediator of the Southwest Border Coalition’s meetings, asked everyone
present at the meeting to give their thoughts on Fuentes’ logo designs and mottos.
Brown said further input would be gathered from other coalition members who were not
present at the meeting, and a logo and tagline would be selected at some future meeting.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
