00:00:01.166 --> 00:00:01.999
[sound of waves crashing]

00:00:01.999 --> 00:00:03.750
NARRATOR 1: The thunder of man's
determination to conquer

00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:07.333
the Colorado reverberated
between the sheer cliffs of

00:00:07.333 --> 00:00:11.999
Black Canyon as construction
got under way.

00:00:11.999 --> 00:00:16.417
Colorado River waters that once
destroyed man and his

00:00:16.417 --> 00:00:19.041
property now serve him.

00:00:37.458 --> 00:00:40.041
NARRATOR 2: Water is essential
to all living

00:00:40.041 --> 00:00:41.792
things on our planet.

00:00:41.792 --> 00:00:47.583
It provides food, recreation,
a means for movement,

00:00:47.583 --> 00:00:50.625
culture, and life.

00:00:52.999 --> 00:00:57.083
The path of civilization can be
traced along earth's rivers

00:00:57.083 --> 00:00:58.667
and streams.

00:00:58.667 --> 00:01:02.333
It's only natural, then, that
we began changing the course

00:01:02.333 --> 00:01:04.999
of these waterways,
to meet our ever

00:01:04.999 --> 00:01:06.999
increasing needs for water.

00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:16.667
SPEAKER 3: We're building a
great empire on the edge of

00:01:16.667 --> 00:01:17.083
the desert.

00:01:17.083 --> 00:01:21.667
If we are to survive and to
grow, we must have the water

00:01:21.667 --> 00:01:24.999
that will enable us
to maintain our

00:01:24.999 --> 00:01:27.999
mastery over the desert.

00:01:29.625 --> 00:01:32.999
But we're fortunate in having
within our reach a water

00:01:32.999 --> 00:01:36.333
source capable of supplying
our needs.

00:01:36.333 --> 00:01:40.417
This source is the
Colorado River.

00:01:40.417 --> 00:01:43.500
NARRATOR 2: In the course of its
nearly 1,500 mile journey

00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:47.500
through the American West and
Mexico, more water is exported

00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:49.999
from the Colorado River's
quarter of a million square

00:01:49.999 --> 00:01:54.625
mile basin than from any other
watershed in the world.

00:01:54.625 --> 00:01:58.999
The river supplies water to
over 25 million people and

00:01:58.999 --> 00:02:01.834
irrigates millions of acres
of agriculture.

00:02:04.208 --> 00:02:08.583
Its progress has come with
a price ecologically,

00:02:08.583 --> 00:02:10.625
economically and culturally.

00:02:10.625 --> 00:02:14.583
And in no place is this more
evident than in the terminus

00:02:14.583 --> 00:02:18.458
of the river, the delta.

00:02:18.458 --> 00:02:21.917
In the span of a single
generation, the people of the

00:02:21.917 --> 00:02:24.000
delta have witnessed
profound changes.

00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.959
GASTON LUKEN: The Colorado River
dumped huge volumes of

00:02:28.959 --> 00:02:31.709
water into the upper
Gulf of California.

00:02:31.709 --> 00:02:36.625
And the delta was literally
awash with water.

00:02:36.625 --> 00:02:38.458
SPEAKER 4: [speaking spanish]

00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:44.625
SPEAKER 5: [speaking spanish]

00:02:55.041 --> 00:02:57.667
NARRATOR 2: Lacking the
sustained, historical flow of

00:02:57.667 --> 00:03:01.750
water, portions of the delta
have completely dried up.

00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:06.959
And in most years, vast salt
flats and sandbars prevent the

00:03:06.959 --> 00:03:09.125
river from reaching the sea.

00:03:09.125 --> 00:03:13.458
As recently as 80 years ago, the
delta was an estuary the

00:03:13.458 --> 00:03:16.834
size of Rhode Island, extending
hundreds of miles

00:03:16.834 --> 00:03:19.792
inland from the Gulf
of California.

