POTSDAM – An engaged group of about 40 people came together Thursday night, Oct. 10, to hear about the threats a changing climate will have on the Raquette and other North Country rivers and the communities they support.

The event, hosted by Talking Rivers and the Clarkson Institute for a Sustainable Environment, featured Clarkson professor Eric Backus, community organizers Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aquilar-Izzo of Talking Rivers, and Town of Potsdam Board member Lynn Hall. Abraham Francis, Talking River board member, opened the meeting with Akwesasne Thanksgiving Prayer.

Professor Backus’ presentation highlighted the likelihood of more extreme rain events leading to flooding, increased uncontrolled sewage discharges, erosion and structure damages along the Raquette and other waterways. A contributor to numerous studies about these and other impacts, his message was clear - it isn’t whether or not they will happen, it’s how severe they will be. He stressed these threats must be addressed to mitigate the possible environmental harm since, as he pointed out, “Rivers are the lifeblood of our communities.”

Lavia and Aquilar-Izzo gave an overview of the world-wide movement to recognize the rights of nature and rivers specifically as a tool to give local communities the power to protect the environment they depend on. Their examples included Ecuador, which rewrote its constitution to recognize the “Rights of Mother Earth”. They pointed out a court has determined that under that constitution the heavily polluted Machángara River has rights and the government has been held to undo decades of harm and clean it up. They ended highlighting the Town of Potsdam’s resolution, passed November 2022, stipulating that the "Raquette River should be recognized as having certain legally enforceable rights" and committing the town to passing a binding local law to protect those Rights.

At this point Lee Willbanks, Talking Rivers Board President, asked the audience to consider, “if corporations like Alcoa, Racer and Enbridge being creations of law and given perpetual existence can have rights should the rivers and waters they exploit and harm have rights as well?”

Town Board member Hall read the Potsdam resolution to the audience and discussed why she felt it was important for the Town to continue with its commitment give the “residents of the Town of Potsdam . . . the legal ability to enforce those rights;” and to “work towards a review of local law for the purpose of recognizing and securing those rights.”

After the presentations there was a lively discussion among all the attendees about the importance of the Raquette River to Potsdam and the north country and why it should be celebrated and protected with many in attendance signing up to help with the effort. It was clear that although much work remains to be done it was apparent that there is significant interest in further action by Potsdam and other municipalities to increase protection of the north country’s waters.