The Colorado River - Where Scarcity Sparks Collaboration
Castle, Anne 1
1 Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment – University of Colorado at Boulder
The Colorado River has always been known for its superlatives – the most volatile supplies, the most iconic landscapes, the most dammed, the most litigated, and recently, the most threatened. The challenges of the past have been overcome with achievements that matched the scope of the difficulties - significant and much-emulated breakthroughs in engineering and deal-making. The water scarcity challenges of the present and future require an even greater degree of creativity and ability to see through immediate gains and losses to the greater and longer term benefits to River communities. Leaders in Colorado River water issues are working hard to address the current imbalance between supply and demand in the system, reset expectations, and provide a platform for continuing evolution in the relationships and agreements that govern this living system. This talk will address the legal framework that both constrains and enables the trillion dollar economy dependent on Colorado River flows, and some of the innovative arrangements and solutions that are playing out in the Basin.