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The day ended with an event marking a historic change in its own right: the retirement reception for Robert Ward. Various speakers recounted his career accomplishments and recognized his contributions to the state. While Colorado adapts to this change in leadership, Dr. Ward will now have more time for promoting water history in the state, one of his avid interests. Your Contribution It was fascinating to hear so many people talk about history as part of a day focused on very current events. The concept of water roundtables within the state, held with the aim of creating an interbasin compact charter, was the key "turning point in history" being discussed. There has been nothing like it in the state, and no one knows quite where the process will lead. Everyone following its progress is a witness to history. Rarely is there such a public sense of watching history happen. Indeed, not only watching, but making it happen. This opportunity should not be taken lightly. It is clear from the Water Dialogue that people depend on the past to figure out the future. Without documentation of the past, what would we do today? Could Russ George —or anyone else —have studied what Delph Carpenter did in the 1920s to apply it to the state today? Could past examples like Elwood Mead and Ralph Parshall have taught us that we all play a part in determining the future? Does knowing about signifi- cant events, such as the formation of the Colorado Wa- ter Conservation Board (1937) or the Colorado Water Congress (1957), help us understand causes behind such moves? Without these —and many more— histori- cal examples, we certainly would not have the under- standing of the "big picture" that we do today. Books, government documents, and even websites help preserve that history so current and future genera- tions can learn from it. However, it is archives that col- lect and preserve the raw materials that document the details of life as it occurs. Archives hold a professor's raw research data and the correspondence exchanged between legislators. Archives hold the meeting min- utes of grass -roots organizations and the operational records of small businesses. These repositories of history hold all this and so much more —but only if the creators of these materials save them and care about them. In these historic times, think what it is that you or your water - related organization or business is doing. Realize that people 20 or 50 or 100 years from now will want to understand these times just as we want to understand past times. Take action to save your documentation —from meeting minutes to field books to maps, photographs, videotapes, email and more. The correspondence of yesterday is now manifested as email; hand - collected data of days past is gathered now in electronic databases. Take steps to hold on to the significant parts of this to make it available to historians, researchers, or the general public of the future. Do not assume that someone else will do it. We do not all have to be famous to contribute to his- tory. Take steps to make your contribution now. If there are neglected documents of importance you know of that should be cared for, give an archives a call. While repositories exist all over the state, the Water Resources Archive at Colorado State Univer- sity is the only one actively working to document water resources across the state. Having the papers of Delph Carpenter and Ralph Parshall, the records of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, and nearly 30 other individuals and organizations makes the Water Resources Archive the location of choice for water - related archival collections. Please contact the Archive for advice and assistance in doing your part to preserve Colorado's water history in these historic times. To find out more about how you can help in the preservation of Colorado's water heritage —past and present —see the Water Resources Archive website [ http : / /lib.colostate.edu /archives /water /] or contact the author (970 -491 -1939 or Patricia.Rettig @colostate.edu) at any time. River Network's National River Rally 2006 May 5 -9 The Mount Washington Resort Bretton Woods, NH Participants will gather with watershed organizers from around the country, network, share expertise, trade experiences and celebrate achievements with staff, volunteers, and board members of river, watershed and tribal groups. Participants can choose from nearly 100 workshops. Find out more about the rally at www.rivernetwork.org /rally 17