UCLA/Cerritos College

The Pando Water Commons brings together 20 higher-ed institutions from across a million acre region to tell the story of water itself in the Colorado River Basin — from personal and social ramifications of its distribution to the natural and technological processes involved. The project focuses community attention on critical water issues and engages hubs of youth in directing attention to the resource on which we all 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 and low water levels in major storage reservoirs, coupled with increased water use and accelerating climate change, have transformed large swaths of the Southwest into one of Earth’s five “mega-drying” regions.

This is the context in which the project partners with colleges, universities, and hard-to-reach communities to collaborate, curate, and publicly display photographic deliverables that reflect each group’s unique relationship with water — extending from Los Angeles to Colorado, and from Wyoming 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