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Conference Keynote, Panels and Workshops
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Keynote Address:
How much River Water can Colorado Reasonably Develop?
Power Point Presentation
Eric Kuhn, General Manager, Colorado River Water Conservation
District
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Luncheon Panel Discussion:
The Interbasin Compact Committee Needs Assessment Working Group
Peter Binney, Director, Aurora Water: Metro Roundtable
Alan Hamel, Executive Director, Pueblo Board of Water Works:
Arkansas Basin Roundtable
Bill Trampe, President, Colorado
River District Board: Gunnison Basin Roundtable
Eric Hecox, Manager, Office of
Interbasin Compact Negotiations, Colorado Department of Natural
Resources (Moderator)
Materials:
1.
House Bill 05-1177, Interbasin Compacts, Colorado
State Legislature.
2.
Interbasin Compact Process Overview, Office of
Interbasin Compact Negotiations.
3.
Interbasin Compact Process Fact Sheet, Office of
Interbasin Compact Negotiations.
4.
The Colorado Water for the 21st Century:
Interbasin Compact Committee Charter.
5.
House Bill 06-1400, Approval of the Interbasin Compact
Charter, Colorado State Legislature.
6.
Senate Bill 06-179, Concerning Additional Financial
Support for Water Projects, Colorado State Legislature.
Workshop I: Applying and
Assessing Research
A. Types and Sources of Existing Research
B. How to Evaluate the Credibility and Usability of Research
Reports
Workshop II: Dynamic
Basin-wide Water Needs Assessments
Workshop III: Using Research
in Collaborative Decision-making Processes
Workshop I:
Applying and Assessing Research
Moderator:
Tom Cech,
Executive Director, Central Colorado Water Conservancy
District.
A. Types and Sources of Existing Research
Presenters:
o
Dan Smith: Colorado Water Management
in the Era of Limits: Potential Contributions from Agricultural
Research
o
Christopher Goemans: Municipal
Water Planning: Identifying Which Households Respond to Demand
Management Programs and by How Much
o
Reagan Waskom: Discovering New
Knowledge to Help Manage Colorado’s Water: 40 Years of Applied Water
Research at the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute
o
Lyn Kathlene: Translating
Water Research into Policy Implications
o
Doug Kenney: “Informing and
Influencing” Western Water Management (in theory and practice): The
Natural Resources Law Center
B. How to Evaluate the Credibility and
Usability of Research Reports
Presenters:
o
Dennis Montgomery: Use of
Research in Kansas v. Colorado
o
Jewlya Lynn: A Tool for Interpreting
and Evaluating Research
A.
Types and Sources of Existing Research
Colorado Water Management in the Era of Limits: Potential
Contributions from Agricultural Research. Dan Smith,
Professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State
University.
Abstract:
Agricultural water use is always an important issue in Colorado’s
water management because of the sheer magnitude of use in this
economic sector. Research on agricultural water use and management,
conducted by both state and federal agencies, has produced
information useful to various water management entities. In
addition, collaboration between water supply providers in the state
and federal and state researchers has provided applied results
directly applicable to water management decisions. Water management
in the current era of limited supplies will benefit from greater
research emphasis on limited water use and dryland management.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Smith, D.
History of Agricultural Experiment Station and Colorado
Water Issues. December 2004. Colorado Water, The Water Center
at Colorado State University.
≈
Municipal Water Planning: Identifying Which Households Respond to
Demand Management Programs and by How Much.
Christopher Goemans,
Postdoctoral Researcher, Western
Water Assessment, Cooperative Institute for Research
in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado.
Abstract:
Designing effective demand management strategies requires knowledge
of consumers’ responsiveness to particular demand management
programs. Western Water Assessment (WWA) researchers are currently
conducting research aimed at better understanding how consumers make
water use decisions, how they respond to demand management
initiatives, and the collective impact that those decisions will
have on the future balance of water supply and demand within the
South Platte basin. This talk provides several examples of this
research, focusing on a recent collaborative effort between Aurora
Water and the WWA. Preliminary results will be presented which
demonstrate the importance of understanding how (1) different
“types” of households respond differently to particular policies
(e.g. price changes) and (2) the effectiveness of certain management
programs is affected when combined with other programs (e.g. price
changes combined with mandatory restrictions).
Power Point
Presentation
Materials:
1.
South Pratt Regional Assessment Tool (SPRAT) Table.
Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado.
2.
Intermountain West Climate Summary. July 2006. Western
Water Assessment, University of Colorado.
3.
Woodhouse, C., & Lukas, J. The TreeFlow Project: Applying
tree-ring data to water management in Colorado and the West.
Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado.
4.
Executive Summary: Most Recent Experimental Forecast Guidance.
25 September 2006. Western Water Assessment, University of
Colorado.
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Discovering New Knowledge to Help Manage Colorado’s Water: 40
Years of Applied Water Research at the Colorado Water Resources
Research Institute. Reagan Waskom, Director, Colorado
Water Resources Research Institute, Colorado State University.
Abstract: The
Colorado Water Resources Research Institute (CWRRI), an affiliate of
Colorado
State University, focuses the water expertise of higher
education on the evolving water concerns and problems being faced by
Colorado citizens. CWRRI develops partnerships between university
water expertise and Colorado water managers to address emerging
water problems. CWRRI operates a research program whereby seed
grants are made available to faculty to initiate research on water
concerns or problems. To disseminate research, CWRRI publishes
research completion reports and conference proceedings. Public
education informational reports are also prepared to explain water
issues to Colorado citizens.
Materials:
1.
Overview of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute.
2.
Sources of Water Information Synthesis. Colorado Water
Resources Research Institute.
3.
Sources of Water Information spreadsheet. Colorado Water
Resources Research Institute.
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Translating Water
Research into Policy Implications. Lyn Kathlene,
Director, Colorado Institute of Public Policy, Colorado State
University.
Abstract: The
mission of the Colorado Institute of Public Policy is to bring
together basic and applied research to encourage effective public
problem solving about the connections among agriculture,
environment, and people. The Institute stresses
credibility in all
of its research and outreach activities, interdisciplinary
approaches to address pressing public policy issues and
partnerships with
local, state and regional stakeholders. This presentation
introduces one of the Institute’s dissemination products:
“translation papers.”
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Improving Translocation Success of Threatened Trout. 2006.
Colorado Institute of Public Policy.
2.
Over Estimating Winter Precipitation in Western Snowpacks.
2006. Colorado Institute of Public Policy.
3.
Should Water Quality Management by Integrated with Land Use
Planning? 2006. Colorado Institute of Public Policy.
4.
Estimating Market Prices for Public Land Purchases. 2006.
Colorado Institute of Public Policy.
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“Informing and
Influencing” Western Water Management (in theory and practice): The
Natural Resources Law Center. Doug Kenney, Senior
Research Associate, Natural Resources Law Center, University of
Colorado-Boulder.
Abstract: The
mission statement of the CU Natural Resources Law Center calls on
the organization to “inform and influence” decisions concerned with
water and other western natural resources. In theory, this is as
simple as preparing studies and hosting conferences; in practice,
however, things are considerably more difficult and politically
delicate. This presentation reviews some of the studies and other
services provided by the NRLC for federal and state governments and
many other groups, including the Western Water Policy Review
Advisory Commission, the Bureau of Reclamation, CALFED and others.
Some general lessons about the role of academic research in policy
making are identified.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Overview of the Natural Resources Law Center, University of
Colorado School of Law.
2.
Nichols, P., Murphy, M., & Kenney, D. 2001.
Summary Report: Water
and Growth in Colorado, A Review of Legal and Policy Issues.
Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law.
B. How to Evaluate the Credibility and Usability of Research
Reports
Use of Research in Kansas v. Colorado. Dennis
Montgomery, Attorney, Hill & Robbins.
Abstract:
Research often plays a critical role in water litigation. An
intelligent evaluation of facts is often difficult or impossible
without the application of scientific, technical, or other
specialized knowledge, and the usual source for such knowledge in
the courtroom is an expert witness. The Federal and Colorado Rules
of Evidence provide that if scientific, technical or other
specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand
the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as
an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, or education, may testify
thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise. Frequently, the
basis for an expert’s opinion is research conducted by the expert or
by others in the expert’s field. This presentation reviews some of
the uses of research in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Kansas v.
Colorado and how courts evaluate the credibility and usability
of research reports.
Materials:
1.
Kansas v. Colorado. 2000. U.S. Supreme Court,
pp.45-64.
2.
Kansas v. Colorado. 2003, Fourth Report. U.S.
Supreme Court, pp.53-79, 108-120.
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A Tool for
Interpreting and Evaluating Research. Jewlya Lynn,
Project Director, Colorado Institute of Public Policy, Colorado
State University.
Abstract:
Collaborative decision-making processes can break down when multiple
research studies are brought to the table with different findings
and implications for decision-making. Instead of allowing research
to be a barrier, participants in the decision-making process can
compare the studies across a range of different factors to
understand why the findings differ and assess how to reconcile the
information. The template presented in this session is a tool for
non-researchers to interpret and evaluate research studies,
ultimately to allow for comparison across multiple studies.
