(Excerpt)

The Columbia River Watershed stands as one of the most beautiful places on God's earth. Its mountains and valleys, forests and meadows, rivers and plains reflect the presence of their Creator. Its farms and fishing boats, rural communities and cities, railroads, ports and industries reveal the varied ways in which peoples of the region have worked with earth's beauty and bounty to derive their livelihood from the land and water.

The core of the 259,000 square miles of the Columbia Watershed is the 1,200 miles of the great river known as the Columbia. It begins in British Columbia in Canada, is fed in the U.S. by tributaries in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and flows to the Pacific Ocean. This magnificent network of rivers — the region's lifeblood — is an extensive ecosystem that transcends national, state and provincial borders.

We, the Catholic bishops in the international watershed region of the United States and Canada, write this pastoral letter because we have become concerned about regional economic and ecological conditions and the conflicts over them in the watershed. We address this letter to our Catholic community and to all people of good will.

We hope that we might work together to develop and implement an integrated spiritual, social and ecological vision for our watershed home, a vision that promotes justice for people and stewardship of creation...

We call for a thorough, humble and introspective evaluation that seeks to eliminate both economic greed that fails to respect the environment, and ecological elitism that lacks a proper regard for the legitimate rights and property of others.

"The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good" focuses particularly on our common responsibilities for our region. In this pastoral letter we will explore biblical and Catholic Church teachings about stewardship; the need to respect nature; and the need to recognize and promote the common good. These themes are consistent with a Christian belief that the earth is a creation of God intended to serve the needs of all creation.

Read the complete statement.

For more information on Catholic perspectives, programs and activities related to water:

• Read about the major projects funded by the Cummings Foundation that have dealt with regional water quality and supply issues in Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Iowa, Connecticut, New Mexico, and California.
• Visit "Water: A Sacramental Commons" on the website of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
• Caritas Internationalis, a coalition of 164 Roman Catholic relief, development and social service organizations working in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, supports programmes that provide water, sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion campaigns.  See some examples of their work.  Caritas also understands that climate change and its adverse consequences threaten water supplies and security, as well as weather and precipitation patterns.
• Find out how the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is working on the issue of water, and what you can do to help.  Learn also about how CAFOD is responding to the threats to water security posed by climate change.
• The Catholic International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE) is working around the world to ensure access to key resources such as water, and is engaged in innovative and practical methods of sustainable water management.
• Catholic Relief Services has water and sanitation projects in 40 countries.  Find out more about this work, and also see how they are responding to the threats to water security and stable weather patterns posed by climate change.
• The revised edition of Fresh Water is Sacred Water CD-ROM from Catholic Earthcare Australia is an educational resource for students P-12. Catholic Earthcare Australia, an ecological agency established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, first produced this interactive CD to encourage and assist schools in celebrating water in 2003, during the International Year of Freshwater. It has now been revised and contains earth and water liturgies, lesson plans on water for English, Religion, Mathematics, Science, Art and Geography (in PDF format), and features a multi-media interactive lesson for upper primary and secondary students (running time approx. 50 minutes) as well as a Powerpoint presentation for liturgies and reflection, useful weblinks and teacher background notes.  Catholic Earthcare Australia has also produced The Gift of Water, a statement endorsed by Bishops of the Murray-Darling Basin, Let the Many Coastlands be Glad!, a beautifully presented booklet from the Queensland bishops on safeguarding the Great Barrier Reef and the waters of the South Pacific, and Reef of Revelation, a CD-ROM which aims to raise awareness about coral reefs and the threats facing these vibrant ecosystems.  All are available on the Resources page of Catholic Earthcare Australia website.
• The National Catholic Rural Life Conference (NCRLC) understands that current farm policies create incentives to adopt farming practices that accelerate erosion and consume scarce water resources, To combat these environmentally degrading practices, NCRLC has engaged in water-related projects which have been funded in part through the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Social Development and World Peace, as well as advocated for environmentally sustainable Conservation Programs.
• The testimonies from partners of Trócaire, which was set up by the Irish Catholic Bishops, and the people they work with highlight the importance of water and the consequences of too much or too little rainfall.