Mothering Earth-136-World Wildlife Fund & the Rio Grande

Mothering Earth-136-World Wildlife Fund & the Rio Grande

From Mothering Earth Podcast by Dr. Salwa Khan

November 30, 2025 · 29 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced by the Rio Grande due to climate change and features an interview with Enrique Prunes from the World Wildlife Fund.

A changing climate with hotter and drier weather is a challenge for people, but also for lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The Rio Grande river, which runs from Colorado into Mexico, crossing several U.S. states, continues to shrink and to run dry in places where it used to flow. Most of the water from the river is used to grow crops like alfalfa and hay to feed livestock, Other crops are cotton and pecans; some water is used for power generation and some for municipal water use. But the river can no longer provide enough water for all those uses. The World Wildlife Fund has made it their mission to revitalize the river. It’s a daunting task, one faced by my guest, Enrique Prunes, Rio Grande Manager and Freshwater Lead Specialist at World Wildlife Fund US.

People in this episode

Guest: Enrique Prunes

Topics covered

  • climate change
  • water scarcity
  • Rio Grande
  • World Wildlife Fund

Keywords

  • water usage
  • agriculture
  • environmental conservation

Mentioned in this episode

Products: alfalfa, hay, cotton, pecans

Places: the Rio Grande, Colorado, Mexico, U.S., Rio Grande, US

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