Imagining a New Future for the Colorado River Basin
This story is from Planet Women’s 2022 Mid-Year Report.
In December 2021, Planet Women attended the biggest conference for Colorado River water users. We spent time with our partners at the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network (IWLN) and heard directly from the people who rely on water from the Colorado. More than 1,000 people crowded the conference hall in Las Vegas eager to swap stories and share ideas. Tribal leaders in beautiful squash-blossom necklaces mingled with climate and water scientists, U.S. and Mexican government officials, and ranchers in cowboy hats and boots. Despite the vast interests represented, every panel hinged on the perilous impacts of megadrought and climate change. The question on everyone’s mind: how do we adapt to this new normal?
Solutions will require collaboration, compromise and shared understanding between the very diverse parties who rely on water rights—from Mexicali to Wyoming. To achieve success, more women and diverse leaders must be included at every level of decision-making. While smart, capable leaders are in abundance, many women we’ve spoken to report that there is an acute lack of support, mentorship and development opportunities for women in the water world, especially in rural areas.
Planet Women is investing in local, women environmental leaders and supporting projects that increase access to clean drinking water, combine Indigenous knowledge and empirical science to determine conservation strategies, and build a holistic understanding of the river system. One of our key allies in this effort is the IWLN and its leaders: Crystal Tulley-Cordova (Navajo), Nora McDowell (Fort Mojave), Lorelei Cloud (Southern Ute), and Heather Tanana (Navajo).
Thanks to our donors, Planet Women was able to offer funds to help launch IWLN in 2021. IWLN aims to create a platform for Indigenous women working on water, natural resources, and environmental issues to mentor and inspire each other, exchange information, build and refine leadership skills, and facilitate a succession of Native women in positions of leadership in their community. Over the last year, IWLN leaders have spread the word about their group and surveyed Native women to better understand their needs. Mentorship opportunities and skill training were cited as top priorities, so that’s where the IWLN is focusing its initial offerings.
We are also lucky to have the IWLN’s partnership on Planet Women’s Colorado River Overflight Project. This project, which involves the first-ever flyover of the entire Colorado River with women pilots, uses the power of storytelling to help secure the health of the Colorado River for many generations. Volunteer pilots take flight with Indigenous women and youth passengers who get a birds-eye view of parts of the river that hold personal importance to their lives and heritage. Thank you, Nora, Crystal, Lorelei and Heather, for flying with us and connecting us with many of our passengers!
(From left) Southern Ute Tribal Councilor Lorelei Cloud, volunteer pilot Cassie Burgess, and passenger Lexy Young (Southern Ute). © Planet Women.
We invite everyone participating in the Overflight to share stories and art about the river, drawing on their inspiration from the flights and from their experiences out in nature, as well as their traditional, cultural and scientific knowledge. In June 2022, Planet Women hosted a storytelling workshop to inspire people to capture their experiences in narrative form. Later this year, we hope to display these stories and artworks in digital form, so that they can inform and inspire everyone.
As of July, we are almost finished conducting our flights over the basin. To date, volunteer pilots have flown 20 flights and soared over more than 4700 miles. We are planning the final four flights, which will cover Santa Fe, Lake Havasu, and the Colorado River’s headwaters. You can immerse yourself in this exciting project on ArcGIS Story Maps. We look forward to sharing what’s next for the project after the flights are complete!
Flying over the Colorado River in May 2022. © Kristine Zeigler
In the news! Check out stories on Planet Women’s U.S. Southwest projects:
Native News Online featured the Planet Women overflight and passenger Lorelei Cloud of the Southern Ute Tribal Council and IWLN.
The Forever Our Rivers podcast interviewed Crystal Tulley-Cordova, principal hydrologist of Navajo Nation and IWLN founder; Planet Women’s Director of Development & Marketing Joanna Marshall; and Planet Women’s project manager and aviation expert Amber Grey.
Divine Windy Boy shares her overflight experience in the Southern Ute Drum.
Read about how Blue Baldwin and her women-led water team are getting creative with water conservation in Tucson, AZ—made possible by funding from Planet Women, Sonoran Institute and the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy.
We’re celebrating Planet Women’s two-year anniversary this month! As you look back at all that’s been accomplished, please help continue the momentum by making a secure donation below.
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