As this week wraps up an election season marked by conflict and disagreement, water experts from across the American West prepare for a conference dedicated to cooperation and synergy.

Next week, Colorado State University Spur will host the seventh annual Water in the West Symposium, a conference that brings together people from every corner of the field of water distribution, research and conservation. The event will kick off with a welcome from Spur Associate Vice President Jocelyn Hittle and CSU President Amy Parsons the morning of Thursday, Nov. 14, in Spur’s Hydro Confluence Theater.

Talks and panels about multisector collaboration, state water planning, water finance and other topics will fill the rest of the day, centering on the 2024 Symposium theme of Building Bridges: Collaborative Water Action.

This year’s theme was largely inspired by the Nov. 5 elections and CSU’s Year of Democracy, a universitywide initiative encouraging civic engagement and highlighting CSU’s work around democracy. The focus on cooperation contrasts the recent contentious election season by gathering perspectives from researchers and industry experts across political and geographic boundaries.

“This is really a time for us to come together to showcase what the power of collaboration and cooperation can be in helping to solve really important problems related to water in the American West,” Hittle said.

The discussions at the Symposium will highlight examples of collaboration between state and local governments, nonprofits and the private sector. Jessica Thrasher, interim associate director for the Colorado Water Center, said it is vital that people from different sectors talk with each other about water as a resource because water discussions affect everyone.

“We can’t separate water into buckets, if you will, because it all flows together,” Thrasher said.

Water is an essential resource for so many parts of people’s lives, like drinking water, agricultural irrigation and industrial production, plus water-based activities like floating down the Cache la Poudre River on a hot day.

“Without bringing people together, we won’t be able to build a sustainable, equitable water future for all.” –Jessica Thrasher, Colorado Water Center interim associate director

While water connects each of these needs and activities, the people involved don’t often work together and discuss how their responsibilities overlap. Even most water conferences only focus on specific topics, like policy around just one river or just one kind of filtration technology.

The Symposium takes a step back from the details and engages those involved in a broader conversation.

“Without bringing people together, we won’t be able to build a sustainable, equitable water future for all,” Thrasher said.

Everyone needs water, so everyone needs to talk about its stewardship. The hope for the Symposium is that through collaborative conversations, attending researchers and stakeholders will be able to find holes in their research that may be filled by other people’s work.

“What, of course, would be wonderful — and our researchers are already really good at this — is having folks continue to think about how they can work together and work with people who might be in a different discipline or a different sector or a different geography,” Hittle said.

One group that has not been included in many conversations about water in the past is the Indigenous people who are the original stewards and stakeholders of the American West. The Symposium will host a dialogue with Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart, who has led his tribe in fighting for access to Colorado River rights.

“It is vital that (Indigenous people) are engaged in all water conversations moving forward,” Thrasher said.

Another Symposium speaker — the keynote speaker — is someone who isn’t actually involved in water conservation. Harvard University Associate Professor of Management Michaela Kerrissey will share her knowledge on “Teaming with Intention” to set the tone for the conference. She’ll talk about multidisciplinary teams and how those teams best work together.

“One of the things we like to do with the Symposium is to bring in people from outside the water sector who can share their expertise in their area and help to inspire and generate thinking for the people in the room who are more water focused,” Hittle said.

The final speaker, Martín Carcasson, founder and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation, will similarly teach Symposium attendees how they can hold conversations with the public and find thoughtful solutions to problems that may seem challenging at first.

“Everyone comes back with some inspiration and … some new knowledge,” Hittle said.

The Symposium is also an opportunity for CSU to display the water-related work being done at the Colorado Water Center, the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering and other university departments.

“Having the symposium down here at Spur is a nice way to (showcase) the strength that CSU has already brought in water for a really long time,” Hittle said.

General admission to the Symposium is $175, and government and nonprofit organizations can purchase discounted tickets for $125 each. Attendees can register separately for a free lecture the evening before the Symposium from Pat Mulroy, a senior fellow for climate adaptation and environmental policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A limited number of free Symposium tickets is available for students with the promo code WITWStudent, and the Colorado Water Center will be bringing down students from its Colorado Water Fellows Program.

The Colorado Water Fellows Program “is designed to prepare students for careers in the water field and connect them to opportunities,” according to the Water Center’s website. Water fellows obtain an interdisciplinary understanding of issues like water law, tribal perspectives and water equity and justice through attendance of monthly meetings, field trips and conferences like the Symposium.

While anyone can connect more deeply with water conservation by attending the Symposium or watching the recording posted afterward — or recordings from previous years — Thrasher suggested people try to notice more of water’s role in their daily lives.

“A lot of times, we don’t notice that we’re using water until we can’t use it,” Thrasher said.

Just appreciating water when turning on the tap or going out to watch the river can cultivate a greater connection with water conservation.

“Without that connection, we don’t know what we’re trying to protect,” Thrasher said.

Reach Adah McMillan at science@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.