How We Can Fight Climate Change: WRA's 2023 Impact Report

Climate change is a large scale problem. It’s bigger than any one of us, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the issue. How can we make a difference? In the West where we can watch the winters get shorter and increasingly the effects of wildfire and drought are harder to ignore, it’s difficult not to be overwhelmed.

But, there’s hope. It doesn’t have to be this way. The best science says we haven’t missed our opportunity to do something.

At WRA we believe the opposite of climate despair is climate action.

In this episode of Two Degrees Out West, we explore some of the tangible things we can do to address climate change and its impacts. We talk with a variety of the WRA experts who help advance those goals.

You'll hear about WRA's work to decarbonize the economy and transportation of the West, our work with the White Mountain Apache Tribe to save water, and our efforts to develop new management guidelines for the Colorado River.

If you want to find more detailed information about our work in 2023, check out our 2023 impact report where we detail the different layers of our work in the West.
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(00:24:00) Kim Mitchel's Podcast with the White Mountain Apache Tribe: Find out more about WRA's work with the White Mountain Apache Tribe here.

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2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

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Chapters

• 0:07 Intro
• 2:16 Erin Overturf & Decarbonization
• 12:04 Jermareon Williams & Clean Transportation for Nevada
• 19:33 Tahlia Bear and Water Meters for the White Mountain Apache Tribe
• 26:37 John Berggren & The Colorado River
• 37:22 Close
• 39:19 Sponsors

Transcript

[00:00:00] Dave: Climate change is a large scale problem. It's bigger than any one of us, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the issue. How can we make a difference? In the West, where I can watch the winters get shorter, and increasingly the effects of wildfire and drought are harder to ignore, it's hard not to be overwhelmed.

[00:00:17] Dave: But there's hope. It doesn't have to be this way. The best science says we haven't missed our opportunity to do something. At WRA, we believe the opposite of climate despair is climate action. Through our 35 year history fighting with the climate crisis, we've seen that reality play out again and again.

[00:00:34] Dave: We've seen that there are ways to take action. There are things to be done that can and do have positive impacts on the communities we live in. For 35 years, WRA has been persistent and committed to seeing policy plans through that result in the positive impacts we want to see for our communities and ecosystems.

[00:00:51] Dave: Much like the layers of rock that tell the story of geologic history, each layer of WRA's work represents years of creating solutions and making measurable change for the [00:01:00] West. I was curious what some of those layers might be. I wanted to feel hopeful and to feel like there's a solution to the problems I can see happening outside my front door.

[00:01:08] Dave: So I met with some of WRA's climate experts. They're the people on the front lines of the work we're doing and the policies we are creating to address the climate crisis and protect the places we live.

[00:01:26] Dave: Welcome to Two Degrees Out West, a podcast for advocates and decision makers seeking solutions to climate change and its effects around the West. On Two Degrees Out West, we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

[00:01:42] Dave: I'm your host, Dave Papineau. On today's episode of Two Degrees Out West, learn about some of the tangible things WRA can and is doing. To address climate change in our region, we'll be talking about everything from regional decarbonization work to our work to [00:02:00] secure a healthy future for the Colorado River.

[00:02:13] Erin Overturf: The role in terms of the broader effort to decarbonize our economy is really focused on the eight major electric utilities in the interior west of the United States where we do our work. 

[00:02:26] Dave: That's Erin Overturf. She's WRA's Clean Energy Director. Due to the ongoing efforts of WRA and her team, nearly all of the eight major electric utilities have goals to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050.

[00:02:39] Dave: She knows a lot about energy. She's the expert on something called decarbonization. That's what she's explaining now. 

[00:02:48] Erin Overturf: We work directly with utilities to try to reduce their emissions in line with what the best available science tells us is necessary to preserve a habitable climate [00:03:00] system. And then we also work to expand regional electricity markets to make Clean energy more cost effective and well integrated.

[00:03:10] Erin Overturf: And then finally, we use alternative to the combustion of fossil fuels in other sectors of the economy, like transportation and home heating. So taken together, we recognize that electric utilities are really the linchpin of our ability to decarbonize the economy. And so we need to build the legal and regulatory frameworks.