00:03:19.792 --> 00:03:23.792
The American conservationist
Aldo Leopold described it as

00:03:23.792 --> 00:03:29.041
"a wilderness that meandered in
awesome jungles." Much of

00:03:29.041 --> 00:03:31.166
this wilderness has disappeared

00:03:31.166 --> 00:03:32.542
along with the water.

00:03:32.542 --> 00:03:35.166
GASTON LUKEN: There came a point
in time when the farmers

00:03:35.166 --> 00:03:39.667
began to say we're throwing
water into the ocean, like

00:03:39.667 --> 00:03:40.999
throwing something
into the trash.

00:03:40.999 --> 00:03:44.208
So that's why you have all these
process of building dams

00:03:44.208 --> 00:03:49.542
and saving water and using
water for man.

00:03:49.542 --> 00:03:50.667
But look at the result.

00:03:50.667 --> 00:03:53.375
The delta almost went dead.

00:03:53.375 --> 00:03:55.999
SPEAKER 1: [speaking spanish]

00:03:57.999 --> 00:03:59.750
NARRATOR 2: The serpentine
river channels have been

00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:05.458
replaced by thousands of
kilometers of man-made canals,

00:04:05.458 --> 00:04:09.999
most of them beginning here
at the Morelos Dam on the

00:04:09.999 --> 00:04:12.999
US-Mexico border.

00:04:12.999 --> 00:04:17.083
Francisco Zamora directs the
Sonoran Institute's Colorado

00:04:17.083 --> 00:04:19.999
River Delta Legacy Program.

00:04:19.999 --> 00:04:22.959
One goal of the program is
to release more water

00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:23.917
through this dam.

00:04:23.917 --> 00:04:25.166
FRANCISCO ZAMORA-ARROYO:
It's the last time in

00:04:25.166 --> 00:04:26.542
the Colorado River.

00:04:26.542 --> 00:04:30.625
On this side, what we see
is the river channel.

00:04:30.625 --> 00:04:34.834
Most of the time the gates are
closed, because all the water

00:04:34.834 --> 00:04:37.834
is allocated to the cities
and agriculture.

00:04:42.083 --> 00:04:43.999
NARRATOR 2: Well over one
million people live in

00:04:43.999 --> 00:04:46.999
Mexicali and the surrounding
region.

00:04:46.999 --> 00:04:48.875
And they all need water.

00:04:48.875 --> 00:04:52.208
Much like their US neighbors,
the people of Mexico chose

00:04:52.208 --> 00:04:55.375
economic growth over
environmental impact.

00:04:57.125 --> 00:05:00.667
And it's not hard to find
evidence of the result.

00:05:05.583 --> 00:05:08.125
LUTHER PROPST: 15 years ago,
most of the scientific

00:05:08.125 --> 00:05:11.709
community as well as the water
managers thought that the

00:05:11.709 --> 00:05:12.250
delta was dead.

00:05:12.250 --> 00:05:13.458
FRANCISCO ZAMORA-ARROYO:
That wasn't true.

00:05:13.458 --> 00:05:18.083
What it was, it was a
significant deterioration of

00:05:18.083 --> 00:05:18.709
the habitat.

00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:22.917
For 20 years, there was no water
running into the delta.

00:05:22.917 --> 00:05:24.583
But in the '90s, there
were floods.

00:05:24.583 --> 00:05:27.709
A lot of water actually made it
to this dam and reached all

00:05:27.709 --> 00:05:29.834
the way to the Gulf
of California.

00:05:29.834 --> 00:05:31.834
OSVEL HINOJOSA HUERTA: The
main lesson came from the

00:05:31.834 --> 00:05:35.875
water releases from
1997 to 2000.

00:05:35.875 --> 00:05:37.291
Those were very wet years.

00:05:37.291 --> 00:05:37.959
It was amazing.

00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:41.583
So after many years of drought,
here comes this

00:05:41.583 --> 00:05:43.542
water, these releases,
and boom!

00:05:43.542 --> 00:05:46.750
The repairing corridor just
revegetated itself.

