ACES and The Nature Conservancy Presents Witness to Water: A photographer’s lifelong journey

Witness to Water follows the Colorado River from its pristine headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to its altered and endangered end in the Sonoran Desert. In this immersive multimedia presentation and book launch celebration, acclaimed National Geographic photographer and filmmaker Pete McBride shares images, videos, and sound from decades spent documenting the river from source to sea—or dry delta—and its many tributaries, from the Roaring Fork to the Gila and beyond.

Through travel by packraft, on foot, and from the air, McBride bears witness to both the river’s extraordinary beauty and the immense pressures placed upon it. The program features brand-new work from recent visits to emerging conservation pockets in the Colorado River Delta and newly revealed slot canyons in Lake Powell, landscapes hidden underwater for a lifetime, alongside Indigenous and local perspectives that deepen the story.

A Roaring Fork Valley native, McBride brings a deeply personal lens to this presentation, weaving together his films, assignments, and books into a comprehensive, engaging, and hopeful portrait. Both an elegy and a call to action, Witness to Water is an unforgettable exploration of a river in peril—and a reminder of what is at stake for the wild watersheds that sustain us all.

A Q&A and book signing will take place at the end of the event.