[00:03:30] Erin Overturf: Today, to make it possible for us to achieve our 2030 and 2050 decarbonization target. 

[00:03:38] Dave: This decarbonization thing, it's important. As residents of the Earth and the West, the effects of climate change are impossible to ignore. In 2024, the Earth recorded its hottest summer on record. In our region, Phoenix, Arizona recorded over 100 days that reached 100 degrees or higher, crushing the previous record of 76 days set in 1993.

[00:03:59] Dave: For more [00:04:00] As of September 3rd, every day since May 27th has reached at least 100 degrees in Phoenix. You don't have to look far to feel climate change and its effects. 

[00:04:08] Erin Overturf: Well, we're in what many people call the decisive decade. So our ability to maintain a habitable climate system that protects so many of the things that we hold dear really depends on the actions that we take in this decade.

[00:04:27] Erin Overturf: And that means that each of us through whatever twist of fate happens to be alive during what's probably the most consequential time in human history. Which is really pretty astounding. So for me, I think we all have opportunities to use our unique skills and our effort to build a more equitable future in which we're living in right relationship with the natural world.

[00:04:53] Erin Overturf: And I'm really grateful to have found a place like where I can do that. 

[00:04:57] Dave: I thought that answer was beautiful. She's [00:05:00] right. We are in a make it or break it period for the climate. Sometimes the weight of that for me gets lost in acronyms, slang, and weird legislative processes. Every single day at WRA we deal in acronyms and sometimes it's hard to remember that what we're really trying to do is just protect our home and keep it safe.

[00:05:17] Dave: The fight against climate change is unlike any other fight throughout human history because it's not as tangible as others. It often happens in the background while the majority of us live our lives unaware. One of the best examples of that, for me, is the energy planning process. A lot of us don't really think about where electricity comes from when we flick on the light, let alone the impact that has on climate, but the energy generation process is a huge source of emissions and potentially a huge place where decarbonization can occur.

[00:05:45] Dave: An integrated resource plan, or an IRP, essentially spells out where the energy is supposed to come from now and, more importantly, in the future, and whether that source of energy is clean or not. IRPs are a tangible, but sometimes distant feeling vehicle in our fight against climate change. They're [00:06:00] basically our roadmap to fix a major source of the problem.

[00:06:03] Dave: I wanted to ask Erin, the expert, a little bit about IRPs and what the relevance of that is in the context of trying to fix and reverse climate change and its impacts on the West. 

[00:06:13] Dave: What is an IRP and how does that affect this moment that we're in for the climate where we're kind of in this kind of deciding climax moment? 

[00:06:25] Erin Overturf: Yeah. Well, so IRP stands for integrated resource plan. They're called different things in different states. In Colorado where I live, they're just called electric resource plans.

[00:06:36] Erin Overturf: But the main thing is It's a plan, right? So in a resource plan, a utility looks forward to the future to project how much electricity it's going to need to be able to generate in order to meet its customers needs. And then it comes up with a plan for how to cost effectively meet that future demand. So when we're thinking about the energy transition, We're [00:07:00] talking about big, giant investments in power plants, in wind farms, in solar facilities, in energy storage facilities.

[00:07:07] Erin Overturf: All of those things take a lot of time and a lot of capital to build. So if you're not planning for a decarbonized future, You're never gonna get there, right? So resource plans are our opportunity to ensure that electric utilities are planning prudently for the future, which includes avoiding exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices takes into account the fact that the regulatory environment at both the state and federal level is changing and the realities of climate change itself.

[00:07:42] Erin Overturf: which is posing really unprecedented pressures to the power grid. So an integrated resource plan, that word integrated really means that you're looking at all possible resources. So you're looking both at Demand side resources like energy [00:08:00] efficiency and rooftop solar, but you're also looking at supply side resources like a big giant wind farm or a big energy storage facility.

[00:08:08] Erin Overturf: And you're coming up with the suite of resources that's going to best serve customers over the next 30 to 50 years. 

[00:08:19] Dave: So. When it comes to these resource plans then, how does WRA's work come into, come into play? 