00:05:46.750 --> 00:05:50.750
FRANCISCO ZAMORA-ARROYO: And
that created new wetlands and

00:05:50.750 --> 00:05:54.375
really show not only scientists
but the public and

00:05:54.375 --> 00:05:58.458
the governments from Mexico and
the US that the delta was

00:05:58.458 --> 00:06:00.917
a resilient ecosystem.

00:06:00.917 --> 00:06:05.999
If you add water to the delta,
the habitat will come back.

00:06:05.999 --> 00:06:07.959
OSVEL HINOJOSA HUERTA: And then
we met the people also

00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:10.959
from the region, from government
touches as well,

00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:12.250
also from the communities.

00:06:12.250 --> 00:06:16.583
And we also learned that there
was a lot of interest in

00:06:16.583 --> 00:06:17.000
restoration.

00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.834
Then is when we decided that
yeah, let's do this.

00:06:18.834 --> 00:06:20.583
LUTHER PROPST: More people
started looking at the delta.

00:06:20.583 --> 00:06:23.583
And there's been an incredible
variety of people from both

00:06:23.583 --> 00:06:27.250
sides of the border working to
understand the delta, to

00:06:27.250 --> 00:06:31.583
restore the delta, to engage
local people in understanding

00:06:31.583 --> 00:06:32.000
the region.

00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.542
EDITH SANTIAGO: So the goal is
to have a benefit both for

00:06:35.542 --> 00:06:37.291
wildlife and also
for communities.

00:06:37.291 --> 00:06:39.208
FRANCISCO ZAMORA-ARROYO: It's
not only about the birds.

00:06:39.208 --> 00:06:41.875
It's not only about the trees.

00:06:41.875 --> 00:06:44.583
It's about the people.

00:06:44.583 --> 00:06:47.000
NARRATOR 2: The people,
like the river, are

00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.166
all too often forgotten.

00:06:49.166 --> 00:06:51.834
But they are very
much still here.

00:06:51.834 --> 00:06:55.041
Colin Soto is a member of the
Cucapah tribe who have

00:06:55.041 --> 00:06:58.458
subsisted here since a time
that predates any of the

00:06:58.458 --> 00:07:02.041
boundaries or borders
we now know.

00:07:02.041 --> 00:07:05.208
COLIN SOTO: The delta
is my home.

00:07:05.208 --> 00:07:07.083
This was the traditional
tribal lands.

00:07:07.083 --> 00:07:11.000
And we believe the Cucapah
people self are born here and

00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:11.750
in the mountains.

00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:13.959
ANTONIA TORRES:
[speaking spanish]

00:07:23.458 --> 00:07:26.166
INOCENCIA GONZALEZ:
[speaking spanish]

00:07:40.041 --> 00:07:42.000
ANTONIA TORRES:
[speaking spanish]

00:08:10.999 --> 00:08:13.166
NARRATOR 2: Some of the Cucapah
have traded fish

00:08:13.166 --> 00:08:15.458
markets for craft fairs.

00:08:17.542 --> 00:08:22.542
But for other fishermen in the
delta, that is not an option.

00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:37.375
FLORENTINO FLORES TORRES:
[speaking spanish]

00:09:17.999 --> 00:09:20.333
NARRATOR 2: Unable to make
a living as a fisherman,

00:09:20.333 --> 00:09:23.875
Florentino has become a steward
of the Colorado River,

00:09:23.875 --> 00:09:27.999
leading wildlife tours in the
parts that still flow.

00:09:29.542 --> 00:09:32.542
He works with the Sonoran
Institute to educate others

00:09:32.542 --> 00:09:35.583
about this disappearing
wilderness, and how there's

00:09:35.583 --> 00:09:37.999
still time to turn
things around.

00:09:37.999 --> 00:09:40.166
And he's not alone.

00:09:41.999 --> 00:09:47.709
Juan Butron of Pronatura
Noroeste and Guadalupe Fonseca

00:09:47.709 --> 00:09:52.500
with the Sonoran Institute are
also finding new ways to live

00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:56.999
off the land by restoring it.

