4 takeaways from the 2024 Water in the West Symposium

More than 150 people attended the Water in the West Symposium at the CSU Spur campus in Denver on Nov. 14. (Photo: Kevin Samuelson, CSU System)

We can all agree that we literally can't survive without water. The real controversy arises from how we should manage this precious resource.

Ultimately, it comes down to working together. That's why the theme of the 2024 Water in the West Symposium was "Building Bridges: Collaborative Water Action." The Nov. 14 event at the Colorado State University Spur campus in Denver brought together more than 150 stakeholders representing everything from the state and federal government to academia and tribal nations.

"We often overlook acres of common ground to focus on less significant differences," CSU Chancellor Tony Frank said in his opening remarks. "I think with water and in conversations like this one … offer us a path toward unity."

And during a day filled with panels discussing diverse topics, ranging from agriculture to state water planning and finance, one common theme rang through: progress through collaboration isn't always easy, but it is possible.

Here are some of the key takeaways.

Scenes from the 2024 Water in the West Symposium (Photos: Kevin Samuelson, CSU System)

Teams should create spaces for listening and dissent

Keynote speaker Michaela Kerrissey, an assistant professor of management at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, focuses much of her research on helping teams solve difficult problems.

"Part of it is about not getting stuck in the problem but figuring out what the solution is," Kerrissey said.

Finding solutions to problems is a good common goal, and having this sense of purpose is a good anchor to a strong team, Kerrissey said. Another key? Creating a space where everyone feels empowered to speak up - including those who might disagree with the overall consensus.

"The idea behind this is that likely in all of our organizations and all of our teams, great ideas get left behind because the culture doesn't come with a space to come forward, be heard, and be taken seriously," she said.

Kerrissey was the first speaker of the day. Martin Carcasson, the founder and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation, was the last, and he too focused his remarks on how allowing for disagreement can ultimately lead to better results.

"For divergent thinking, we need to get beyond the usual suspects and status quo and hear all the voices," he said.

That's easier said than done. And in an at-times polarized world, his hope is that we create more spaces that allow this to happen.

"We have so many organizations that are designed to divide us, we need organizations that are designed to bring us together," Carcasson said.

Solving grand problems requires empathy

Meagan Schipanski, an associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at CSU, said science is really good at defining problems. Solving them requires more of a human touch.

"As a biophysical scientist, I've become increasingly convinced that we need to lead with the humans, the stories, the contexts in all these situations," she said.

She pointed to her efforts to engage with stakeholders working to preserve the Ogallala Aquifer, and the varying motivations and struggles of everyone involved.

Heather Dutton, the district manager for the San Luis Valley Water Conservation District, shared similar lessons from her efforts engaging with farmers and ranchers.

"We realized the environmental community and farmers have a lot in common - we rely on the river as one of the key economic drivers of our region, we rely on it for happiness," she said. "The thread of realizing we all have so much in common has enabled us to have robust and collaborative projects to think about all the different uses and benefits."

Manuel Heart, the chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe in southwestern Colorado, also shared the importance of getting to know the people involved in different sides of a problem.

"I'm hoping to bring education to each of you, education about who we are as a native people, as a Ute Mountain tribe, and to have the respect to be able to speak freely and bring the challenges we face, and also gain trust and partnership," he said. "You have to feel those feelings of not just one ethnic group, but other ethnic groups.

"You need that empathy to feel what is going on."

Building strong relationships requires trust and a common goal

Nobody will be able to solve the water crisis alone. That's why the Water in the West Symposium featured panelists representing everything from state-level water conservation groups to NGOs to private companies.

All of them shared stories about how they've worked together to solve problems in their region, and a common thread from all of these successes? Trust.

"I think that uncertainty leads to misinformation, and all the sudden it's us against them, and you have disagreements between downstream water users versus upstream ones, and everything in between," said John Ford, the water projects manager for agriculture at the Nature Conservancy Arizona. "When you can get people together and be really clear, you can mitigate some of the risk and distrust. That's when collaborations happen."

Russ Sands, the section chief for water supply planning at the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said it's clear that something needs to be done - it's just a matter of rallying people around that common goal.

"We know water has a massive impact on the hazards in this state … the cycle of drought, more things catching on fire … it has devastating consequences, and that really stacks up on our impact and need for action," he said. "We need to move to a place where we're talking and need to take care of each other and work together."

There's a lot of room for hope

Working together isn't always easy, but it is possible - and that lesson applies to so much more than water.

"We really liked the idea of bringing people together to talk about collaboration, to showcase what's happening on the ground," said Jocelyn Hittle, the associate vice president for CSU Spur. "Deliberation is what makes our American democracy experiment very strong, and very alive, and very dynamic."

Carcasson, who speaks to groups across Northern Colorado about how to have collaborative conversations, said he was encouraged by hearing panels throughout the day and realizing that there was already a strong dialogue surrounding Water in the West.

"It's really heartening to see," he said.

More posts by Allison Sylte