Dividing Western Waters: Need for the Master's Touch
Monday, March 19, 2012, 03:00 PM
College America

When Zebulon Pike visited the Front Range in 1806, he declared it was too dry for settlement. Coloradoans proved him wrong by developing the water and dividing it among competing uses. Now, the entire West is dependent on Mother Nature and wise decisions about water management, but it seems that conflict rules, rather than reason.

This was the problem between New Mexico and Texas, when the Supreme Court appointed a River Master to arbitrate the division of waters on the Pecos River. Neil will outline how the River Master works, and extend the discussion to explain how a "not-so-invisible" hand works to allocate water across the West.

Neil Grigg, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Colorado State University, has noted expertise in the management and planning of hydraulics. Dr. Grigg has approximately 200 publications in water and infrastructure, and he has done policy-level advisory work for national and state water and infrastructure panels and for several foreign countries.

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Event Contact: Carly Custer can be reached at (719) 491-1129

Sponsored by Society of Senior Scholars