00:10:03.999 --> 00:10:05.999
GUADALUPE FONSECA:
[speaking spanish]

00:10:19.458 --> 00:10:21.917
JOSE JUAN BUTRON RODRIGUEZ:
[speaking spanish]

00:10:33.959 --> 00:10:36.250
NARRATOR 2: There's a burgeoning
ecotourism economy,

00:10:36.250 --> 00:10:39.999
where local guides take tourists
to restored sites

00:10:39.999 --> 00:10:41.583
within the delta.

00:10:42.917 --> 00:10:45.999
Here, they may glimpse what this
entire region looked like

00:10:45.999 --> 00:10:48.250
when water was still
plentiful.

00:10:53.999 --> 00:10:56.999
One example is the Cienega
de Santa Clara.

00:10:56.999 --> 00:11:02.458
Until the 1970s, this area was
just a 500-acre remnant of a

00:11:02.458 --> 00:11:04.999
once vibrant ecosystem.

00:11:04.999 --> 00:11:08.083
Then it started receiving
agricultural

00:11:08.083 --> 00:11:09.250
runoff from the US.

00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:14.999
The Cienega transformed into
a 15,000-acre wetland of

00:11:14.999 --> 00:11:18.041
international ecological
importance.

00:11:18.041 --> 00:11:21.917
Las Serranitas, on the other
side of the delta from the

00:11:21.917 --> 00:11:24.208
Cienega, also shows
the resilient

00:11:24.208 --> 00:11:26.166
potential of this region.

00:11:26.166 --> 00:11:29.999
Here, human waste is treated
through a series of ponds,

00:11:29.999 --> 00:11:33.667
then released into a wetland
to be filtered naturally.

00:11:36.291 --> 00:11:40.750
There are over 140 species of
birds, scores of bird watchers

00:11:40.750 --> 00:11:43.875
and tourists and the economic
benefit they

00:11:43.875 --> 00:11:45.500
bring to the region.

00:11:47.999 --> 00:11:51.750
And it all started
quite simply.

00:11:51.750 --> 00:11:54.083
OSVEL HINOJOSA HUERTA: Water
is the key element in

00:11:54.083 --> 00:11:55.999
restoration in the Colorado
River Delta.

00:11:55.999 --> 00:11:58.999
And an organization or a person
can purchase water

00:11:58.999 --> 00:12:02.166
rights in the Mexicali Valley,
and these are permanent

00:12:02.166 --> 00:12:02.875
acquisitions.

00:12:02.875 --> 00:12:04.999
So you have a guaranteed
flow every year.

00:12:04.999 --> 00:12:08.583
And well, the way it works is
that you can purchase what is

00:12:08.583 --> 00:12:12.375
the equivalent of one hectare
of water rights that can be

00:12:12.375 --> 00:12:15.999
separated from the land and
dedicated anywhere within the

00:12:15.999 --> 00:12:17.959
irrigation district, including
the river.

00:12:17.959 --> 00:12:21.709
That's exactly what we have
been doing, purchasing

00:12:21.709 --> 00:12:22.542
hectares of water rights.

00:12:22.542 --> 00:12:26.999
And we are dedicating those
water rights for the river.

00:12:26.999 --> 00:12:29.709
LUTHER PROPST: We're securing it
just one small acquisition

00:12:29.709 --> 00:12:33.125
at a time, but we need to amend
the treaty between the

00:12:33.125 --> 00:12:37.542
US and Mexico that would allow
water that we buy in the open

00:12:37.542 --> 00:12:41.375
market from willing sellers in
the US to allow that water to

00:12:41.375 --> 00:12:44.291
flow into Mexico for ecological
purposes.

00:12:44.291 --> 00:12:47.417
GASTON LUKEN: We have to work
not throughout borders, but

00:12:47.417 --> 00:12:51.250
throughout the ecosystems
themselves, as if the borders

00:12:51.250 --> 00:12:53.583
did not exist.