[00:08:27] Erin Overturf: Yeah, well, so we're advocates, right? So we engage in the resource planning process to advocate for Policy solutions that we think are best going to protect both customers and the environment in the long term.

[00:08:48] Erin Overturf: So what our engagement looks like really depends on what state we're in. One of the beauties of doing state level advocacy and doing it in the context of a regional organization is that you really get to [00:09:00] know the diversity of approaches across the different states in which we work. So some states like Colorado, Resource planning is, um, is very thorough.

[00:09:11] Erin Overturf: It's it really engages stakeholders. It's a litigated process where all of the utilities assumptions are vetted and questioned and really, um, looked at closely, right, so that we can make sure that we're making the right decisions for customers. When you look at other states like Arizona or Utah, for example, there's a lot less of an opportunity to ask the utility questions to ask them to explain their assumptions that go into the resource planning process.

[00:09:42] Erin Overturf: So where we have opportunities to engage, to question the utilities assumptions, to, suggest alternative, Modeling inputs that they're using when they're planning their system. We bring those, those opportunities forward for both utilities and regulators. But our ability to shape [00:10:00] those resource planning, those resource plans that come out of the planning process really depends on the strength of the process itself.

[00:10:07] Erin Overturf: So what you'll also see us doing is advocating for Yeah. Processes resource planning processes that provide more of an opportunity for stakeholder input that give the commission or the regulator more of an opportunity to really look under the hood of what the utility is assuming the future is going to look like, how they're evaluating different types of resources to ensure that they're acting in the best interest of customers, which includes reducing emissions.

[00:10:35] Dave: What Erin is talking about couldn't be more relevant. What she's saying is that WRA doesn't only seek to build resource plans that make sense for the communities and climate they exist in, but also to build planning processes that allow ratepayers like you and me to have a say. We saw how important a clear resource planning process was in 2024 in Arizona with the The Arizona Corporation commissioned decision to allow Unisource Electric [00:11:00] to build a 200 megawatt methane power plant.

[00:11:02] Dave: The decision overturned precedent, but also circumvented the opportunity for community input. It's also a huge study in why the state level advocacy that WRA is pursuing matters so much. Like Erin said, every state has their own processes. The work to reduce emissions in Arizona looks very different from the work to reduce emissions in Colorado.

[00:11:23] Erin Overturf: The reality is that with ever increasing roadblocks to federal climate policy, the best venue that we have to successfully reduce emissions is at the state level. And state regulatory bodies like the Utah Public Service Commission, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, or the Arizona Corporation Commission, they have a huge amount of influence over the future of energy in our western states.

[00:11:47] Erin Overturf: And that's where we work, where those critical decisions are made. And the success of federal initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act are highly dependent on decisions that get made at the state level.[00:12:00] 

[00:12:03] Dave: This state level advocacy is effective at producing the change we want to see in the West, but it's also personal. It comes from loving the places we live in. It comes from watching the winters get shorter and the summers get hotter. It comes from watching climate change and its effects have negative impacts on our communities.

[00:12:20] Dave: Jamarion Williams, one of WRA's government affairs managers in Nevada, had a lot to say about his personal connection to the places he advocates for in his home state. 

[00:12:30] Jermareon Williams: Especially in Southern Nevada, we're only really known for the strip, right? But, yeah, but the fact you have Red Rock Canyon just 30 minutes away from the strip, or the fact that you have Mount Charleston , where you can go snowboarding, where you can like, where you can see snow, which you wouldn't expect in Northern Nevada, we have Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada.

[00:12:49] Jermareon Williams: We have so many things across our state. Uh, it's, it's so great for, uh, for outdoor recreation. 

[00:12:55] Dave: Jamarion is also no stranger to building out state policy that leverages [00:13:00] federal climate initiatives. In 2023, he was part of an incentive to electrify transportation in Nevada, something he called the MHDV Incentive.

[00:13:09] Dave: It sounded a little confusing and complex, so I asked him for more details. 

[00:13:14] Jermareon Williams: In, uh, in this world we use a lot of acronyms, so, uh, this means medium and heavy duty vehicle. MH, let me see, medium and heavy duty vehicle. M H D V. There we go. And, um, in the bill that we were able to get passed in the 2023 legislative session, what this does is it creates an incentive for, uh, small businesses and companies in Nevada who's looking to replace their, uh, traditional gas fueled vehicle with a clean truck or bus with the money to do so.

