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DRAFT Colorado State University Proposal for a Colorado Water Leaders PrOlzram December 11, 2001 . Prepared by: Reagan Waskom, Cooperative Extension Dan Smith, Agricultural Experiment Station Robert Ward, Colorado Water Resources Research Institute Colorado's water management 'community' must develop leaders capable of communicating the issues of water resource allocation and administration to the greater population and at the same time be able to be insightful and forward thinking leaders within their own user groups, agencies, and watersheds. Colorado State University proposes to organize and operate a water leaders program that offers young Colorado leaders the opportunity to learn about water resources in the arid West. The program is designed to introduce diverse participants to Colorado water law, the current issues facing Cblorado water managers, and the people guiding today's water decision-making. The goal is to provide future Coloradq leaders with the understanding and skills to enhance their ability to make informed decisions about the future of Colorado's water resources. The Water Leaders Program will seek to work collaborativeIy with the CSU's College of Agricultural Science and Cooperative Extension as they assume the leadership role of the Colorado Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program, in partnership with Colorado Department of Agriculture. There are efficiencies to be gained by joint administration of the two leadership progrllms and the opportunities will be thoroughly explored as the Water Leaders Program is developed. e Curriculum The Colorado Water Leaders program is designed to take advantage of the many ongoing conversations, meetings and tours of Colorado's water resources, thus keeping program costs to a minimum. The program will consist of seven components: 1. Program orientation prior to the Colorado Water Workshop in Gunnison, Colorado, each July, including attendance at the Workshop. 2. Participation in the two-day Colorado Water Congress Water Law Seminar held each September. 3. Participation on two water tours, to be selected froln the many offered, for example, by Denver Water, Colorado Springs Utilities, and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. 4. Work closely with a mentor to observe the mentor's activities and role in Colorado water resources management. (In turn, each participant in the Water Leaders Program will be asked to serve as a mentor to a college student interested in studying water resources.) Participants will shadow their mentor for one working day and will have contact with mentors tljroughout the program. S. Prepare and deliver a report on a selected water topic. 6. Attend at least one river basin/aquifer forum (curr~ntly held in the Gunnison, Colorado, Arkansas, and South Platte River Basins and for the Ogallala Aquifer). 7. Attend meetings of the Senate and House Ag. Committees when water issues are being discussed; water resources seminars on university campuses, as appropriate to study topic; and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Ground Water Commission, Water Quality Control Commission and Wildlife Commission, as appropriate to study topic. (Completion of the program will require attendance at two decision-making board meetings.) . The program will conclude each May with participant reports tl> the Water Leaders Program Board of Directors followed by an evening banquet or reception.