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Water Education Colorado offers informative webinars on both trends and niches in water research, conservation, industry and more.
Past webinar topics have ranged from aquatic nuisance species to alternative transfer methods to transbasin diversions to agriculture and water scarcity. To hear recordings of past webinars or to register for an upcoming webinar, click on your topic of choice below.
Aired October 5, 2022
Water Education Colorado and the Colorado Municipal League bring Colorado’s municipal elected officials and managers Water Law 101. In this webinar, attendees gain a foundation for better understanding the laws that encapsulate the water discussions happening in Colorado today and how they are applied to water across the state.
With speakers:
Eric Potyondy, water attorney and City of Fort Collins assistant city attorney
Susan Ryan, Holland and Hart
Aired June 9, 2022
Look at the past, present and desired water future of the Colorado Ute Tribes. During the webinar, we hear from tribal leaders along with those involved in negotiating the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act and future Colorado River agreements involving the tribes.
With speakers:
Chairman Manuel Heart, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
Council Member Lorelei Cloud, Southern Ute Indian Tribe
Amy Ostdiek, Colorado Water Conservation Board
Mike Preston, Weenuch-u’ Development Corporation President
Scott McElroy, Retired – McElroy, Walker, Meyer and Condon, P.C.
Steve Wolff, Southwestern Water Conservation District (moderator)
Aired February 1, 2022
Wildfires in Colorado have grown more frequent, intense, large and destructive and are projected to intensify and burn larger areas in the coming decades. They leave many people impacted and affect water quality, hydrology and entire communities. Join us to hear about new funding opportunities and frameworks to build more wildfire-ready watersheds and communities. We’ll also hear about locally-generated funding and initiatives at work and dive into some big-picture thinking around shared stewardship.
Aired May 26, 2021
As the Colorado Front Range continues to see significant population growth, municipal water utilities are tasked with the challenge of managing and developing reliable water supplies to meet that anticipated growth. That job is becoming increasingly difficult with more limited water supplies, the hyper-escalation of water prices, the challenges of regulatory approval for new water projects, and the uncertainty of a changing climate.
During this webinar, we hear a discussion between Adam Jokerst, who helps manage the water supply portfolio for the City of Greeley and Brett Bovee with WestWater Research. Watch to hear about about municipal water service to new developments, sources of water supply and storage, and the need for creativity as municipal providers look to continue their reliable water service to a growing customer base.
Aired March 9, 2021
As land trusts conserve private land, they also protect water rights. Some of Colorado’s land trusts are going beyond the parcel-by-parcel approach to conservation and are tackling big water challenges in a regional way. During this webinar, we hear about two visionary projects: Colorado Open Lands and partners in the San Luis Valley are reimagining conservation easements and putting them to work to slow groundwater decline and encourage aquifer sustainability. And the Palmer Land Conservancy is protecting irrigated farmland east of Pueblo along the Bessemer Ditch with conservation easements and, thanks to a landscape-scale analysis, Palmer is combatting the effects of buy and dry by keeping water on the area’s most productive ag land.
With speakers:
Melissa Daruna, Keep It Colorado
Sarah Parmar, Colorado Open Lands
Ed Roberson, Palmer Land Conservancy
Aired November 10, 2020
Deteriorating ditches, diversion structures, and reservoirs mean that some ag water never reaches the crops it’s intended for—but Coloradans across the state are assessing the challenges and making costly ag infrastructure repairs with positive results.
Through this webinar, offered in partnership by the Colorado Ag Water Alliance and Water Education Colorado, we explore hear how major projects are being implemented throughout the state. Watch to hear how producers are using loans and self-financing large projects, tapping into available federal funds, working with other stakeholder groups, and creating inventories of ditches to secure project funding.
With Speakers:
Paul Kehmeier, Rancher; Salinity Coordinator, Colorado Department of Agriculture
Scott Jones, Rancher; President, Eagle County Conservation District
Emma Reesor, Executive Director, Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project
Robert Sakata, Farmer; President, Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association