On June 6-7, a record crowd of 365 in-person and 100 online registrants assembled for the 44th Annual Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources.聽 鈥�Next Chapters on the Colorado River: Short-Term Coping, Post-2026 Operations, and Beyond鈥� was co-convened this year with the Water & Tribes Initiative (WTI), marking the second year in a partnership that will extend at least through the 2025 event.聽 The main topic of conversation this year was the ongoing EIS process focused on developing new post-2026 rules for coordinated reservoir operations.聽 Those rules, although defined in terms of reservoir operations at Lakes Powell and Mead, are ultimately about adjustments to water deliveries and the inevitable curtailments associated with the warming basin and diminishing river.
Day 1 of the event primarily focused on the perspectives of those sovereign governments with rights and responsibilities regarding the river.聽 This review began with Camille Calimlim Touton, the Commissioner to the Bureau of Reclamation鈥攖he agency tasked with developing the new operating rules鈥攚hose observations were bracketed by a similar presentation by Roberto Salmon, the former IBWC (International Boundary and Water Commission) Commissioner from Mexico.聽 This set for stage for remarks from 6 of the 7 the principal state negotiators, with an introduction provided by Colorado Governor Jared Polis.聽 (Among those negotiators is Nevada鈥檚 John Entsminger, Colorado Law alumni.)聽 As expected, this was a cautious discussion given the ongoing negotiations, but was given life by the skillful probing of moderator Shannon Mullane of the Colorado Sun.聽
A very different sovereign perspective was then provided by a panel representing a sampling of the 30 tribal governments with an interest in the river.聽 This included presentations by Lorelei Cloud (Vice-Chairwoman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe), Stephen Roe Lewis (Governor of the Gila River Indian Community), Dwight Lomayesva (Vice Chairman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes), and Buu Nygren (President, Navajo Nation).聽 This discussion, moderated by WTI鈥檚 Daryl Vigil, highlighted the nascent attempts to better integrate tribal voices into basin negotiations, as well as the recent settlement agreement involving the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, involving northeastern Arizona water rights. The historic settlement agreement was approved by all three tribes shortly before the conference and will now require approval by Congress and $5 billion in funding. 聽A busy Day 1 concluded with voices representing the 鈥渂ig 3鈥� sectors involved in Colorado River management: agriculture, urban, and the environment.聽 This started the transition of the conference to issues that go beyond water deliveries, and beyond the post-2026 rules.聽
The discussions on Day 2 were premised on the notion that new post-2026 operating rules were necessary but insufficient to address all the management challenges in the basin that will persist long past the current rulemaking effort.聽 Included were panels focused on river governance, water conservation (in both urban and agricultural settings), and opportunities for improving management of non-consumptive water uses.聽 These issue-specific discussions were prefaced by a sobering discussion of the challenge of sustainability in the basin dealing with climate change and megadrought.聽 This framing was provided by Tim Nuvangyaoma (Chairman, Hopi Tribe) and Jonathan Overpeck (Dean, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability).聽 The event wrapped up with a pragmatic discussion, led by Alex Funk of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, highlighting efforts to secure funding streams capable of supporting all the innovations needed in the basin.聽
The GWC is thankful for the participation of the speakers and attendees that made this a special and record-breaking event.聽 This is all made possible by the support of our sponsors supporting our work, and the work of our co-convener (WTI).聽 Recordings of the event (and additional materials) are available here on the GWC website.聽 There, in time, you can also learn of our plans for next June. We hope you can all join us. 聽