00:12:53.583 --> 00:12:56.792
NARRATOR 2: The goal is to
redefine what is valuable and

00:12:56.792 --> 00:13:02.250
to extract wealth not from the
environment but with it.

00:13:02.250 --> 00:13:06.291
And water is the currency
with which to do that.

00:13:06.291 --> 00:13:09.917
It's up to local organizations
like Pronatura and the Sonoran

00:13:09.917 --> 00:13:13.542
Institute to decide how
to use the water.

00:13:15.291 --> 00:13:18.375
With some of the already
allocated water, restoration

00:13:18.375 --> 00:13:21.999
assistance like David Rodriguez
are reestablishing

00:13:21.999 --> 00:13:25.041
native growth along the
banks of the river.

00:13:25.041 --> 00:13:27.458
DAVID ALFARO RODRIGUEZ:
[speaking spanish]

00:13:47.750 --> 00:13:49.583
NARRATOR 2: Staff and volunteers
with the Sonoran

00:13:49.583 --> 00:13:52.667
Institute use the water
to help recreate

00:13:52.667 --> 00:13:54.375
some of the lost habitat.

00:13:54.375 --> 00:13:56.750
The trimmings are then taken
to a local greenhouse and

00:13:56.750 --> 00:14:01.583
nursery where the work
continues, all of it by hand.

00:14:11.999 --> 00:14:14.333
DAVID ALFARO RODRIGUEZ:
[speaking spanish]

00:14:55.542 --> 00:14:58.083
NARRATOR 2: The cultivated
saplings are then transplanted

00:14:58.083 --> 00:15:01.750
onto restoration sites like
this one, adjacent to the

00:15:01.750 --> 00:15:05.999
natural river channel and near
an irrigation canal from which

00:15:05.999 --> 00:15:08.208
water can be diverted.

00:15:08.208 --> 00:15:11.542
By filling sites with native
vegetation and the purchased

00:15:11.542 --> 00:15:14.999
water to sustain it, the hope
is to create a system of

00:15:14.999 --> 00:15:19.709
regional parks, like the CIenega
and Las Serranitas and

00:15:19.709 --> 00:15:23.083
to attract wildlife and the
people to enjoy it.

00:15:27.999 --> 00:15:29.999
GUADALUPE FONSECA:
[speaking spanish]

00:15:37.875 --> 00:15:39.709
NARRATOR 2: But for the younger
generation, there are

00:15:39.709 --> 00:15:43.250
no memories of the river,
because it hasn't existed in

00:15:43.250 --> 00:15:44.417
their lifetime.

00:15:44.417 --> 00:15:47.500
They don't associate the water
for their homes and their

00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:50.208
schools with the
Colorado River.

00:15:52.709 --> 00:15:55.999
That's something that Edith
Santiago hopes to change.

00:15:55.999 --> 00:15:58.834
EDITH SANTIAGO: We came to give
the students a talk about

00:15:58.834 --> 00:16:01.999
the Colorado River because they
don't know that they have

00:16:01.999 --> 00:16:05.999
lived so close to the river, so
we just came here to talk

00:16:05.999 --> 00:16:10.625
about it and to invite them to
join the ecological group we

00:16:10.625 --> 00:16:12.999
have created here
at the school.

00:16:12.999 --> 00:16:14.625
[speaking spanish]

00:17:09.999 --> 00:17:14.500
What we want the kids to know is
that they live really near

00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:19.667
to the river, that they can do
something for the river, and

00:17:19.667 --> 00:17:23.542
that they will be the next
generation that will have to

00:17:23.542 --> 00:17:28.250
work on the river issues like
water, ecology and the

00:17:28.250 --> 00:17:31.709
community that lives along the
river or near the river that

00:17:31.709 --> 00:17:35.166
uses the river, that if the
river is in good condition,

00:17:35.166 --> 00:17:39.834
they can get something, let's
say, money, from it.

