Follow the Flow
The Colorado River
Move To Protect created Follow the Flow, an environmental dance film, to raise awareness of the Colorado River water crisis. MTP filmed at three locations including: The headwaters in Grand Lake, CO + Castle Valley, UT + Yuma, AZ, close to where the river unfortunately ends before the Sea of Cortez.
MTP aims to collaborate with organizations active in protecting the Colorado River in order to reach a broad audience to educate people on the importance of protecting this river, and to inspire them to take action.
Follow the Flow, an environmental dance film, focuses on bringing awareness to the water crisis of the Colorado River. A dancer, rawly integrated into the environment, illustrates a symbiotic relationship with the river, while exemplifying how paramount it is to remember humans are intertwined with this river in everyday life. The grandeur and nuance of the river is emphasized while following it through diverse environments from the headwaters in Colorado, through the red rock desert in Utah, to the final stretch of the river in Yuma Valley, Arizona.
Collaborators
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ALEXANDRA LOCKHART
Director + Producer + Groover
Alexandra, originally from Colorado, earned her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, during which she also spent a semester training at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Australia. At both institutions, she trained heavily in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Composition, and Improvisation. Alexandra has attended and performed at festivals in Germany, Canada, Israel, Austria, and Taiwan. As a professional dancer, she loves the theater, but nomad-ing around and dancing outside brings catharsis. Alexandra is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
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SOUKI MEHDAOUI
DP + Editor extraordinaire
Souki Mehdaoui is a director, cinematographer and writer based in Denver, CO. Her work can be seen on Netflix, HBO, Showtime (soon), the New York Times, Yahoo, Refinery29, TED, Art21, the Sundance-premiering documentaries “The Great Hack” and “Mucho Mucho Amor,” and in collaboration with award-winning directors around the world. Raised in Morocco, France, and a smattering of states across America, her work comes from a third culture— a few steps to the left, lots of accents, and a pot of spices on the back burner. She sees every story as an entry-point into ourselves and a way to find hope in the dark.
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NATE WHEELER
Music Magician
Nate Wheeler is a composer and intermedia artist who builds custom electronics to bridge physical and digital disciplines. Their work focuses on hybridizing the contemporary, traditional, and the imaginary to synthesize stunning new approaches to art making and community building. Their spacious and contemplative works are heavily influenced by Pauline Oliveros, David Tudor, the DIY punk ethos, and the woods where they grew up, outside of Boulder, Colorado.
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RYAN BROOKS
Cam Op + Licensed Drone Pilot + Always ‘All-in’
Ryan Brooks is a director of photography, part 107 certified drone pilot and all-around nice guy. After university, he moved to St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a Peace Corp volunteer focused on youth development. This experience not only informed his world view, but also gave him an understanding and empathy of working within cultures that he is not a part of. Upon his return to the us, he landed in New York City and began work on his own documentary projects examining street cultures of graffiti artists and sex workers. Ryan has shot for brands such as Comedy Central, the RuPaul’s Drag Race, Marvel, NY Times and PBS. He received a Bachelors of Fine Arts with honors in Photography from William Patterson University.
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Paul DeHaven
Composer - makes music dreams come true
Paul DeHaven has been a fixture of the thriving Denver music scene for over 15 years, well-respected for his time crafting licks and tunes as a founding member of now-defunct folk darlings Paper Bird, heartland roots rockers Heavy Diamond Ring, high desert psych virtuosos Eye & the Arrow.
THE COLORADO RIVER
Headwaters. Continental Divide. Photo: A Lockhart
About
The Colorado River, stretching from Rocky Mountain National Park to Mexico, has carved out some of America’s most iconic areas including the Grand Canyon and Canyonlands National Park. It passes through 11 national parks, seven states, and two countries. The Colorado River is home to an incredible variety of critical animal and plant life that sustain the ecosystem.
The river supplies water to an unrelenting 40million people, and supports a vast array of recreational sport. Unfortunately, the demand already exceeds its supply. 50% of the water is already unnaturally diverted to the eastern side of the Continental Divide.
Due to climate change, the flow of the river is projected to drop by 35% by 2050.
Hoover Dam/Lake Mead. Photo: A Lockhart
Threats
The Colorado River is a prime example of what happens when we use and abuse a resource - it disappears. From the headwaters, the river is diverged, dammed (15 times) and manipulated by human force. Today, the river doesn’t reach its final destination, the Sea of Cortez. Over-allocation partnered with diminishing supply is propelling this dry-out.
Construction: New dams are constantly being proposed on the tributaries that feed the river. Over-development, with no consideration of water shortages, is happening across the entire Southwest.
Climate Change: Rocky Mountain snow fall, the leading supplier of water for this river, has been heavily impacted since 2000 by climate change. There is no end in sight for the mega-drought currently affecting the entire West.
Headwaters. Osprey & Bald Eagle nesting zone. Photo: A Lockhart
Impact
Loss of habitat for crucial species
Riparian ecosystem
Bird nesting and feeding grounds
Loss of agricultural and town + city water supplies
Loss of hydropower which supports millions of people with electricity
Lake Powell Hite UT. Abandoned, dry boat ramp & marina. Photo: A Lockhart
Help the Colorado River
Action must be taken immediately to address this crisis of the Colorado River. There needs to be a huge paradigm shift in order to develop sustainable solutions to support increasing populations while using less water.
These include small and big scale measures to be taken.
Municipal water conservation
Renewable energy: Solar, Wind, Geothermal
Different storage solutions such as aquifers
Adapting new agricultural methods
Realization of seriousness of climate change impact
The Puffin Foundation
Funding for Move To Protect’s films are made possible by The Puffin Foundation.