CSIReportColoradoBasinRoundtable

• Working Group: Public Education, Participation and Outreach
• Title: Mapping the Colorado Basin Roundtable's Water Policy Networks
• Date: 3/1/2008
• Author: Colorado Institute of Public Policy
• Interbasin CC - Doc Type: General Resources

Mapping the Colorado Basin Rou ndtable’s Water Policy Networks
O CO R , respondents also identified stakeholders representing
UTSIDE THE OUNDTABLE
government organizations as individuals who share their goals in water policy and management.
This may suggest that government employees are successfully balancing different interests in
the water community and remaining relatively neutral in how others perceive them.
Key Finding 4.11:
O CO R , the individuals least likely
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Stakeholders representing
to be identified as trusted and as having shared goals are
government organizations are
those who affiliated with the “other” category in the survey.
generally perceived as sharing
These individuals may be more disconnected from the
their beliefs by many other
water community due to not having an affiliation that is as
stakeholders.
central to the water policy and management efforts in
Colorado compared to other affiliations.
Information Exchange O CO R
UTSIDE THE OUNDTABLE
Isolating one question, frequency of information exchange, and looking only at O CO
UTSIDE THE
R , many interesting things can be found. First, the person whose information
OUNDTABLE
exchange activities create the greatest potential to bridge between the many people connected
to the Colorado Basin Roundtable is within the Department of Natural Resources (DNR),
suggesting that the Department’s leadership in the roundtable process has been embraced
among the water stakeholders who responded to the survey. Second, when looking at the 26
10
individuals out of the 453 people named in the research who are the most central players in
terms of information exchange, they are a very distinctive group. Sixteen out of the 26
completed the full survey.
Table 4.1: Response Rates by Affiliation among the 26 Most Central Stakeholders*
Non- %
Affiliations Respondents Total
Respondents Responded
Elected or Appointed 0 5 5 0%
Government 1 1 2 50%
Agriculture 1 0 1 100%
Water Industry 2 1 3 67%
Environment or Recreation 7 1 8 88%
Special District 7 3 10 70%
* Total respondents equal more than 26 due to so me respondents reporting multiple affiliations.
Table 4.1 above shows the affiliations of all of the top 26 individuals in the information exchange
network, with some individuals reporting more than one affiliation. Over half of the 26
individuals are affiliated with environmental or recreational interests or special districts. The
response rate of the environmental group was very high, and higher than the response rate of

10
The 46 respondents from the Colorado Basin R oundtable identified 191 water stakeholders. The 114
water stakeholders outside of the Colorado Basin Roundtable who completed the network questions in
the survey identified additional st akeholders, also outside the Colorado Basin Roundtable. The 453
people include the 191 stakeholders identified by the roundtable members plus the additional
stakeholders identified by the 114 external respondents. Analysis of all 453 people external to the
Colorado Roundtable is beyond the scope of this report.

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