Happy story, Great summary, Relegated to the bottom
Friends of Confluence West -
For this week’s Three Drop, we have:
A happy story (and an interesting model to replicate in other Western communities)
Things you may not know - an invaluable overview of Native American water rights (note also the online conference next week)
Relegated to the bottom:
a. status of CRB negotiations suitable for setting your hair on fire,
b. a new study that will make you want to crawl under the covers. But, you can’t stay there – we’ve got work to do!
For everyone who has been on vacation this month, here’s what you missed in the earlier Three Drop:
Not funny - and, Too funny
Partnerships Rock!
Project 2029 – for the environment, social justice and equity, and climate-based decision making
And … new! Kimery’s office hours. Sign up, tell us about your water sustainability challenges, and let’s find some smart solutions.
For the West,
Kimery
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New! Kimery office hours - pick your time, and let’s see if we can find a path forward for your climate-driven challenge. Click here for office hours.
Many excellent NGOs, water utilities, tribes, Nations, communities, and public agencies are working to protect rivers and forests in the American West from the (sometimes overwhelming) challenges climate change poses. We are proud to partner with many of them.
Why support Confluence West? Over the past 17 years, we've learned that Long-term, equitable solutions require dedicated and talented people from every sector, issue area, perspective, expertise, and culture to bring their part of the elephant, their truth, to the table.
We build and lead projects that connect diverse decision-makers who, in turn, create science- and evidence-based campaigns. Check out our work! Or, email Kimery.
A Happy Model for other communities?
Our happy story of the week: a new group that’s started in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, MtnBio, which is raising local funds to fund local climate, sustainability, and water NGOs. They’ve a focus on fun (various events throughout the Valley) and (very smart) their target audience is young(er) people.
Co-founder Beth Shoemaker said she finds hope in the number of people and organizations working to address climate change. But in conversations with some other community members, Shoemaker has noticed that many people can disengage when the conversation turns to the environment. She believes some can become “overwhelmed” by the problem — perhaps unaware of the solutions that already exist or are in the works. “I just wanted to bridge that gap. I just felt like there was something there that needed to change.”
The Roaring Fork Valley (which includes Aspen) is a well-heeled community - e.g., average home price is $2.7M, but the other two counties have more average COL indexes. For the people who work there, or who have lived there for many years, housing and transportation are huge challenges, which, of course, increase climate emissions. Since 2000, the population in the three counties in the Valley has increased (Pitkin 1.2% , Garfield 9.4%, Eagle 6.8%), along with a big upswing in the number of people over age 75, and a growing Latino population. Like many places in the Mountain West, overall temperatures are rising, and there’s less snowpack.
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Things You May Not Know
For example, did you know that in the Colorado River Basin, 22 of the 29 Tribal nations hold federally recognized rights, accounting for about 20 percent of the basin’s total supply (or roughly 2.9 MAF)?
Alice Walker, with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), wrote a helpful piece Water Rights Settlement Update. Her piece includes background, elements of settlements, current status, key points, and key players.
The pending twelve settlements represent completed negotiations among Tribal Nations, the federal government, states, and non-Indian stakeholders, but require congressional authorization to become law and unlock federal funding for infrastructure and implementation.
The settlements remain in various stages of the legislative process—some have been introduced as bills and referred to committees but have not yet advanced to the stage where a vote on the bill will occur.
Examples of pending settlements include the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 (S.689/H.R.8920), which would settle the Tule River Tribe’s claims, and the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 (H.R.2025), which would resolve claims for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
Note the symposium coming up next week, August 6, hosted by NARF and the Western States Water Council. (web-based.)
Image: InterTribal Youth leadership campaign “Native Like Water”, raising awareness of our indigenous historic relation to water, conservation.
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Meanwhile, Relegated to the Bottom
If you’ve made it this far, the two items below at the bottom:
First, is your hair on fire yet? For the second, you’ll want to crawl back under the covers (but don’t stay there too long – we’ve got work to do!)
First, hair on fire: After months of negotiations (years, really), and the quick demise of a short-lived hopeful possibility, the seven basin states have gone back to their corners. I was hoping there would be a shift in the two weeks since John Fleck posted his July 17 'Return of the Deadpool Diaries': The Colorado River news keeps getting worse.
Nope.
As John notes: With the latest Bureau of Reclamation model runs highlighting the serious risks posed by the declining reservoir levels that Utah State’s Jack Schmidt has been warning about, there are signs that the closed-room discussions among the seven basin states, after brief glimmers of hope last month, are once again not going well. Our (Old?) Wise Man of the CRB also writes: Whatever “bring it on” enthusiasm for litigation you’re hearing from your groupthinkers needs to be tempered by an honest discussion about what happens to your communities’ water supplies if you lose.
Finally, your chance to crawl back under the covers (even if just for a little while), from The New York Times: The West’s Megadrought Might Not Let Up for Decades, Study Suggests. Victoria Todd from the University of Texas, who led the research, notes: That means the drought could last through 2050, possibly even 2100 and beyond — essentially, as she said, for as long as humans continue warming the planet. Then there’s the ongoing moisture deficit in the Southwest since 2000. And population growth, dying species, horrible wildfires, and challenges to water supply - you know, the usual.
Once you’ve crawled back out of bed, read about some of the fascinating experiments this science team conducted.
Please support Confluence West (aka Carpe Diem West!) Since our founding in 2007, we've been building successful alliances and campaigns and bringing new climate science and opportunities to put innovative, sustainable regional water projects into motion in the American West. You can read about our current projects and the ones we're developing. Thanks for your support!
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