[00:13:44] Jermareon Williams: So, uh, it's, it's money that's created in the state to make sure that it brings it to cost parity. So we know electric vehicles, especially early on. Uh, as we're, as we're new to this, uh, it's, it's very expensive. So, uh, what this bill does is it helps make it [00:14:00] more affordable for small businesses who are looking to, uh, cleaner, clean the air, but also for a new vehicle that's more reliable.

[00:14:06] Jermareon Williams: So, uh, that's the good thing with this, with this bill. Uh, we had a great sponsor on this bill, uh, with assemblyman Howard Watts and a great community support. We got bipartisan support from our legislators and, uh, stakeholders in the state. So, uh, this is a, a bill that we're excited to see move forward.

[00:14:24] Dave: How, how often does a bipartisan. kind of electrification bill come around. 

[00:14:30] Jermareon Williams: Oh, it's rare. I mean, it's rare. We have to really see, uh, a good bill for this to happen. And I think that's what this was. Uh, the thing with this bill is it's helping small businesses across the state. Eso So not only is it clean in our air, it's also helping small businesses who wants A reliable vehicle who wants to replace their their older vehicles with the new one Uh, and and it's it's given them the funding to do so.

[00:14:57] Jermareon Williams: Uh, luckily this bill was created from federal [00:15:00] funding So there's there's no state funding required from this bill Uh, and and we're able to to use those for uh, the the we're able to use those resources to help nevadans Which is always a good thing 

[00:15:11] Dave: that federal funding does it have anything to do with the inflation reduction act?

[00:15:14] Dave: Or is it coming from kind of a separate pot? 

[00:15:17] Jermareon Williams: It has exactly to do with the inflation reduction act I mean, it was so good for states and across the nation. But, uh, but Nevada, we're able to use a lot of those, the funding from that bill to help, uh, clean our environment, to help electrify our, uh, our vehicles to help electrify our homes.

[00:15:36] Jermareon Williams: How long have you lived in Nevada? Oh, born and raised Las Vegas, Nevada. So all my life. 

[00:15:44] Dave: So as a Nevada resident, what does it mean to be able to be like, what does it feel like for you to be able to be part of the getting bills like this that have bipartisan support, clearly are cleaning up the air and also support small business?

[00:15:57] Dave: So it seems like there's this really great [00:16:00] multi prong benefit to this. How does it feel to be kind of a part of that? 

[00:16:05] Jermareon Williams: It feels good. I mean, I don't want to get dramatic and says like, like, this is, this is the most important thing, but it really is. I mean, if you look at what this bill is looking to do.

[00:16:15] Jermareon Williams: So, the, as you see with a lot of those big trucks and buses, that's creating a disproportional amount of pollution across our state, right? By getting that, those , buses off the road and by electrifying it, you're cleaning up communities and you're making sure that, , For example, low income communities that are closest to freeways , or, , mostly distant or densely populated in our state. 

[00:16:38] Jermareon Williams: you're cleaning the air quality there. So that's always a good thing. And that's always what we want to see done. , I tell you personal stories about me having asthma and, having to run in the house and get an inhaler after playing outside. I mean, It might help to have the cleaner air and that's what we're looking to do with this bill.

[00:16:56] Jermareon Williams: And , I'm excited about that. Like, I'm excited to, you know, the [00:17:00] little kids who are running around with asthma who has to run in the house. Maybe we see less kids with asthma. Maybe we see cleaner communities, less smog going around in low income communities. Uh, so this bill,, I'm super excited about this.

[00:17:13] Jermareon Williams: Like, I can't tell you the celebration that we saw when the governor supported this bill and signed it. Jamarion 

[00:17:18] Dave: Jermareon says this bill is just the start of a larger electrification plan. It ties into the work Erin was talking about and our goal to reduce emissions in the West. 

[00:17:28] Jermareon Williams: We're helping to electrify road ends and vehicles across the state.

