NO WATER NO LIFE (NWNL):
This project, with 501c3 status from Wings WorldQuest1, combines photography and science to raise awareness of watershed degradation2, strategies for fresh water use and preservation, and the need for upstream-downstream partnerships. Since 2004 NWNL photographs have publicized the availability, usage and quality of African and North American watersheds via exhibits, lectures and publications. NWNL’s Science Advisor is a Columbia University forest ecologist; its Project Coordinator is a resource manager and restoration ecologist; and its two research assistants are also from Columbia University. NWNL has been granted expedition flags from The Explorers Club and Wings WorldQuest and The Scott Pearlman Field Award for its Columbia River Basin expedition.
NO WATER NO LIFE EXPEDITIONS:
Project expeditions document critical watersheds, producing:
• Research on a watershed’s value, threats, and potential solutions
• Contacts and interviews will be used to support educational outreach and solution-based partnerships.
• Photographic documentation of a watershed’s value, its condition and any degradation consequences
• Comparisons of watersheds that can generate and inform wise use and sustainable management globally
• Dissemination of imagery and information illustrating today’s fresh water crisis in order to educate the public, change individual behaviors, and generate the political will to protect our vital fresh-water resources.
In 2007, following this methodology one NWNL expedition will document the Columbia River Basin from source to sea, and a second will expand on existing work in Africa’s Omo, Blue Nile and Mara River Basins.
THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN:
The Columbia River, 1,243 miles long, is North America’s 4th largest river by volume. Its watershed spans 1 Canadian province, 7 U.S. states and 11 tribal nations, an area larger than France. Over 11 million people rely on its fresh water for livelihood and recreation. This watershed is particularly threatened by climate change, infrastructure, pollution, and resource extraction. Receding glaciers and diminishing annual snow pack are expected to reduce water supply. Infrastructure, including over 400 dams, impacts habitat, impedes fish migration and restricts traditional uses of the river. Waste from industry, a nuclear site, mines, fertilizers and organic effluents threaten water quality and aquatic habitat. Over-extraction of resources, such as timber, water and fish, weakens the economic and environmental sustainability of the watershed. Renegotiation of the Basin Treaty in 2014 could strain relations between US, Canada and Tribal Nations. Yet the watershed has spawned many public and private efforts to foster sustainable resource management, dams are being removed and the new Basin Treaty could become a positive model for responsible joint management of a shared resource.
COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN EXPEDITION:
This expedition is focusing on the impacts of 1) retreating glaciers and diminished snow packs, 2) the hydroelectric infrastructure of over 400 dams in the Basin, and 3) possible pollution from mining, agriculture, and the Hanford Nuclear Site. Restoration of the river’s free flow by dam removal, wetlands conservation, and preservation of salmon as a keystone species will be documented. A NWNL team of 2 professional photographers, a videographer, and a restoration ecologist will begin in British Columbia at the hydrologic apex of the Columbia Icefields and its 27,000-hectare wetlands. US expedition highlights will include the Grand Coulee and Bonneville Dams, the Columbia River Gorge and Astoria Estuary. Expedition outputs will include written publications, exhibits, lectures, website postings, and education outreach. NWNL’s Columbia River Basin timeline is:
Ongoing: Research by project director, project coordinator, and two research assistants
Summer 2007: “Source-to-Sea” expedition by photographers, videographer and natural resource specialist
2007: Editing of expedition photographs and field journals in preparation; Filing of WINGS flag report
2007-2008: Dissemination of images/findings via lectures, exhibits, written materials, website and curriculum
2007-2008: Evaluation of above through viewer focus groups and lecture & exhibit exit polls
The results of the Columbia River Basin expedition, a model for other watersheds with large populations, will be combined with results from other NWNL watersheds in Africa and North America as a reference for global solutions.
|
