$15,000 donation will fund Coastkeeper’s support of wastewater recycling
SAN DIEGO, September 17, 2010 – San Diego Coastkeeper®, the region’s leading environmental nonprofit protecting inland and coastal waters, won a $15,000 grant from the Save the Colorado River Campaign Fund. The donation will help Coastkeeper advocate for and educate the public about wastewater recycling—called indirect potable reuse—a reliable and safe way to diversify the region’s dwindling imported water supply.
Currently, San Diego imports more than 80 percent of its water, including transports from the Colorado River, the region’s second major source for water. According to the Save the Colorado Campaign, San Diego’s drain on the river combined with needs from other regions has pushed the Upper Colorado River at the top of the basin in Colorado to become one of the “Most Endangered Rivers in America.” The river is drained completely dry at the bottom near the Arizona/Mexico border; and in between, the river is so depleted that water and electricity supplies are threatened for the entire Southwest U.S.
“The status quo is no longer working,” said Gary Wockner, Campaign Coordinator for the Save the Colorado Campaign. “The river is nearing a complete crisis, which may also be an economic crisis for the Southwest U.S. Through the Campaign Fund’s granting efforts, we are trying to support innovative projects and stimulate new activism all along the basin to help keep the river alive.”
In addition to the grant to San Diego Coastkeeper to support recycling wastewater into city drinking water, the Save the Colorado Fund made $150,000 worth of grants to ten environmental groups from the top of the river basin all the way to the bottom – all working to protect and restore the Colorado River.
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Founded in 1995, San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s inland and coastal waters for the communities and wildlife that depend on them by blending education, community empowerment and advocacy. Visit us online at https://www.sdcoastkeeper.org. Coastkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Santa Monica Baykeeper and is licensed for use herein.
The Save the Colorado River Campaign is led by New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado. The Campaign Fund is further supported by donations from Patagonia, Clif Bar & Company, Kenney Brothers Foundation, National Geographic, Environment Now, The Environment Foundation and OARS. Save the Colorado is a Fund of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, a 501c3 charitable organization.
