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Mapping the Colorado Basin Rou ndtable’s Water Policy Networks <br />the historical system and those who have given up on the market system, the process may <br />increase its likelihood of success by balancing the interests at the table. <br />Collaborate <br />Agriculture Balancing Protecting <br />Protecting Current <br />Non- <br />Needs <br />Consumptive System <br />Consum p tive <br />Needs Broken <br /> Negotiate <br />The disconnect between reasons for involvement will affect more than just the Colorado Basin <br />Roundtable. While other roundtables may or may not have similar challenges, the HB1177 <br />process ultimately seeks to address not just basin issues, but interbasin transfers as well. <br />Without understanding and addressing differentials in power and investment within individual <br />roundtables, cross-roundtable collaborations that can be successfully implemented may be <br />difficult to achieve. <br />The Colorado Basin Roundtable also holds a unique position within the roundtable process, <br />making its success vital to the rest of the process. Based on the Department of Natural <br />Resource’s roundtable membership data, the Colorado Basin Roundtable is more connected to <br />other roundtables through overlapping non-voting members than any other roundtable. It <br />bridges the Western Slope roundtables with the rest of the state. Additionally, the roundtable <br />has leaders who have the potential to work effectively with other roundtables. The respondents <br />holding elected roles as of the summer of 2007 within the Colorado Basin Roundtable are <br />respected as influential members of the water policy and management community. As such, <br />they can help in expanding the desired cooperation between basins. <br />The report describes, in detail, the findings from a survey that is a snapshot in time – the <br />summer of 2007. Yet, the issues that it describes are complex challenges that exist within many <br />collaborative efforts. To achieve its goals, the Colorado Basin Roundtable may need to go <br />beyond its current efforts to complete specific activities, build relationships, and educate its <br />members. It may also need to reconsider how to create an investment in the process by <br />stakeholders who are currently disengaged and look ing outside the roundtable to meet their <br />needs. <br />Next Steps <br />If the HB1177 process seeks to find collaborative solutions to the need for equitable distribution <br />of water in Colorado, the process must be successful at engaging the wide array of interests in <br />a meaningful dialogue that can result in shared decisions. To understand whether this can <br />occur in at least one roundtable, a first step is to look at the communication, trust, and shared <br />beliefs between stakeholders connected to and participating in the Colorado Basin Roundtable. <br />Based on the findings of the survey, collaborative opportunities may be created by: <br />Ensuring that representatives of all the interests are attending the meetings, sharing <br />information, and having opportunities to interact and build trust; <br />Increasing the dialogue between the basins by expanding interactions through more <br />formal, overlapping membership at the roundtable by roundtable level; <br />Colorado Institute of Public Policy 6 of 64 <br />