For decades, the Mia River gave without asking. It watered crops, turned turbines, and carried away waste. But in the small communities along its 200-mile basin, residents have begun using a new word for the work they are doing now:
“You don’t just restore a river,” she says, standing at a newly constructed fish passage. “You apologize to it. You show up every day. That is the repayment.”
By [Author Name]