We Must Be Good Stewards of Our Land and Water and Ensure the Latinx Voice Is Heard and Represented in the Conservation Space

By Jerry Cordova, stormwater specialist with the City of Colorado Springs and HECHO Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council member.  

Growing up in Pueblo, Colorado --a small agriculture area-- was an eye-opener experience to see what people did for fun, how they recreated, and where they went on vacations. As a kid, I don’t remember watching much TV or spending time indoors.   

When the sun came up, I just went outside to play with other children in the agricultural fields or parks. That was my early introduction to the outdoors. That exposure to nature had a profound impact on me, and it started my interest later in life in recreational activities such as skiing, camping, and biking, as well as in conservation efforts to protect the environment so that people can enjoy it for generations to come. 

I went to college and became a geographer, which provided me the opportunity to do a lot of fieldwork outside, Geographic Information Systems mapping, and to study people and places as well as the environment and our natural settings through a geology standpoint. This first-hand experience gave me a deeper understanding of watersheds, why they are so important, and how they differ from our jurisdictional boundaries to legal entities. 

While a geographer by trade, I now work as a specialist for the Stormwater Enterprise of the City of Colorado Springs, doing public outreach and education about where our water comes from, the importance of conservation and our natural resources, why protecting the water we use is vital, and what we all can do to help and ensure that our neighbors to the south of us and the Rocky Mountains --over 200 cities all the way to the Gulf of Mexico-- receive quality and the quantity of water they need. 

We need to be good stewards of our land and water. We want to ensure that when the water leaves us here in Colorado Springs, it's as clean and healthy as it can be because other cities have to treat that water to make it drinking water and use that for recreation and agriculture.   

Taking care of our water is also vital because it ends up in the ocean. Unfortunately, about 40% of our oceans are covered by plastic. They say that 90% of the fish in the ocean have eaten some type of plastic. We can do a lot to make our planet and oceans healthier, including recycling, disposing of our trash properly, and picking up litter in our neighborhoods, parks, trails, and open spaces to prevent that trash from ending up in the water, which helps everyone and everything. 

Unfortunately, throughout history, minorities, including Latinx communities, are the ones who are most likely to live in polluted areas. 

Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) is a great voice in educating people, regardless of their background, education, and circumstances. The more educated our community is about these environmental issues and injustices, the more they can speak up, take action, participate in conservation efforts, and advocate for solutions impacting our people, including clean water and equal access to nature. 

I joined HECHO's Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council to express my voice and do what I can in my leadership roles to make sure that we, the Latinx voice, are heard and represented in the conservation space and have a seat at the table in discussions that impact us all, whether it's with local government or at the state and federal levels.