UCLA/Cerritos

The Pando Water commons tells the story of water itself, including the natural and technological processes it goes through, and the social ramifications of its distribution in our region. In the process, it focuses community attention on critical water issues and engages hubs of youth in the process of preserving the resource on which so many depend.

In 2026, the Colorado River water allocations will be renegotiated, directly impacting 43 million people in the five US states across the Colorado River Basin and in Mexico. Recent droughts, low water levels in major storage reservoirs, coupled with increased water use and accelerating climate change, have transformed large swaths of the US Southwest into one of the Earth’s five “mega-drying” regions.

In this context, the project partners with colleges, universities, and hard-to-reach communities through concentrated labs culminating in collaborative, curated, and publicly displayed deliverables that reflect each group’s unique relationship with water, extending from Los Angeles to Colorado, Wyoming, and to the northern portion of the United Mexican States, including tribal nations such as the Ute, Paiute, Navajo, Hopi, Apache, and more.

Faculty Lead:
Yogan Muller

Students:
Cerritos College Photography Professor Christina Fernandez’s students

Aligned LA County Sustainability Plan Goals:
Goal 5: Thriving ecosystems, habitats, and biodiversity. Goal 9: Sustainable production and consumption of resources

Premiere Segment

Pitch deck

Photo project