Whether they knew it or not, some 40 million Americans across seven states celebrated, Colorado River Day on Saturday, marking the anniversary of the day when the river’s name was changed from the Grand River in 1921.

“For Latinos living in the Southwest, the Colorado River occupies a special place,” said Nita Gonzales, who directs the Nuestro Rio Colorado organization. “Protecting the river is honoring part of a rich heritage, as well as smart water management. And with 40 million people now depending on the river for drinking water, we must manage well and work together to sustain this precious resource.”

Gonzales was joined by Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, state Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, and Kenny Frost, a spiritual leader of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe at a celebration to mark the day at Sunken Gardens Park in west Denver. The celebration was sponsored by Denver Water and featured the music of Mariachi Colorado.

“We have challenges and need a range of bold solutions focused on conservation and efficiency,” said Salazar at the event.

Noting that Colorado is officially “drought-free,” Salazar called that a “dangerous” approach to managing the West’s water resources.

“We should always be living as though we are in a drought, we should always be living as though we have to conserve water,” he said. “We cannot think of it as though water is an endless resource.”

Nuestro Rio organizes Latinos in western states to educate youth and officials about connections to the Colorado River with an aim to developing advocates for a healthy river for future generations. The organization sponsored a youth leadership summit in Denver last week, where 19 young people from throughout the southwest trained to become “world ambassadors” for the river and western water issues.

The Colorado River and its tributaries flow through Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California, supplying drinking water to those 40 million residents. It fuels some $1.4 trillion in economic activity, a recent Arizona State University study found.

Colorado officials are putting together the state’s first-ever comprehensive water plan, which is in draft form and available for review. Comments are due Sept. 17 with a final draft scheduled for December. The draft is available at coloradowaterplan.com.

“I came to support the Colorado River because without it, our generation won’t be getting our water,” said Syairah Gallegos, a 9th-grade student in Denver who participated in the Nuestro Rio youth summit. She said she hadn’t realized how much water is wasted or how much an average homeowner can use. “We’re losing our water really fast.”

According to the Department of Interior’s Colorado River Basin Study, the Colorado River is expected to face decreased supply and increasing demand over the next 50 years. The most cost-effective and easiest way to address this, the 2012 study said, is to increase conservation in cities and on farms.

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com