scicomm
environmental awareness
Solving water scarcity with art and science By Heidi Schmelzer Before the 1930’s, the area surrounding the Rio Grande river on the border of the United States and Mexico was filled with wetlands and riverside forests. Canals were built along the river to allow for the division of water between the United States and Mexico. While this system allowed for sharing of important water resources, it destroyed the surrounding habitat. In the face of climate change and further drought in the area, communities are looking into how to better utilize our resources and ensure water availability in the desert environment. The Center for Environmental Resource Management (CERM) at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) aims to address environmental health and water resources. One project includes restoring a small section near the river back to the native wetlands environment it once had. Somos Agua/ We Are Water is another group that aims to address water scarcity in the Paso del Norte Region. It uses an interdisciplinary approach combining arts and sciences to understand connections to the environment, facilitate community engagement, and ensure all living beings, humans, animals, and plants, have equal access to water in the area. We speak with two collaborators on these projects about the interdisciplinary approach and the importance of their work. Sandra Paola López Ramírez is an artist, cultural organizer, and Dr. Alex Mayer, Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of CERM. Both are located at The University of Texas at El Paso and collaborate in Somos Agua/ We Are Water.
Above: Somos Agua/We Are Water collaborators S. Paola López Ramírez and Melissa Melpignano performing at the Río Bosque Wetlands Park in April 2022. Photo credit - Federico Villalba (Paola and Melissa dancing) . © Somos Agua/We Are Water © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.
p45
