Pete McBride's video "Chasing Water" highlights plight of Colorado River Delta

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Published on Thursday, 01 March 2012 23:20

Pete McBride's award-winning film "Chasing Water," a look at the state of the Colorado River, has appeared in film festivals and publications around the world. Today's article "Running Dry" from Bohemian.com explains what happens when McBride and his occassional traveling pal, source-to-sea adventurer Jon Waterman, reach the Colorado River Delta:

"The delta, we learn, used to be a braided network of lagoons where birds nested and shrimp hatched," writes Traci Hukill, author of today's article "Running Dry.". "But in the film, McBride and Waterman have to walk the last 29 miles across dried mudflats and scrubland in order to complete their mission of following the river's old course to the Sea of Cortez."

The final stretch of the aquatic portion of their journey ends in what McBride calls the "Frappuccino pit" of the Colorado River Delta, which is comprised primaily of agricultural runoff and flows so low a kayak scrapes the bottom. If you haven't yet, check out the film. The more people who know about the Colorado River Delta, the more we can do to help bring life back to the end of the Colorado.

(Photo courtesy of Sonoran Institute)