Grundfos Joins Coalition to Secure Ailing Colorado River's Future

BROOKSHIRE, TX – April 23, 2026 – As the American West grapples with a historic water crisis threatening its economy and communities, global water technology leader Grundfos has stepped into a pivotal role, becoming a co-champion for the Colorado River Basin within the influential Water Resilience Coalition. The move signals a significant corporate mobilization aimed at safeguarding the river system that underpins a $1.4 trillion economy and supplies water to 40 million people.

The Economic Imperative of a River in Peril

The Colorado River is more than a landmark; it is the economic lifeblood of the American West. According to a landmark study by Arizona State University, the river supports an estimated 16 million jobs and fuels $1.4 trillion in annual economic activity across seven states. This vast economic web includes agriculture that provides nearly 90% of the nation's winter vegetables, a multi-billion-dollar recreation industry, and the essential municipal water supplies for major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Denver.

"Keeping the Colorado River running is not only an environmental challenge, it is an economic imperative," said Ulrik Gernow, Group Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Grundfos, in a statement announcing the partnership. "This river underpins jobs, communities, and growth across the American West."

The failure to act poses a direct threat to regional supply chains, long-term growth, and the stability of communities. With hydropower generation at dams like the Hoover Dam already facing potential cutbacks due to low water levels, the crisis impacts everything from energy costs to food production, making corporate engagement not just a matter of stewardship, but of strategic economic preservation.

A Crisis Decades in the Making

The urgency of this new coalition is rooted in a crisis that has been escalating for over two decades. The region is in the grip of a historic "megadrought," identified by scientists as the driest period in at least 1,200 years. This prolonged drought, exacerbated by rising temperatures, has drastically reduced the river's flow—by an estimated 20% since the year 2000.

This climatic shift has exposed a fundamental flaw in the river's management: overallocation. The 1922 Colorado River Compact, the foundational "Law of the River," was negotiated during an unusually wet period and allocated more water to states than the river typically carries. For decades, the system's massive reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, masked this deficit. Now, those reservoirs have fallen to critically low levels, threatening both water delivery and power generation capabilities.

The challenges are compounded by aging infrastructure that leads to significant water loss. By joining the coalition, Grundfos aims to leverage its expertise in advanced pump and water solutions to help modernize these systems, improve efficiency, and reduce waste across the basin's interconnected municipalities, industries, and agricultural regions.

A Coalition of Industry and Activism

Grundfos is not acting alone. The company’s co-champion role places it at the heart of the Water Resilience Coalition, a CEO-led initiative operating under the UN Global Compact. This powerful group brings together 40 of the world's most influential companies—representing a combined market capitalization of over five trillion dollars—to drive collective corporate action on water stress. As a co-champion, Grundfos will work with peers, NGOs, and local stakeholders to coordinate investments and accelerate progress.

This corporate firepower is being combined with grassroots advocacy through a partnership with renowned water activist Mina Guli and her not-for-profit organization, Thirst. Grundfos is a founding partner of Guli’s "Run the River: Colorado" campaign, in which the ultramarathon runner will traverse the entire 2,000-mile length of the river starting this June. The run is designed to draw national attention to the river's plight while the coalition works to translate that urgency into concrete action.

"I’ve run along rivers around the world, and I’ve seen what happens when they run dry," said Guli. "The Colorado River has sustained life across the West for generations. Now, it needs everyone to come together to save it. Partnerships like this one are how urgency turns into the commitments that matter."

To bridge awareness and action, the partners will convene a series of regional summits this summer in key cities along the river, including Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. These events will bring together business leaders, farmers, Tribal Nations, and policymakers to advance practical solutions for strengthening the region's water security.

A Proven Commitment to Water Solutions

Grundfos’s leadership on the Colorado River builds on a long-standing corporate commitment to sustainability and water technology innovation. The Danish-based firm was the first water solutions company in the world to have its net-zero emissions targets approved by the rigorous Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company has also made significant strides in reducing its own water footprint, nearing its 2025 goal of a 50% reduction in operational water withdrawal.

This track record, recognized with a platinum medal from sustainability rating agency EcoVadis for two consecutive years, lends significant credibility to its new role. The company’s expertise in creating energy and water-efficient systems for utilities and industries positions it as a key technical partner in the effort to modernize the West's water infrastructure.

Through this multi-faceted partnership, Grundfos is positioning itself not just as a supplier of technology, but as a convener and catalyst for systemic change. The initiative represents a modern approach to environmental problem-solving, where corporate resources, technological expertise, and public advocacy unite to address a challenge too large for any single entity to solve alone. The success of this coalition in the Colorado River Basin could become a blueprint for tackling other critical water stress issues around the globe.