Power
Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Water Research Interpretation and Evaluation Template. 2006.
Colorado Institute of Public Policy.
Workshop II: Dynamic Basin-wide Water Needs Assessments
Moderator: Tom Cech, Executive
Director, Central Colorado Water Conservancy District.
PRESENTERS:
o
Ben Harding and Bill Lord, The Severe
Sustained Drought Project—A Retrospective in 20/20
o
Jim Westkott,
Predicting the Future: The Population
Forecasting Modeling System of the Colorado Demography Office
o
Susan Morea, Finding Win/Win
Solutions to Addressing Colorado's Future Water Supply Challenges
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The Severe Sustained Drought
Project—A Retrospective in 20/20. Ben Harding, Principal
Engineer, Hydrosphere, and Bill Lord,
Professor Emeritus, the University of Arizona.
Abstract:
In 1984 Boulder geographer Gilbert White
suggested an interdisciplinary study of the potential impacts of a
major drought in the Colorado River Basin. Gilbert White's idea was
pursued under the aegis of the Man and the Biosphere Program as an
investigation of the dendrochronologic and hydrologic bases for
anticipating a severe drought, and the economic, legal, and
political implications of coping with such a drought. When the
results of the Severe Sustained Drought study were published they
raised only mild and fleeting interest among water resources
professionals, and got virtually no notice by policymakers. During
2002, the contents of Lake Powell on the Colorado River dropped by
almost 5 million acre-feet (maf), the largest single-year decline
since Glen Canyon Dam was closed in 1963. Further declines followed
in 2003 and 2004. The end of September 2004 marked five straight
years of declining water levels and saw Lake Powell containing
scarcely one third of its active storage capacity. These events
provoked renewed interest in the Severe Sustained Drought study—what
had once been an abstract, academic study now seemed more relevant.
One obvious question is how the unfolding drought in the Colorado
River basin compares with the circumstances we assumed as the basis
for the Severe Sustained Drought study. A second question is how the
projected drought impacts compare with the actual impacts which have
subsequently occurred. A third question is how relevant the policy
analyses of the study turned out to be in retrospect. A final
question is how studies of this kind can better support the making
of policies and programs.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Managing the Colorado River in a Severe Sustained Drought: An
Evaluation of Institutional Options. October 1995. American
Water Resources Association.
2.
Severe Sustained Drought Redux? Hydrosphere.
3.
List of all articles in the Severe Sustained Drought Study.
October 1995.
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Predicting the Future: The Population
Forecasting Modeling System of the Colorado Demography Office.
Jim Westcott, State Demographer’s Office, Colorado Department of
Local Affairs.
Abstract: The Colorado Demography Office prepares its
population forecasts by age and by county via a modeling system
which consists of three major components. The first is a standard
demographic cohort-component model. The second is an economic model
which forecasts the number of jobs by county based on national
forecasts. The third is a series of labor market variables which
relate jobs to populations, including labor force participation,
unemployment, multiple job-holding and commuting. Work on the
various components is an on-going staff effort, as is the review and
evaluation of their output by county and regional governments,
especially when their forecasts become a concern for their own
planning or development processes. “Preliminary” forecasts are
released at least once a year. Occasionally, they are revised in
less than a year when there have been a number of significant new
economic or demographic developments within the state.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Colorado State Demography Office Description and Overview.
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Finding Win/Win Solutions to Addressing
Colorado's Future Water Supply Challenges. Susan Morea, Vice
President, CDM.
Abstract: Nearly 3 million more people are expected to call
Colorado home by the year 2030. Most of these new residents, almost
2.4 million, will live along the Front Range, with large percentage
increases on the Western Slope and mountain communities. We know
these new residents will need water, more water than can be
delivered today. Conservation will play an important role, but
conservation alone cannot meet all these requirements. New storage
projects will be needed and must be pursued, but these can take
years or even decades to permit and construct and their success is
uncertain. In this setting, cities will increasingly look to
agricultural water to meet their needs, creating impacts on rural
Colorado that need to be recognized and addressed. In order to
create win/win solutions, Coloradoans will need to work
cooperatively to craft solutions for municipal and industrial use,
agriculture, environmental and recreational needs.
Workshop III: Using Research in Collaborative
Decision-making Processes
PRESENTERS:
o
MaryLou Smith, Engaging Stakeholders
in Research for Improved Decision Making
o
Jim Lochhead,
Colorado
River Sustained Drought Shortage Criteria
o
Tom Iseman, Statewide Water
Planning: Bringing Objective Information on the Natural Environment
into the Water Supply Planning Process
o
Mark Pifher,
Colorado
Water Quality Forum – Collaboration vs. Confrontation
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Engaging Stakeholders in Research for Improved Decision
Making. MaryLou Smith, co-founder,
Aqua Engineering, Inc.
