More water agencies and environmental groups are reaching out with offers to collaborate, turning her hobby into a moneymaking opportunity. RUNYON: Lehto says she sees a way to make this a career path. He came across Lehto just by scrolling and says a partnership to help spread the agency's conservation message could be in the cards.īRONSON MACK: More than anything, the impact that we saw with that is how direct and accurate the information was. Bronson Mack is in communications for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. RUNYON: Since going viral, Lehto's TikToks have earned praise from others in the world of water. LEHTO: I had no idea, like, the scale of the issue nor what to say to those people (laughter). RUNYON: As the news spread, Lehto, 17 years old at the time, found herself fielding calls from journalists all over the world. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In Colorado, a crew working for the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally released a million gallons of toxic sludge into a river. RUNYON: A plume of neon-orange wastewater released from the Gold King Mine into the Animas River was making its way toward Durango. And I was like, what are you talking about? LEHTO: They said, I don't know what you're planning on doing today, but you're not going to be able to go rafting. She was working at a local outfitter one morning in 2015 when the sheriff's office called. RUNYON: Lehto grew up rafting the streams of southwestern Colorado and says one event in particular was formative. Like, I understood pieces of this, but you're the first person who explained it in terms that I can understand. LEHTO: I get comments that are like, wow, you just connected a lot of dots for me. Lehto says the concepts can be hard to grasp at first, which is why she avoids all the jargon that comes with the heavily engineered systems used to plumb the arid West. Tens of millions of people depend on the river, and it's facing a serious shortfall in supply. RUNYON: The Colorado River has been her focus since she started on the app earlier this spring. LEHTO: And hopefully, if enough of us are talking about it, then water managers and elected officials in the Southwest might feel pressure to actually change the system.
Photos of the Southwest's shrinking reservoirs pop up behind her. RUNYON: In her videos, Lehto, with her straight brown hair and cat-eye makeup, sits in front of the camera, news-anchor style. LEHTO: Remember when I said the Colorado River Basin states had exactly 31 days to come up with a plan to reduce their water consumption by 25%? On the app, Lehto by WesternWaterGirl, and her clips regularly garner hundreds of thousands of views. RUNYON: That same formula works on TikTok, just trade the tips for likes. Like, what story can I tell in the meantime? And I'll tell you the better stories you tell, the better tips you get. TEAL LEHTO: You get to the point where you're like, OK, I know I'm going to need to call a command in exactly 45 seconds. And after running the same stretch of river a few times a day for months. She'd have just a couple minutes in between shouting paddle commands to the tourists in her boat. LUKE RUNYON, BYLINE: Teal Lehto honed her short, snappy explanations of the West's water problems guiding rafting trips down the Animas River in her hometown of Durango. Luke Runyon of member station KUNC reports. A 25-year-old river guide is racking up TikTok views while explaining the megadrought in the Colorado River basin.
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