On April 12, one of the Nevada Conservation League’s many friends attended the Nuestro Rio event at the East Las Vegas Community Center. Along with delicious carne asada, frijoles and arroz, great conversation and some of the best Mariachi music this side of Jalisco, a number of elected and community leaders gathered to consider the history, present and future of the Colorado River.

State Senators Moises Denis and Ruben Kihuen, Assemblyman Richard Carrillo and representatives from U.S. Senators Harry Reid and Dean Heller, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, community leaders such as Fernando Romero from Hispanics in Politics and Artie Blanco from Mi Familia Vota joined many others in the event organized by Las Vegas community organizer Andres Ramirez.

In the music and discussion, two things become clear: Las Vegas depends on the Colorado River, as do 30 million other Americans. Also, the history and future of the river and Hispanics in the Southwest are inextricably tied together. As noted in the Nuestro Rio event Thursday, even Cesar Chavez was born on the river.

All of us living in the Southwest United States have a stake in protecting the flow. We all have a stake in using water wisely and protecting sound public policy. http://protectflows.com/colorado-river/

The Las Vegas Sun has a nice story about the event: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/apr/13/latino-group-hopes-spur-colorado-river-conservatio/