Take Action

Join the movement and get involved with some of Viva la Verde’s many partners. This has been and will continue to be a volunteer driven film project. It was made by a community of people who love rivers. Our film and educational resources are designed to educate and inspire communities to work together to protect our water resources before it's too late.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better it's not.

Dr. Seuss

Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.

Edward Abbey

 

TOP 10 things you can do to help the Verde River

  1. Get involved and join a local environmental or water advocacy group.
  2. Vote for Rivers: elect politicians that support the environment. Write to your state representatives and tell them the Verde River is important to you.
  3. Audit your water use: read your water bill
  4. Reduce your consumption - Strive for the goal: 35 Gallons per citizen per day (GPCD)
  5. Reduce Groundwater Pumping: Don’t use groundwater for landscapes
  6. Use drought-tolerant native plants - Use no groundwater outside.
  7. Rainwater Harvesting - Produce your own water for landscape use.
  8. Participate in Restoration - Rivers need volunteers
  9. Demand the water you save is water allocated for rivers and wildlife
  10. Protect - Support Wild and Scenic Rivers, and all remaining wild rivers.

 

Write or call your elected representatives!

The most effective way to let legislators know what you want is to call their office and speak to their staff or leave a voice message. Personal letters or emails expressing your own thoughts in your own words are also excellent. Sending multiple letters, each with a single talking point, is more effective than lumping many requests into one letter. Signing online petitions is the least effective, but it is better than nothing.

Ballotpedia can help you find your elected representatives. Click the "Find my Reps" button below and input your address. They will list every single one of your elected officials. Then click on "Talking Points" and decide what you would like to tell your reps. Start making those calls and/or emails.

Find my Reps Talking Points

 

Take the water conservation challenge!

Pledge to reduce your personal water use! Water is the most essential and the most limited resource in the arid southwest. Somewhere near you, there is a river or spring that is full of wildlife that needs your care and protection – like the San Pedro, the upper Gila, and many other small yet important streams.

Take the Pledge!

 

Get Involved with a Local Organization

A lot of organizations care about our water future here in Arizona. I hope you visit their sites and maybe even lend a hand. CLick their name to visit their site in a new window.


Friends of the Verde River

Friends of the Verde River works collaboratively to restore habitat, sustain flows and promote community stewardship to support a healthy Verde River system.


The Citizens Water Advocacy Group

CWAG promotes a sustainable water future in the Upper Verde River Basin and the Prescott Active Management Area.


Prescott Creeks

We are committed to protecting and restoring our waters (creeks, rivers, and lakes), and the wetlands and watersheds which support them.


Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection

The Coalition works to create a community where: ecosystem health is protected; nature and healthy wild animal populations are valued; and residents, visitors, and future generations can all drink clean water, breathe clean air, and find wild places to roam.


Center for Biological Diversity

Diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.


Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance

Dedicated to uniting conservation minded individuals, groups, and agencies to protect a threatened riparian ecosystem and its supporting watershed.


Community Water Coalition

The Community Water Coalition envisions southern Arizona as a model community for sustainable use of water resources, understanding that the long-term health and prosperity of human populations is dependent upon healthy watersheds and ecosystems.


Sky Island Alliance

From butterflies in our backyards to jaguars roaming remote hillsides on both sides of the border, with your help we will provide safe passage and restore vital our Sky Island waters.


Cascabel Conservation Association

Dedicated to the collaborative stewardship of the Middle San Pedro River watershed in a way that promotes the health, stability and diversity of the whole community, including its earth, waters, plants, and animals.


Friends of the Santa Cruz River

Our non-profit works with riverside landowners, government agencies, and other citizens and community groups to keep the river flowing, its banks clean and green, and its environment bountiful to both wildlife and people.


American Rivers

American Rivers combines national advocacy with field work in key river basins to deliver the greatest impact. We are practical problem solvers with positions informed by science. With our expertise and outreach, we work to protect and restore our nation’s rivers.


Verde River Institute

Connecting people and resources to promote a healthy, flowing Verde River and a stronger, greater Verde community.


Gila Conservation Coalition

A partnership of local environmental and conservation groups and concerned individuals that promote conservation of the Upper Gila River Basin and surrounding lands.


Spring Stewardship institute

The Springs Stewardship Institute is working to improve communication among springs managers about efforts to improve understanding and management of springs, and the potential for collaboration and partnership.


The Nature Conservancy

Conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends


The Sierra Club

The Grand Canyon Chapter seeks to engage its members and the public in protecting our communities; public lands including national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges; rivers and streams; and wildlife;


Arizona Wilderness Coalition

Arizona's environment and cultural heritage defines the American West. Snow-capped mountains and deep rugged canyons; blooming desert and spring fed streams; lush conifer forests and fiery orange sunsets—the diversity of life and landscapes found here connects us to each other and to our ancestors.


Natural History Network

explore the stories of nature by attending to and representing the natural world.


Audubon Society

Prescott | Tucson | Maricopa | Yuma

This morning you probably stepped into your shower and were rewarded with a clean, ample supply of water to prepare you for the challenges of the day. What a wonderful world we live in! What would your day be like if there had been no water? Watch the Water!