00:17:41.667 --> 00:17:43.959
NARRATOR 2: The thinking is
that when people value the

00:17:43.959 --> 00:17:49.125
ecosystem, it pays them back
in jobs, directly and

00:17:49.125 --> 00:17:51.000
indirectly.

00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.750
FRANCISCO ZAMORA-ARROYO:
Everyone benefits from having

00:17:52.750 --> 00:17:56.250
a healthy ecosystem
here in the delta.

00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:58.417
NARRATOR 2: Another benefit of
bringing water back to the

00:17:58.417 --> 00:18:02.625
delta can be seen where the
Colorado River ends in the

00:18:02.625 --> 00:18:04.583
upper Gulf of California.

00:18:04.583 --> 00:18:08.333
Here, in the town of El Golfo
on mainland Mexico and San

00:18:08.333 --> 00:18:12.083
Felipe in northern Baja,
fishermen make a

00:18:12.083 --> 00:18:13.999
living off the delta.

00:18:13.999 --> 00:18:17.458
In the same historic floods of
the '90s that brought life to

00:18:17.458 --> 00:18:20.999
the delta upstream, made
for more plentiful

00:18:20.999 --> 00:18:22.792
fishing down here.

00:18:24.417 --> 00:18:26.999
LUTHER PROPST: The fishermen and
the shrimpers in the upper

00:18:26.999 --> 00:18:31.083
Gulf of California saw that
these floods were causing

00:18:31.083 --> 00:18:35.125
better shrimping, better fishing
as fresh water made it

00:18:35.125 --> 00:18:37.166
into the estuary.

00:18:37.166 --> 00:18:42.041
NARRATOR 2: And better catches
here means a better life.

00:18:42.041 --> 00:18:44.875
MANUEL MARTINEZ:
[speaking spanish]

00:18:58.667 --> 00:19:01.542
NARRATOR 2: For a few weeks a
year, the corvina, a species

00:19:01.542 --> 00:19:04.208
of fish that used to run to the
northernmost stretches of

00:19:04.208 --> 00:19:08.208
the delta, return to spawn in
the tidal remnants of the

00:19:08.208 --> 00:19:09.999
Colorado River.

00:19:15.458 --> 00:19:19.000
The fishermen of El Golfo take
advantage of the small window

00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:20.999
when the Corina are running.

00:19:23.999 --> 00:19:28.125
They fish day and night in small
[spanish], hauling their

00:19:28.125 --> 00:19:30.709
catch in by hand.

00:19:30.709 --> 00:19:33.792
In the past, there were many
more days a year when the

00:19:33.792 --> 00:19:36.333
fishermen could haul catches
like this one.

00:19:36.333 --> 00:19:40.208
And in years with heavy
rainfall, they still can.

00:19:48.583 --> 00:19:50.500
It's a very long day's work.

00:19:55.999 --> 00:20:00.542
But a catch of this size puts
money in everybody's pockets

00:20:00.542 --> 00:20:02.750
as well as food on the table.

00:20:11.999 --> 00:20:16.583
One day ends in El Golfo and
another begins across the Gulf

00:20:16.583 --> 00:20:17.709
in San Felipe.

00:20:17.709 --> 00:20:21.709
But the story of subsistence
is very much the same.

00:20:31.333 --> 00:20:33.667
GUILLERMO BORQUEZ:
[speaking spanish]

00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:17.083
NARRATOR 2: Everyone here would
love to say that this is

00:21:17.083 --> 00:21:18.999
where the Colorado River ends.

00:21:18.999 --> 00:21:22.999
But in most years, that
just isn't true.

00:21:22.999 --> 00:21:25.750
It's hard to imagine a time when
these muddy flats were

00:21:25.750 --> 00:21:28.959
covered with water
and vegetation.

00:21:28.959 --> 00:21:30.999
And they may never be again.

00:21:32.542 --> 00:21:35.667
COLIN SOTO: But we can preserve
what is left and

00:21:35.667 --> 00:21:40.917
build up to in certain areas,
where we can say look, this is

00:21:40.917 --> 00:21:41.458
how it used to be.

