The State of Colorado's Watersheds Report 2005

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watershed news Conservation Imp °'act In late 2004, the General Service Foundation contracted with Conservation Impact to investigate the relationships between land conservation groups and water conservation groups, and provide an analysis of the effects of those relationships. Conservation Impact assembled a project team of Steve Malloch, a water attorney and policy specialist, Leni Wilsmann, an aquatic ecologist, and Will Murray, the project manager. The project team reviewed seminal documents and interviewed nearly fifty key people knowledgeable about Western water and land conservation. The team found that there is very little integration of land and water work in the West. Those groups trying to do comprehensive work across the land -water boundary are large, national and international conservation organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, and also local, place -based conservancies, such as the Clark Fork Coalition in Montana, that are dedicated more to their service area than to their set of methods. The causes of this lack of integration are mostly social, and secondarily technical. Most of the groups working in the West are strongly devoted to their methods, which rarely cross the land - water boundary. The thinking of these groups is often compartmentalized, and does not often account for the comprehensive set of resources — wet or dry — within their missions. Though the technical obstacles to integration are real, they are not sufficient to prevent good collaborative work. The effects of this lack of integration are likely to be felt more in the future than at the present. The perpetual nature of conservation easements is likely to hamper future efforts to work with water in creative and flexible ways. The lack of an adequate base of protected lands in watershed planning areas may cause protection opportunities to slip away permanently. As John Wesley Powell reported to congress in another era, "I tell you gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights for there is not sufficient water to supply the land." We believe that the lack of sound integration between land and water conservation organizations is likely to pile up a heritage of conflict Establishing partnerships and alliances to access the necessary skills and experience would work to solve much of the problem. in future conservation work throughout the West. Land conservation and water conservation efforts are complex in their own ways. For most organizations, mastering both is beyond reasonable expectations. Establishing partnerships and alliances to access the necessary skills and experience, however, is quite attainable and would work to solve much of the problem. Lowering the barriers to integrating land and water conservation activities is a high priority if we are to achieve greater, more comprehensive gains. Great opportunities exist to partner with relevant organizations to span the land -water boundary by including comprehensive planning and execution. In the last few years, several opportunities to improve the situation have emerged. John Carney of the Colorado Water Trust helped to include water in relevant sections of the newly revised Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices, and River Network and the Land Trust Alliance conducting training workshops at recent rallies and conferences. More integration work is planned, and we hope to engage a larger group of folks in the conservation community in moving the issue forward.