Trying to Revive Drought-Stricken Colorado River

A years-long drought has dramatically dropped the level of the Colorado River reservoir, shows under the red Navajo sandstone landscape of Llewellyn Gulch canyon near Page, Arizona. (Getty Images)

An Escuela Tlatelolco trip in October along Little Gore Canyon in Colorado on the Colorado River. (Denver-based attorney Amber Tafoya)

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar speaking with Denver-based attorney Amber Tafoy at the American Latino Heritage Forum in Washington, D.C., in October. (US Department of the Interior)

An Escuela Tlatelolco trip in October along Little Gore Canyon in Colorado on the Colorado River. (Denver-based attorney Amber Tafoya)

Dawn arrives after a night of much-needed rain in Llewellyn Gulch canyon on Lake Powell which is marked by a 100-foot thick bathtub ring of bleached sandstone, the result of a years-long drought that has dramatically dropped the level of the reservoir, near Page, Arizona. (2007 Getty Images)

Now Nuestro Rio, a network of Latinos working to raise awareness about the endangered Colorado River Basin, is expanding to other states in the Southwest this year and promoting its efforts with ads and town hall forums. If the water drops too far, power generators at the dams will become inoperable. (2007 Getty Images)

Members of the coalition have called for a more rigorous federal study of the basin’s water supply that takes into account the river’s Latino heritage. (2007 Getty Images)

Activists also have met with U.S. Department of the Interior officials and brought groups of students on day trips to teach them about the importance of the river to Latinos. (2007 Getty Images)

While the network, which formed last year, originally focused its efforts in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, it is expanding to Arizona and California, as well. (2007 Getty Images)

Local musicians are recording a corrido about the river for online video release this spring. Mi Familia Vota also is running a Spanish-language radio spot in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, applauding the Obama administration’s moratorium on new uranium mining near the Grand Canyon but saying more work remains. (2007 Getty Images)

Ancient Moki, or Anasazi people, steps carved into huge steep rocks faces rise from deep under Lake Powell in Fiftymile Creek Canyon and up through the light-colored 100-foot thick "bathtub ring" of bleached sandstone, the result of a years-long drought that has dramatically dropped the level of the reservoir near Page, Arizona. (2007 Getty Images)