Ultramarathoner’s 2,000-Mile Run Sparks New Colorado River Rescue Plan

Guli’s “Keep the River Running” campaign concluded this week in Los Angeles, transforming a grueling test of endurance into a platform for urgent policy reform. Throughout her journey, which included navigating extreme heat in the Grand Canyon and wildfire-related detours, Guli hosted summits in Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. These meetings brought together stakeholders to finalize a strategy aimed at reducing water consumption across agricultural, urban, and industrial sectors.

The Colorado River currently supports 40 million people and 16 million jobs, yet its reservoirs have hit record lows, jeopardizing power generation at the Hoover Dam and the stability of the nation’s winter vegetable supply. To mitigate these risks, the Thirst Foundation, Grundfos, and the Water Resilience Coalition are now prioritizing investments in natural infrastructure, such as beaver dam analogs, and scaling urban efficiency technologies. While the federal government has pressed Arizona, California, and Nevada to cut usage by up to 3 million acre-feet annually, Guli maintains that the path forward requires collective action rather than isolated mandates. Her campaign now shifts toward mobilizing the long-term capital necessary to implement these conservation strategies across the entire basin.