Building a Rio Grande~Rio Bravo portal...

Greetings to all…

Whether you are located in the Rio Grande~Rio Bravo watershed… or are dedicated to some part of it.

The Rio Grande International Study Center…and our counterpart in Mexico…el Centro Internacional de los Estudios del Rio Bravo…are going to be making contact with your organization within the next month.

In early 2009, RGISC-CIER undertook the project of building a web portal of everything Rio Grande~Rio Bravo. As a bi-national environmental non-profit organization, it is our mission: To preserve, protect and foster respect for the Rio Grande~Rio Bravo, its watershed, environment and cultures, through research, education and bi-national stewardship and alliances with individuals agencies and organizations.

So, the goal of this communiqué is to continue to build our awareness of, ally with, and build an eight state bi-national stewardship with any and all individuals, entities, organizations, institutions and agencies that care about the Rio Grande~Rio Bravo, from the headwaters in San Juan Valley of the Colorado Rockies, along with the many tributaries on both sides of the Rio…all the way to the mouth at the Gulf…at Boca Chica and Baghdad. This of course includes all the tributaries and their respective watersheds, such as Rio Conchos with headwaters in the Mexican states of Durango and Chihuahua and the Pecos River with its headwaters in New Mexico.

So far, we have identified some 500 entities such as yours. Some 350 on the US side and 150 on the Mexican side. We contacted you once last year and we already have you on our Rio Grande~Rio Bravo watershed Google Map at www.rgisc.org.

Beginning this next week, someone from our staff will be calling you to verify your contact information. We would just like to make sure it is correct and current. We are also aspiring to build additional watershed-wide data bases of information and share regional research, news, photographs, maps, concerns and challenges. We are also open to suggestions on how to build a better network and web presence that serves the needs of each region of the watershed.

Also, for 15 years, RGISC and CIER have maintained a bi-national celebration of the Rio Grande~Rio Bravo during the third week of October, culminating in Dia del Rio on the third Saturday. At one time, Dia del Rio was celebrated up and down the watershed. We hope that you will join us for the 16th anniversary celebration…this year in 2010 in reviving this watershed wide celebration.

Please feel free to contact us at any time…and help us build and galvanize an alliance to protect our watershed and the waters that allow us to exist here.

Together we can give voice to the waters of the Rio Grande~Rio Bravo…

Jay J. Johnson-Castro Sr.