The following film is told in a beautiful and peaceful manner but its message of warning speaks loudly and powerfully of a problem that exists deep within the San Luis Valley of Colorado. An area once blessed with enough water for the animals and a farmer’s bounty, it is now just another name in the long list of the West’s latest Water Crisis victims. With expansion on the Front Range moving at a rapid pace, talks of taking water out of this area could further tax agriculture, the cranes and other wildlife in the Valley.
From Colorado Open Lands:
“Thousands of Sandhill Cranes make a bi-annual migration through Colorado’s San Luis Valley. These cranes are dependent on local farmers to irrigate fields that produce barley and create wetlands for cranes to utilize during the migration. However, water issues, including the demand for water outside the Valley has threatened agriculture, to the point where crane habitat is also under stress.
This video premiered in March 2020 at the Monte Vista Crane Festival. We are grateful to partners Colorado Water Conservation Board, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, the Monte Vista Crane Festival Committee, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as Molson Coors, The Rio Grande Conservation District, Rio Grande Basin Roundtable, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Higel State Wildlife Area, and Friends of the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuges.”
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vLRW9IKF1g&feature=youtu.be