INSPIRATION: Kathy Miner was in Mexico City to celebrate the marriage of her nephew, who is Catholic, to his male partner who is from Pakistan. Kathy was inspired by the joy and outpouring of love and support from the 150+ attendees!
IDEA Quote:
"Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with and perhaps the most dangerous things for a society to be without." William Sloane Coffin, Jr.
FUTURE PROGRAMS: Please see the side panel for upcoming speakers and be sure to invite your friends.
ROTARY CARES: If you are aware of a fellow Rotarian who is going through a challenging time (i.e., personal or family health, family death, etc.) please let Sara Murphy know so we can let them know we are thinking of them and provide whatever support we can.
Sara.jane.murphy1@gmail.comGUESTS:
- Julie Ulstrup, guest of Joseph Vander Linde
- Kira Tangney, guest of John Hintzman
- Todd Germain, transferring Rotarian
- Dennis Pfeifer, guest of Joseph Vander Linde
- Morgan Merriman, guest of John Shaw
- Jocelyn Catterson, program speaker, daughter of Rotarian Ron
- Saira Hafeez, Rotaract President
GOOD NEWS:
- Carrie Levy - Son Aidan is cured of his cancer and got married; Dad is recovering well from heart surgery; Exodus was recognized as “Agent of the Year” (of more than 350 moving companies!) And best of all, Carrie is back from a Leave of Absence
- Dave Haase - his son got married in Playa Del Carmen. Aan anyone give him a new liver?
- Diane Knight - She and Paul got to go to a practice round at the Masters and just celebrated 18 years of marriage in New York City; she is also singing with a chorus called the Silvertones and promoted a concert on May 31. Journeys in Harmony
- Maria Elena Thomas - 8 people reviewed 270 essays for the Field of Honor; also shared that her husband had been in the hospital and found an origami crane on his meal plate which came from the Rotaract Club of CSU! It was great to have the President of Rotaract there to hear it!
- Gary Turner - had successful trigger finger surgery (and found out that he's a Viking!)
PROGRAM: Jocelyn Catterson - “Making the Invisible Visible” - Water in the San Luis Valley
- Community Engagement Director for the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust; artist and environmental educator in the San Luis Valley, the “Forgotten Basin”
- Her town's population is 46K (less than 1% of the pop. of CO), but produces 39% of state's agriculture (like barley, potatoes and rye); only gets 7-10 inches of rain a year (Wolf Creek Pass gets 45 inches)
- Oldest water right in the state - 1852; surface water rights were over appropriated by 1900.
- First well drilled in 1903 - now there are over 14,000
- Can't count on snowpack from San Juan Mountains to fill aquifers (this process takes place over thousands of years)
- 1938 - Rio Grande Compact with NM, TX, CO for 60,000-acre feet; has been re-negotiated but currently in litigation with the US Govt.
- Rio Grande Water Conservation District was founded in 2006 so they wouldn't have Government interference
- Creative Solutions - low water crops, soil health incentives, well buyout programs, increased water costs to farmers
- Farmers are voluntarily stopping farming to try to help the community
- Situation is especially dire - Rio Grande in Albuquerque was dry last week; As of May 1 - only 22% of avg. snowpack in Rio Grande Headwaters area
Rio Grande Water Conservation District
Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust
