Published: June 11, 2017

Martz Summer Conference 2017 Fighting Back on the Colorado River: Carving Out Progress on Multiple Fronts


Since the turn of the 21st century, storage on the Colorado River has declined while stress over the region’s water future has intensified. 

The combined impact of overconsumption, drought, and climate change have exposed longstanding problems with the regional water budget, and have focused national attention on the urgency of improving management.  Water managers, river advocates, and other concerned stakeholders and decision-makers are responding, increasingly through basin-wide initiatives that go beyond specifying how looming shortages will be distributed to actually trying to head-off the most painful potential impacts.  Many of these efforts are at a critical juncture.  As they come to fruition, several questions arise:  Are we doing the right things?  Is it enough?  What needs to happen next?

Sponsored By: Walton Family Foundation Water Funder Initiative U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Porzak, Browning, and Bushong LLP Southern Nevada Water Authority

Moderated By: Doug Kenney, GWC Western Water Policy Program