Contact Your Representative

Hello,

My name is _____ and I am a resident in _____. I am writing today to voice my concern about the stand still over the Colorado River and the ongoing inaction to address this urgent crisis. I want to make clear that we need the seven states to figure this out - not the federal government. And this has nothing to do with politics. 

The seven states together are the only ones who can take the actions needed to fully address the crisis in the Colorado River.  The federal government's authority to take action is limited and it is not equally distributed among the states.  Only the states can craft an adequate, equitable solution.

Our state negotiators are hung up on legal positions while the Colorado River system is crashing and the 40 million people who rely on it are bearing the burden.  We need them to stop talking about whose fault it is that we're where we are and start having meaningful conversations about how to fix it. We need to stabilize this river system and support a healthy hydrology for everyone’s sake.

There is considerably less water in the Colorado River system than there used to be, and less water than people in the seven states are accustomed to using.  Everyone has to use less water.  This means that there will be disruptions in economies - agricultural production, municipal systems, recreational uses.  The goal should be to minimize those disruptions and spread them around equitably.

It's very hard for elected and appointed officials to tell their constituents that they have to compromise and use less water.  But we constituents recognize that there is no other choice, and we want our representatives to agree to compromise, recognizing that this means less water for us.

Please pressure [negotiator] to help create a solution among the seven states before one becomes federally imposed . Failing to do this is a failure of leadership.

Thank you for your time and attention to this.