Saving North America’s rivers
Alexandra Cousteau brings attention to water issues in new documentary
The Colorado River used to create a massive estuary in the arm pit of the Baja Peninsula. The great river met the sea at a wetland the size of Delaware; 2-million acres of fish nurseries and a refuge for migratory birds.
However, in the last 50 years the Colorado river only actually reached the sea a handful of times. It has been sucked dry by Americans. The U.S. siphons off 90 percent of the water to soak lawns, water farmland and hydrate the nearby desert-loving people. The rest goes to Mexican cities.
Sad but true, the Colorado is one of many rivers in trouble, and this is just one of the growing number of water issues in North America. In 2010, Alexandra Cousteau set out to document many of these water issues in “Blue Planet 2010: North America.”
The granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau and a team of videographers, writers and photographers traveled 27, 000 kilometres across the United States in a biodiesel-burning bus/newsroom to investigate water issues. Wherever they stopped, they met with water crusaders to learn about local issues and raise money for local projects.
Next up for Cousteau, who has spoken at the United Nations, Harvard and the Smithsonian, is her most daunting challenge—Motherhood. But like her iconic grandfather, Cousteau isn’t taking much time off. She’s already planning her next project: an ambitious effort to restore a major U.S. watershed.
