UA News

Former Interior water official Betsy Rieke will deliver the keynote address.

Stakeholder engagement in water planning is the theme of next month's Water Resources Research Center's annual conference.

The March 17 conference will be held in The University of Arizona's Student Memorial Union Ballroom.

This year's topic, "Best Practices for Stakeholder Engagement in Water Resources Planning," addresses the need to involve stakeholder groups and the public in the key water resources decisions that will affect their future.

The conference was organized in collaboration with the Morris K. Udall Foundation and The Arizona Water Institute and is geared for anyone with an interest in water planning.

The program encompasses both theory and real-world experience and experiments in working with water management issues, and also focuses on new techniques and technologies for engagement.

Organizers said holding the conference at the UA makes it especially convenient for members of the campus community to attend.

Early registration is $55 and is open now through Feb. 17. Beginning Feb. 18, registration will cost $65. Student registration is complimentary, but students need to register on-line. Fee waivers are available on request through the generous support of sponsors.

The conference agenda includes plenary sessions on major issues, lessons from experience and innovative technologies that aid stakeholder engagement. A broad range of speakers from Arizona's universities, state and local agencies and non-governmental organizations will share their insights and experiences. A poster session will highlight available research and lessons drawn from experience.

Participants can choose among three workshops: one on experiments and innovations in stakeholder engagement; a second on experiences of planners and stakeholder with integrated water resources management; and third, a special discussion session, will focus on ways to get people engage. Participants will be encouraged to share experiences and craft new ideas.

At lunch Grady Gammage, a Phoenix attorney and noted author who has spokent nationally on resource policy issues, will talk about Arizona's water planning challenges. Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will give prerecorded video remarks.

Betsy Rieke will give the conference keynote address at 8:45 a.m. Rieke was director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources from 1991 to 1993.

In 1993, President Clinton appointed her to head the Office of Water and Science in the U.S. Department of the Interior, where she led the interagency state-federal team involved in the large-scale negotiated planning process for the California Bay Delta, known as CALFED.

As area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Nevada she took part in negotiations on restoration plans for the Truckee River and Pyramid Lake. Rieke will talk about her experiences in these and other collaborative planning processes in which she has participated.