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‘We Are the People of the River'

Morgan Sjogren

May 23, 2025 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe, United States, Arizona

By strategically restoring native riparian plants, removing invasive species, and implementing efficient water management practices, the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe has successfully revitalized ecosystem health and cultural traditions along the Colorado River.

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Ditch Democracy: Northern New Mexico's Acequia Culture

Ilana Newman

May 14, 2025 |

The Daily Yonder |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Mexico

An acequia irrigation system depends on an indigenous coordinated community governance designed to sustainably manage water for agriculture and daily life. Via democratic control, shared participation in annual cleaning, Mayordomo authority, and cooperative decision-making, the system fosters community cohesion and ecological sustainability.

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How to save a desert oasis—before it vanishes completely

Tristan McConnell

May 06, 2025 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Morocco

In Morocco's desert oasis, combining traditional ecological knowledge (communal groundwater management, rainwater harvesting, sustainable agriculture) and cultural renewal (a music school and festival) helps combat desertification, encourages youth retention, and strengthens community resilience, although evidence of long-term ecological restoration is still limited.

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Yaku Raymi: The Quechua Ritual to Save a Glacier

Geraldine Santos, Elizabeth Salazar Vega

March 06, 2025 |

Mongabay |

Video |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Peru, Santa Fe

In Santa Fe, Peru, an ancestral system of water storage is helping communities cope with water scarcity: qochas are artificial lagoons built to store rainwater during the wet season, which is later used during droughts. The use of qochas has allowed Santa Fe to have 41 reservoirs that store 2.9 million cubic meters (102.4 million cubic feet) of water, three times more than before.

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The Revival of Germany's Carbon-Sequestering Peatlands

Christian Schwägerl

February 10, 2025 |

Yale Environment 360 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany

Various initiatives are restoring farmlands to peatlands, which is helping lower CO2 levels in agriculture and create markets for the native grasses, reeds and sedges that peatlands support.

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Think Utah farmers should do without irrigation? Here's what that looks like

David Condos

November 25, 2024 |

KUER Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Utah

Farmers in southeast Utah grow wheat and other select grains without irrigation, a technique called dryland farming. Relying only on rainwater eases water pressure amid droughts.

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How unconventional crops could save water — and reshape Utah farming

David Condos

November 18, 2024 |

KUER Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Utah

Farmers and researchers in Utah are growing Kernza, a perennial grain that requires very little water and improves soil health, in hopes of helping the local agricultural industry adapt to record-breaking heat and droughts.

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Why Utah Is Bucking One of the West's Oldest Water Rules

Nina Elkadi

November 05, 2024 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Utah

Utah is ditching the “use it or lose it” water rights doctrine to encourage farmers to conserve water amid severe water shortages. Instead, it’s encouraging farmers to use less water while allowing them to keep their rights to it. The government is awarding funding for efficiency upgrades and creating a system for farmess to lease out the saved water.

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A Colorado Groundwater Experiment Tackles Urgent Conservation Needs

Jennifer Oldham

November 04, 2024 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

Farmers in arid, drought-prone regions are creating groundwater conservation easements with nonprofits to reduce their water use in a financially feasible way. For these agreements, farmers reduce the acres they grow crops on in perpetuity in exchange for payment and tax benefits.

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Migrating birds find refuge in pop-up habitats

Natalia Mesa

October 11, 2024 |

High Country News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A network of conservation organizations prompts the creation of tens of thousands of acres of “pop-up” wetland habitat for migrating birds each year with a program called BirdReturns. It pays rice farmers in California’s Central Valley to flood their fields earlier in the fall and keep them flooded longer in the spring so the birds have a place to rest and feed.

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