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Colorado River Meets the Sea: Minute 319 Pulse Flow

Arizona Edition - Last month, for the first time in over a decade, water released from the Colorado River through an international agreement between the United States and Mexico made its way to the Gulf of California.

The pulse flow was an eight week release of water meant to give a boost to the environment and wildlife habitats along the mostly dry and barren stretch of the Colorado River Delta.  Less than a hundred years ago water flowed constantly through the delta, but now, water use on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border has reduced the flow to a flood every decade or so.

The pulse flow was the first of what supporters and environmentalists hope will be a renewed effort to bring life back to the delta and perhaps bring the river to the sea permanently.  But no matter what happens, those who witnessed the wave of water as it reclaimed desert sands and winded its way through the dry delta say they’ll never forget the sight.

One of those people is Jennifer Pitt.  For years Pitt has been working on projects related to the Colorado River at the Environmental Defense Fund.  KAWC’s Lou Gum spoke to her about what it was like to see her long held dream of the river flowing to the sea come true…(originally aired 06/11/14).

This piece was featured on the June 11th Arizona Edition.  Other pieces featured in the show can be found below in the related content section.

Lou grew up in Tucson and has a long family history in the state of Arizona. He began his public radio career in 1988 at KNAU in Flagstaff as a classical music DJ and has been hooked on public radio since, transitioning to news after trying his hand at several other careers in publishing and commercial broadcasting. Lou has a degree in American Studies from Arizona State University and was KAWC's Morning Edition host for two and half years before becoming News and Operations Director.
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