The Sierra Fund CEO Elizabeth “Izzy” Martin is featured in the new documentary film “Water for Gold,” screening Thursday, October 23, 7:00-9:30 PM at the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center. Doors open at 6:30. Izzy will speak at the screening.
For more information, see the following press release by partner organization San Juan Ridge Taxpayers Association:
Water for Gold, a locally produced film about the San Juan Ridge community and the Yuba watershed is finished! We are celebrating at the Schoolhouse with a screening and a live music concert.
Water for Gold tells the story of a community determined to protect its water, its resources, and its economy. In the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, lies the San Juan Ridge. Tucked away amongst towering pines, flanked by two forks of the renowned Yuba River, is a thriving community. There is also a remnant gold mine – a vestige of California’s mining era. A mine that, in the 1990’s, caused water to gush uncontrollably out of the aquifer – scouring creeks and dewatering wells; a mine that wreaked havoc on the community; a mine that is proposed to reopen. This is the story of what a community can do when they decide that enough is enough, and that they will not trade their water for gold.
Live music with singer-songwriter Bryan Cahall starts the evening off. Bryan’s deft songwriting tells the stories of the working class and the oppressed, in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and Utah Phillips.
Sol Henson, president of the San Juan Ridge Taxpayers Association, Jenn Tamo of SYRCL (South Yuba River Citizens League) and Izzy Martin of The Sierra Fund will answer questions, and give an update on the current mine proposal process and the collaborative efforts of community groups.
Come celebrate the land, the water, the community. Admission by donation. For more information go to www.sjrtaxpayers.org or call 265-5490.
