‘Shaping the Future of the Colorado River’ with American Rivers’ Matt Rice at Colorado Mountain College

Matt Rice, director of the Colorado Basin Program at the national river advocacy nonprofit American Rivers, will present "Shaping the Future of the Colorado River" at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards on April 20.
Matt Rice, director of the Colorado Basin Program at the national river advocacy nonprofit American Rivers, will present “Shaping the Future of the Colorado River” at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards on April 20.

Colorado Mountain College in Edwards will host American Rivers’ Matt Rice on April 20 when he presents a free talk about the much-debated topic of Colorado’s water.

Rice is the director of American Rivers’ Colorado Basin Program, which encompasses several projects focused on the Colorado River and its tributaries. American Rivers is a national conservation nonprofit that since 1973 has protected and restored more than 150,000 miles of rivers.

According to americanrivers.org, “The Colorado River is the lifeline of the Southwest – its waters sustaining more than 36 million people, a great majority of our nation’s food supply, and endangered fish and wildlife across seven states and two countries. The Colorado also supports a $26 billion recreation economy that supports and sustains tens of thousands of jobs across the West.”

But because demand on the river’s water is greater than its supply, the river dries up nearly 100 miles from its historic juncture at the Sea of Cortez. From the American Rivers website, “A century of water management policies and practices that have promoted wasteful water use have put the river at a critical crossroads, which is why American Rivers named the Colorado one of our nation’s Most Endangered Rivers in both 2013 and 2014.”

Rice’s talk, “Shaping the Future of the Colorado River,” is part of the Colorado Mountain College Women in Philanthropy Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public, and begins with a reception at 6:00 p.m. followed by Rice’s presentation at 6:30 p.m.

Colorado Mountain College in Edwards is at 150 Miller Ranch Road. Call 569-2900 or go to coloradomtn.edu/campuses/edwards for more information.