Rig To Flip

Rig To Flip uses the power of film to inspire and engage young people in conservation issues across the Colorado River Basin. Rig To Flip, a term that comes from whitewater rafting meaning that at times even the best laid plans can fail. For the people who depend on the water from the in this region, the term takes on another proportion. 

After the installation of one of the West's last large dam projects, the Dolores River is in a fast state of change. Vast quantities of water are shuttled out of the Dolores River Basin to grow extremely water intensive crops, like alfalfa, in a desert. How efficient and flexible this use of water is for the future, is a question for the generations who stand to inherit this system and a river in decline.

In May, Rig To Flip embarked on a journey down the Dolores River to record and answer the question, "what exactly we are inheriting here?" Flows were a fraction of what was needed for a full sized raft, so Rig To Flip partnered with Alpacka Raft and were outfitted with four packrafts to navigate this river turned creek. No one had navigated the entire river in five years and they wondered what would they would find. The crew was not prepared for the magnitude of the experience or the feeling of inheriting a river that has been so undervalued.

The content Rig To Flip gathered will be used to raise greater visibility of this unacceptable social, environmental and cultural issue. There are deeply entrenched and oppositional views regarding water management in the surrounding communities. Still, the Dolores is ripe with the potential to step in bold new direction.

Rig To Flip intends to inspire engagement and action through film. At its core, working in this medium of film is an act of intimacy between the creator and the viewer. If a connection can be made on an emotional level, we can relate, we can understand, we can effect positive change on issues like the Dolores River.

For more information on Rig To Flip and what they are working to achieve click here.