We Look Forward to seeing you Friday, September 22!
Walk-Ins Welcome – Register In-Person starting at 8:30 a.m.

Across Colorado, this water year was a gift. It delivered unexpected bounties of a healthy snowpack, a cool, wet spring and early summer, and reservoirs which filled and spilled. Water managers at local, state, and federal levels exhaled a collective breath.

Yet this year was likely only a temporary reprieve. Aridification of the American Southwest remains our long-term reality, and new water management strategies and solutions must reflect that. The decisions we make today need to be able to weather both storm and drought – durable solutions for a hotter, drier future instead of reactive stopgap measures to the crisis we collectively face.

As water leaders and as water users, we must proactively plan for the success of future generations and the hotter, drier landscape in which they’ll live throughout the Colorado River Basin. Durable solutions hold space for the uncertainty ahead and the fast-growing communities dependent on a rapidly diminishing water source.

The Colorado River District is thrilled to announce its highly anticipated Annual Water Seminar, where experts, stakeholders, and community members will come together to explore the pressing issue of securing durable solutions for the Colorado River.

Map of the CMU Meyer Ballroom (Located in the University Center)

Draft Agenda

Disclaimer: Please note that event details, including agenda items, speakers and panelists, are subject to change.

• 8:30 a.m. Breakfast/Registration

Morning Session

• 9:00 a.m. Welcome – Colorado River District Staff
• 9:05 a.m. Greeting – Kathy Chandler-Henry, Colorado River District Board President
• 9:10 a.m. Water Year Reflections: Hydrology in the Colorado River Headwaters – Brendon Langenhuizen, Director of Technical Advocacy, Colorado River District
• 9:30 a.m. Morning Keynote: Durable Water Solutions for Future Generations – State of the Colorado River District – Andy Mueller, General Manager, Colorado River District
• 10:10 a.m. Morning Panel: A ‘Balanced’ Colorado River, Upper & Lower Basin Perspectives – Peter Fleming, Colorado River District General Counsel (CO) (moderator), Kathryn Sorensen, Arizona State University Professor, former Director of Phoenix Water Services (AZ), Bart Leeflang, P.E., Central Utah Water Conservancy District Colorado River Program Manager and Colorado River Authority of Utah Representative (UT), Meghan C. Scott, Noble Law Office Attorney & Yuma, AZ Agriculture Representative (AZ)
• 10:55 a.m. Break
• 11:20 a.m. Morning Panel II: Drought Policy & You – A Discussion with State Policy Makers – Dylan Roberts, Colorado State Senator, Marc Catlin, Colorado State Representative, Zane Kessler, Colorado River District Director of Government Relations (moderator)
  
• 12:00 p.m. Grab Lunch

Midday Session

• 12:15 p.m. Lunchtime Keynote: Downriver Redux, Storytelling for Durable Solutions – Heather Hansman, Journalist & Author of Downriver
• 1:15 p.m. Afternoon Panel I: Learning from Success – The Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Program & Its Wide-Reaching Impacts – Marielle Cowdin, Colorado River District Director of Public Relations (moderator), Julie Stahli, Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Program Director at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kyle Whitaker, Water Rights Manager at Northern Water, Jackie Fisher, Orchard Mesa Irrigation District General Manager, Michelle Garrison, Colorado Water Conservation Board Senior Water Resources Specialist
• 2:05 p.m. Break

Afternoon Session

• 2:15 p.m. Afternoon Armchair Discussion: U.S. Senator Michael Bennet
• 3:00 p.m. Afternoon Panel II: The Farm Bill & The Future of West Slope Productive Agriculture – Zane Kessler, Colorado River District Director of Government Relations (moderator), Grant Colvin, President of GWC Public Affairs, and Jordan Beezley, Deputy Commissioner of External Affairs for the Colorado Department of Agriculture
• 3:45 p.m. Afternoon Presentation: Small Communities, Big Action & The Community Funding Partnership – Melissa Wills, Colorado River District Community Funding Partnership Manager

Happy Hour & Networking 4:15-5:15

• • Sponsored by Palisade Brewing & American Rivers