Over the course of nearly a year, Teal Lehto, or 'Western Water Girl' on TikTok, has gained more than 50,000 followers while talking about all things water in the west.
"People ask me what the goal of my account is and it is really genuinely just talking about these issues," Lehto explained.
Water has influenced Lehto's life in a big way. She grew up along the banks of the Animas River in southwestern Colorado and even worked for a rafting company at a young age.
In 2015, the Gold King Mine spill turned the Animas River bright orange. Lehto remembers thinking about how important the river was to the community and "how terrifying it was to see it possibly be dying."
That experience, along with the classes she took in college on water politics and policies, started her journey of asking questions regarding water management and ways it can be better.
In April 2022, she took that message to the social media platform TikTok. She wasn't expecting much, but she soon realized there was a thirst for water knowledge.
"The first video I posted got like over 200,000 views within just a couple of days," she said.
The topics on her page include dwindling lake levels, water rights for states and tribal nations, and the water issues Arizonans are facing.
Lehto's goal is simple: just talk about the issues and get them at the forefront since the west is the most water-stressed region in the country.
"The math is straightforward. We are using more water than is available within the river basin. I really think we just need to continue explaining that in easy-to-understand terms," she added.
Lehto says she plans to go to law school and eventually be in the same rooms where policy issues are discussed.
You can follow Lehto's TikTok account here.
