By Daniela Gállego, Joanna Haddad, Miriam Medina, Natalia Linares

Introduction

The Rio Grande is the dividing line between the frontier of the United States and Mexico, the residents say authorities who are supposed to be taking care of it and ensuring the water is clean are failing to protect its ecosystems from pollution. The river is in a very critical situation, it has been polluted with things like metals, sewage water, chemicals and it doesn’t have a natural flow in various areas.

The contamination levels on the river make it impossible for the ecosystems that existed on it to thrive. The river contains very high levels of salts and bacterias; this affects a wide variety of animals, plants and other microorganisms. High levels of different metals and chemicals ―especially mercury and selenium― have been detected in plenty of the river’s fish, insects, and bird species that depend on the aquatic organisms to survive. Migratory animals are also affected by the polluted waters of the river. At least seven species of fish and other important organisms have disappeared from the river, including the American eel, the sturgeon and the Rio Grande silvery minnow, and at least five native mussels. And the Big Bend slider (a species of turtle) may disappear soon if we don’t start acting.

The river is also very important because it is one of the main sources of water in that desertic patch of land that separates the two countries. Its water is used in agriculture and other Human Resources, but also it maintains the balance of nature and serves as a natural border.

Research question

How can we pressure the government to take action in order to improve the water quality in the river and subsequently help the ecosystems flourish?

Hypothesis

By starting a campaign on social media, we can pressure government officials to take action.

Arguments and additional information

It serves as the meeting point for the Central and Mississippi flyways, making it one of the most important bird migration routes in North America for hundreds of species of birds. Rio Bravo has also been heavily modified, straightening the mainstem in some areas for conveyance and flood protection looking for the well-being of citizens.

As mentioned before this river has also been reduced due to growing agricultural and municipal use in Mexico. When this reduction is coupled with recurring, natural droughts, the results can be disastrous.

Even though great strides have been made in monitoring the Rio Grande, there has been a lack of intense monitoring data collection for pollutants such as pesticides.

In this case the independent variable is the pollution in the river caused by the controlled variables such as the fabrics and their chemicals, plastic, and more that affects the river and the organisms living in it.

Apart from being one of the biggest rivers in the world the rio Bravo has such an important impact in USA and Mexico since it has been providing vital water for diverse uses, The river serves as a critical wildlife corridor, and is home to a wide diversity of plants and vegetation, sustaining wildlife and riparian ecosystems, and representing the most extensive ecologically intact aquatic and riparian habitat in the Chihuahuan Desert.

According to Jonathan Salinas, from Sierra Club Borderline Team, “There’s hundreds and thousands of acres of farm land on both sides of the river that depend on the river to irrigate those crops. It’s not just the source of drinking water but it’s truly the life source.

Defensa del Rio Bravo wrote in a statement. “Binational policies between Mexico and the United States have not prioritized the health of the Rio Bravo and its ecosystems. For that reason the river is in a critical situation, since it has been polluted with heavy metals, sewage water and does not have a natural flow in certain areas.” From August 2021 to January 2022, El Paso Water discharged sewage from El Paso’s West Side into the river following a wastewater main break. The utility is midway through its cleanup and remediation efforts.

Solution

We suggest creating a campaign with the purpose to inform more people on the situation in the Rio Bravo, gaining exposure and using it to pressure the governments of both nations to come to different agreements to assure no sewage waste to end up in the river, to forbid pesticides in nearby areas and to prohibit dumping of chemicals in the river.

1. Make a recompilation of information; decide the name of the campaign and Concept.
2. Create the content that would be published in social media and others.
3. Plan a posting schedule while publishing a blog to expand on the topic.
4. Inform our public through our content.
5. Gain followers, recollect signatures to show the government the purpose of demonstrating the discontent.
6. Search for more solutions/events with the help of the community.
7. Grow as a campaign.
8. Meet with government officials, propose solutions and reach agreements to create legislation and for them to ensure results.

Results

El primer paso fue decidir el nombre de nuestra campaña: “Iniciativa Río Grande”; la segunda parte de nuestra solución consistió en crear los distintos materiales que se publicarían en las redes sociales (vídeos, carteles e infografías); por último, pero no por ello menos importante, se creó un blog con el fin de que la gente conociera más en detalle la situación.

Limitations

Since we don’t live close to this river and we didn’t have the time nor resources (money, sponsors, information about the population, and more); the campaign stayed as an if and not a fact.

Considering we didn’t publish the campaign we couldn’t obtain results of the impact we had on people and by result we can’t know what went wrong, right or what we could improve.

In other words, the whole project stayed in hypothetical words and what we could foresee and not in actual data, this limiting the opportunities in the future.

Things to implement

To ensure we reach more people, we will post consistently and create different engagement opportunities to get people to follow us, such as giveaways, raffles, etc.

Contents of the blog:

• Introduction to the Rio Grande.
• Crucial Statements.
• About the campaign.

You will find the content attached to this note:

• 2 posters about the “event”.
• 1 poster presenting the project.
• 1 image with the name of the campaign.

Link of the blog:

https://initiativeriogrande.blogspot.com

Conclusion

We think that these types of solutions are a great way to start up a change in our community. Implementing them would be a great beginning for the future that we look for. Especially talking about our campaign, we consider it a great change agent, given the fact that we want to make an effort to improve our surroundings with people that are eager to make an impact in the world.

Through our passion, energy, and determination, we can start to address social and political issues and create a great lasting impact.

We should always remember that new ideas and fresh perspectives can generate solutions to fight for a better world.

This project helped us address problems in a new way, encouraging us to know that we can be a part of the solution and walk towards our ideals with the help of others.

Bibliography

Flores, B., Ren, J., Krishnamurthy, S., & Belzer, W. (2006). Chemical contamination of the Lower Rio Grande near Laredo, TX. NASA/ADS. Recovered from https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu

Pskowski, M. (March 30, 2022). River “is a sanctuary of life”: March along Rio Grande calls for conservation and cleanup. El Paso Times. Recovered from https://www.elpasotimes.com

Robbins, J. (2022). As Rio Grande shrinks, El Paso plans for Uncertain Water Future. Yale E360. Recovered from https://e360.yale.edu drought

Slater, L., Khouakhi, A., & Wilby, R. (November 11, 2019). Rivers are changing all the time, and it affects their capacity to contain floods. The Conversation. Recovered from https://theconversation.com

Thompson, D. (2003). The Rio Grande: A troubled river. National Parks Service. Recovered from https://www.nps.gov.