Category: Members in the media

Anne Castle writes foreword for new book on the Colorado River

Water Policy Group member Anne Castle – former assistant secretary of the Interior for Water and Science and a Colorado River veteran – has written the foreword for a new book titled Living River – The Promise of the Mighty Colorado. The book explores the endangered Colorado River from source to sea with conservation photographer Dave Showalter, using powerful visual storytelling to illustrate how we can create a resilient watershed if we change our relationship with water.

A section of the foreword is shared below and the book is now available for purchase through Mountaineers Books.

“The Colorado River is a waterway of superlatives—the most volatile supplies, the most iconic landscapes, the most dammed, the most litigated, and, lamentably, the most threatened.  It is also a river of contrasts, encompassing thriving cities juxtaposed with large swaths of rural areas where many households lack clean drinking water, whitewater rapids providing challenge and recreation upstream of a dried-up estuary, and lush and lucrative farmland whose very viability is threatened by diminished supplies […] Imagery provides a visceral understanding of the value of this river. It deepens our sense of community and stimulates appreciation for the many ways in which this river is loved—and being loved to death. These stunning pictures and the stories that accompany them offer touchstones of understanding of the river’s dilemma and furnish a foundation for a stronger commitment to sustainability.”

Learn more about the book.

Anne Castle on the Colorado River: Can the basin find an equitable solution in sharing the river’s waters?

Water Policy Group member Anne Castle – former assistant secretary of the Interior for Water and Science and a Colorado River veteran – comments in this story by the Water Education Foundation.

She says that in order to avoid a river war, “there is a need for speed in reaching some sort of agreement to share the reduced flows of the river.”

Read the full story here.

Anne Castle on what the Biden administration might mean for water

Water Policy Group member Anne Castle recently took part in a roundtable discussion on what the Biden administration might mean for water.

The discussion, which occurred on Circle of Blue’s ‘Speaking of Water’ podcast, featured Castle and two other U.S. water experts: Heather Cooley, Director of Research at the Pacific Institute; and Eric Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project and former lead of the EPA Office of Civil Enforcement.

When asked about changes the Biden administration could make that would have significant leverage for water policy, Castle said that she hopes to see increased emphasis on long term impacts through actions such as considering the effects of climate change, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord and rethinking Trump administration policies that emphasise short term energy development.

“If we take long term impacts into account on environment, water and equity, I think that shifts the mindset to look at how various individual projects and proposals are going to impact our entire economy and population over the long term.”

Listen to the 30-minute podcast here.