About

ABOUT LIVING RIVERS

ABOUT US

Living Rivers
& The Colorado Riverkeeper

Living Rivers works to advocate and build enthusiasm for the rivers and canyons of the Colorado Plateau. An irreplaceable landscape and priceless piece of world heritage. Living Rivers is an affiliate of the Water Keeper Alliance and serves as the Colorado Riverkeeper. Living Rivers mission is to Living Rivers promote alternative management strategies that maximize conservation and river restoration.

Our team

Living Rivers is made up of people like you who share the common goal of preserving the canyons and rivers of the Colorado Plateau.

A man wearing a straw hat and sunglasses is standing in a field.

John Weisheit

John Weisheit is the executivedirector of Living Rivers. John has long worked as the

Colorado RiverKeeper and co-founder of Living Rivers, seeking to restore the ecology of the Colorado River while balancing human needs. John is a senior river guide of Cataract Canyon, logging over 4 decades and nearly 500 descents. A prolific researcher and river historian, John has mentored and elevated generations of river and land advocates.

A man with a beard and hat is looking at the camera.

Cody M.Perry

Cody M. Perry is a land and water advocate specializing in grassroots organizing and conservation storytelling. Cody works as the Associate Director at Living Rivers focusing on the Green River Basin, engaging, recruiting and activating individuals around landscape protections across western Colorado and eastern Utah. Cody has worked with non-profits, federal land agencies, outdoor brands and communities to inspire awareness and promote cultural exchange. Cody has worked as a ski patroller, an outdoor educator, a freelance filmmaker, and wild-land advocate. His passion is telling stories about the West. 


John Weisheit

John Weisheit is the executivedirector of Living Rivers. John has long worked as the

Colorado RiverKeeper and co-founder of Living Rivers, seeking to restore the ecology of the Colorado River while balancing human needs. John is a senior river guide of Cataract Canyon, logging over 4 decades and nearly 500 descents. A prolific researcher and river historian, John has mentored and elevated generations of river and land advocates.

DEDICATED TO RIVER RESTORATION

From the Rocky Mountains through seven states and Mexico, the Colorado River is the artery of the desert southwest. Its canyons, ecology and heritage render it an international treasure. However, ignorance, greed and complacency are robbing Colorado of its ability to sustain life.



Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper empowers a movement to instill a new ethic of achieving ecological restoration, balanced with meeting human needs.

Support Our Rivers

OUR NONPROFIT WORKS TO:

Living Rivers is funded entirely by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. Living Rivers is recognized as a charitable or educational organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Code. Donations to Living Rivers are tax-deductible, as allowed by law.

OUR JOURNEY OF RESTORATION

Living Rivers began in 2000 with a mission to mobilize people in support of large-scale restoration for the Colorado River. The principle focus then, as now, remains reestablishing a free-flowing Colorado River through the Glen and Grand Canyons. To that end, Living Rivers has:



  • Mobilized more than 200 organizations to aid in promoting a new federal Environmental Impact Statement on Glen Canyon Dam's operations.
  • Generated hundreds of articles in the United States and around the world concerning the viability of, and growing movement for, the decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam.
  • Exposed the Bureau of Reclamation's failure to comply with the Grand Canyon Protection Act and recover endangered native fish in Grand Canyon and the need.
  • Launched efforts toward the decommission of two other major dams on
    the Colorado Plateau, Navajo Dam on the San Juan River and Flaming
    Gorge Dam on the Green River.
  • Established a program with Native American activists and traditional practitioners to propose the healing of rivers in the Southwest by uncovering sacred sites effected by these major dams and reservoirs.
  • Developed a coalition of 135 organizations representing 12 million people from the United States and Mexico, calling for all Colorado River water user agencies to conserve at least 1% of their allocated water and leave it in the river to flow down to the ocean in Mexico and replenish the river's dying, dried-up delta.


Founded as the Glen Canyon Action Network in 2000, the name was changed to Living Rivers in 2001. In 2002, Living Rivers was selected as a member of the New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance and added Colorado Riverkeeper to its name. The Moab, Utah, location was chosen as it sits directly on the Colorado River and at the heart of the Colorado Plateau. Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper also operates out of Camp Verde, Arizona, ensuring representation in both states bordering Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell Reservoir.

Living Rivers Network

Since January 2000, Living Rivers has been building local, national and international support for the restoration of the Colorado River watershed and other rivers in the west. Some of the more than 150 supporting organizations are listed below. If your organization is interested in supporting some or all of our campaigns, please contact us.

Contact Us

Publications: Living Rivers Currents

Whether highlighting emerging river issues being addressed by Living Rivers and its allies or celebrating a recent campaign achievement, Living Rivers Currents provides solid reporting on the leading-edge of U.S. river advocacy emanating from the Southwest.

Volume 2, Number 2 (Special Issue: Colorado River Compact)

February 1, 2002

From January 30 through February 1, the 2002 Colorado River Symposium took place at historic Bishop’s Lodge—the site of the 1922 negotiations for the Colorado River Compact. While various management challenges for the once-mighty Colorado were on the agenda, this issue of Living River Currents was circulated to promote efforts to bring about fundamental changes in the Compact itself so that Colorado River laws are up to date with present concerns.


The Articles:

•Bishop's Lodge: Return to the Scent of the Crime
•Colorado River Compact in the Way of Delta Restoration
•Ten Reasons for Renegotiating the Colorado River Compact
•Dam Re-operations: Avoiding the Inevitable
•Fossil Creek: One Step Closer to Dam Removal
Grand Canyon: Phoenix Takes Action

Download PDF
a black and white photo of a group of men standing around a desk .

Volume 2, Number 1 (Special Issue: Grand Canyon in Crisis)

January 17, 2002

On January 17–18, 2002, Phoenix will host a meeting of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Group, the stakeholder group responsible for managing the impacts of Glen Canyon Dam on Grand Canyon National Park. This group is clearly failing, as native species in Grand Canyon are worse off since the program began in 1996.


The Articles:

•Electroshock in the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon: LR Calls for Immediate Action
•Native Fish: Recovery or Rhetoric?
•Silt Happens: LR Forcing Agencies to Respond
Take Action for the Grand Canyon
Colorado River Water Users Meeting: Environment Gains Recognition

Download PDF
a sign that says save grand canyon from glen canyon dam

Volume 1, Number 3

November 1, 2001

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Volume 1, Number 1

December 1, 2000

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CONTACT LIVING RIVERS TODAY

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