00:21:41.458 --> 00:21:44.999
GASTON LUKEN: It was so full
of life that when I see it

00:21:44.999 --> 00:21:49.458
now, I think I could understand
why we should be

00:21:49.458 --> 00:21:51.667
doing what we're doing.

00:21:51.667 --> 00:21:54.792
OSVEL HINOJOSA HUERTA: This area
has seen drastic changes

00:21:54.792 --> 00:21:55.959
in the last 100 years.

00:21:55.959 --> 00:21:57.999
It's very interesting that at
the same time, it still

00:21:57.999 --> 00:22:02.583
maintains some of the most
important environmental values

00:22:02.583 --> 00:22:05.041
in the region and in
the continent.

00:22:05.041 --> 00:22:10.000
It provides wintering habitat
for nearly half a million

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.625
migratory birds every winter.

00:22:12.625 --> 00:22:15.999
It's a mosaic of different
wetland ecosystems

00:22:15.999 --> 00:22:20.999
transitioning from riparian,
freshwater wetlands, brackish

00:22:20.999 --> 00:22:25.458
wetlands and into an estuary
zone and the upper Gulf of

00:22:25.458 --> 00:22:25.999
California.

00:22:25.999 --> 00:22:29.000
So that diversity of habitat
types brings a

00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:29.999
richness to the region.

00:22:29.999 --> 00:22:33.208
NARRATOR 2: The key will be to
engage local people with the

00:22:33.208 --> 00:22:36.999
delta and develop the
connections that have been

00:22:36.999 --> 00:22:37.999
missing for some time.

00:22:37.999 --> 00:22:40.291
FRANCISCO ZAMORA-ARROYO: My
father used to take me

00:22:40.291 --> 00:22:43.250
camping, fishing, when
I was a kid.

00:22:43.250 --> 00:22:43.999
So I enjoy that.

00:22:43.999 --> 00:22:46.959
I got actually connected
to nature.

00:22:46.959 --> 00:22:51.999
And here in the delta, many
people didn't have that

00:22:51.999 --> 00:22:52.500
opportunity.

00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:56.583
But now, with the restoration
efforts, I think people are

00:22:56.583 --> 00:23:04.250
actually impressed and willing
and committed to support and

00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:07.375
participate in restoration
efforts.

00:23:07.375 --> 00:23:09.500
FLORENTINO FLORES TORRES:
[speaking spanish]

00:23:13.959 --> 00:23:16.792
NARRATOR 2: In their outreach
with local school children,

00:23:16.792 --> 00:23:20.709
Florentino and Edith are
beginning to see this culture

00:23:20.709 --> 00:23:23.999
change take root.

00:23:23.999 --> 00:23:26.917
FLORENTINO FLORES TORRES:
[speaking spanish]

00:23:31.999 --> 00:23:36.875
GASTON LUKEN: I think we have
refocused the issue of water

00:23:36.875 --> 00:23:38.291
and the issue of conservation
itself.

00:23:38.291 --> 00:23:42.000
COLIN SOTO: There's a waking up
of a lot of people that are

00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:48.166
trying working hard to revive
parts of the river and that's

00:23:48.166 --> 00:23:52.625
what I dedicate the rest
of my life to.

00:23:52.625 --> 00:23:54.999
NARRATOR 2: The people of the
Colorado River Delta have

00:23:54.999 --> 00:23:58.792
proved that their memories and
their desire for change are as

00:23:58.792 --> 00:24:02.999
resilient as the ecosystem
itself, and that with a little

00:24:02.999 --> 00:24:06.125
water and a lot of effort, this
land that has nourished

00:24:06.125 --> 00:24:12.083
them for centuries can sustain
a new generation in new ways.

00:24:12.083 --> 00:24:15.999
Their success can be measured by
the reach of their efforts

00:24:15.999 --> 00:24:18.000
in this ever changing delta.

00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:24.542
And piece by piece, the Colorado
River can once again

00:24:24.542 --> 00:24:25.999
run to the sea.