Abstract: Increasingly, water conflict revolves not
so much around technological difficulties as around human
perception, values and behaviors regarding water policy. A paper
presented at the World Water Forum in Mexico City in March, 2006
reported that 67 research projects funded by the European Union all
show that researchers do not know how to meaningfully convey
research results to policy/decision makers, and the greatest need
for further research is not technological but social. The challenge
is, how do we constructively engage stakeholders/policy makers to
make or influence optimal water resource allocation and management
decisions? Without the participation of the widest range of
affected constituencies in identifying what research is needed, the
research we design and conduct will be compromised. Critical nuances
related to what is studied and how it is studied evolve from values.
Rather than assume we know and can take into account the wide range
of values of affected constituencies, we must engage those
stakeholders in a meaningful way in the design, implementation and
interpretation of research. Models ranging from the Danish Citizen
Technology Panels to joint fact finding processes will be discussed
as well as new convening methodologies such as Open Space
Conferences and Inquiry Circles.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Engaging Stakeholders in Research for Improved Decision Making.
2.
EU Water Initiative Research Component. European
Commission.
3.
Danish Citizen Technology Panels. The Co-Intelligence
Institute.
4.
After the Water Wars: The Search for Common Ground.
International Development Research Centre.
Colorado River Sustained Drought Shortage Criteria. Jim Lochhead, attorney,
Brownstein/Hyatt/Farber.
Abstract: In February of this year, the seven states of the
Colorado River Basin reached preliminary agreement on a set of
criteria for the coordinated operation of Lakes Powell and Mead.
These criteria are designed to accommodate a balance in operations
between Lakes Powell and Mead so as to avoid the risk of curtailment
in use in the Upper Basin under the Colorado River Compact by
preserving an appropriate amount of storage in Lake Powell, while
minimizing the risk of shortage in the Lower Basin by allowing water
to be moved from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. The preliminary proposal
followed approximately two years of negotiation that was based on
the development of modeling analysis by the Bureau of Reclamation.
The analysis allowed the states to test the effects of alternative
operating regimes for Lakes Powell and Mead. This presentation will
use some examples of the modeling to discuss how the modeling of
alternatives allowed the basin states to work from a common set of
assumptions to arrive at a preliminary agreement on river
operations. Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Seven Basin States Preliminary Proposal Regarding
Colorado River Interim Operations.
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Statewide Water Planning: Bringing Objective Information on the
Natural Environment into the Water Supply Planning Process.
Tom Iseman, The Nature Conservancy District.
Abstract: Colorado’s Statewide Water Supply Initiative
recognized the growing importance of environmental and recreational
water uses to our quality of life, natural heritage and growing
economy, and recommended a concerted effort to evaluate, quantify
and prioritize environmental and recreational goals to inform
sustainable water supply planning. Conservation and recreation
organizations have welcomed this opportunity to engage in
constructive dialogue on future water supply planning in Colorado.
However, the recommendations of the SWSI have proven more elusive
than expected. As various parties have submitted information on
environmental and recreational needs, questions have emerged,
including: What is the source of data? What was the methodology
for data collection? What are the data quality protocols? And how
can we use this information to make informed water supply
decisions? This presentation will lay out the challenges and
suggest some options for building consensus around standard methods
and reliable data to inform water supply planning that sustains
environmental and recreational values.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Statewide Water Supply Initiative – Phase II. The Nature
Conservancy.
2.
SWSI Phase 2 Technical Round Table – Recreation and Environmental
Needs. SWSI and CDM.
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Colorado Water Quality Forum – Collaboration vs. Confrontation.
Mark Pifher, Deputy Director for Water Resources, City
of Aurora
Abstract: The Colorado Water Quality Forum was formed in 1992
in response to a perceived need to improve the relationships and
lines of communication between the Colorado Water Quality Commission
and Division and the water quality stakeholder community. Strained
relationships had led to a number of acrimonious rule-making
proceedings and legislative debates. Efficient and effective
implementation of the state water quality program in the context of
standards development, guidance adoption, enforcement, hearing
procedures and future funding necessitated a more collaborative and
congenial process where all views were heard and competing needs
were satisfied. The forum was viewed as a vehicle to achieve this
goal.
Power Point Presentation
Materials:
1.
Colorado Water Quality Forum 2006-2007 Annual Work Plan.
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