[00:17:36] Jermareon Williams: And this bill does that. This bill, , is going to make sure we have cleaner air, we're protecting the West, and that's WRA's mission. , we want to see , cleaner air across our states, and this bill does that. We want to see healthier communities. This bill does that. So, uh, this fits right within our priority.

[00:17:54] Jermareon Williams: This is something I think we're all excited to see move forward in the state of Nevada. 

[00:17:58] Dave: Projects like this [00:18:00] can take time. They aren't always flashy, and they can fly under the radar. But ultimately, they are where the messages and goals we have here at WRA meet the ground. It's where we can have a positive impact.

[00:18:10] Dave: tangible impact on the future of our region. I asked Jamarion how he sees projects like transportation, electrification, and building better plans for where our energy comes from impact him and his family in Nevada. 

[00:18:23] Jermareon Williams: We set a record this year. It was 120 degrees. Uh, and then that was followed by 100 and I think 18 degrees.

[00:18:31] Jermareon Williams: And that was followed by 117 degrees. Unlovable. You can't even go outside at that point. so by cleaning up the air and by reducing a lot of pollution, we're hoping to stop that and we're hoping to make it so Nevada continues to be a livable place for communities here and for future generations. And, , like my biggest thing is I want to, I want kids to be able to go outside and play without having to deal with the effects of, of, , of pollution in the air.

[00:18:57] Jermareon Williams: And I think this bill does that. Um, [00:19:00] it's right with our, with our, uh, our mission here at WRA. And this is something that, you know, we want to see, we want to see, uh, more electric vehicles. We want to see, uh, cleaner air, like. This is right in line, so it fits with our purpose and our mission here at WRA.

[00:19:23] Dave: At WRA, we say that we fight climate change and its effects. It's because its effects are tangible right now, and they're affecting the communities that we live in right now. Decarbonization and transportation electrification are ways we can solve the source of the problem, but we still have to take care of the people that are impacted now.

[00:19:42] Dave: Smog reduction helps Jermareon and his family breathe cleaner air Nevada. For While that is happening, WRA is working to address another one of the most serious effects of climate change, drought. The Colorado River Basin, which includes almost all of the states that WRA works in, has been in a state of [00:20:00] drought for my entire lifetime.

[00:20:02] Dave: As a skier and a fly fisher, it's hard for me to ignore. The West is getting hotter and it's getting drier. The communities of the West are having to get more creative about how they handle this new, drier reality. In 2023, WRA worked to help affected communities find ways to save water. Meet Tahlia Bear.

[00:20:20] Tahlia Bear: My name is Tahlia Bear. I am the Indigenous Peoples Engagement Manager at Western Resource Advocates. I am also an enrolled tribal member of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation located in Arizona. I am also half Diné. Um, and I have been working for WRA for three years as the Indigenous Peoples Engagement Manager.

[00:20:42] Tahlia Bear: which is a position that works to engage tribes in WRA's region in our policy making work. 

[00:20:50] Dave: I talked with Tahlia about the initiatives the White Mountain Apache Tribe is taking to help their communities conserve water. 

[00:20:56] Tahlia Bear: About two years ago, WRA approached the White Mountain [00:21:00] Apache Tribe to learn a little bit more about their community.

[00:21:04] Tahlia Bear: And their needs and concerns around water. What we had learned is that the water resource department and the tribal utility authority had collaborated in the past to install residential water meters in several communities on the reservation, um, based on the success of this work, they really wanted to continue it and saw WRA as, um, an organization to help, uh, fundraise, uh, for additional costs to continue installing the water meters.

[00:21:35] Tahlia Bear: in communities. The main concern for the tribe was that there were four communities on the reservation that were very dependent on limited groundwater supplies, um, and these communities were not able to keep up with the demand that the residents have for use of the water. So, um, we worked, um, hand in glove with the tribe to, uh, fundraise, um, [00:22:00] through the, uh, WIFA program, which is the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, um, in the state of Arizona, and wrote a proposal, um, which was granted funding to install over 500 residential water meters, um, in four tribal communities.

[00:22:16] Tahlia Bear: The area of where the Fort Apache reservation lies in the state of Arizona is a very important area because it provides, I believe the statistic during the water festival was almost up to 80 percent of the water from the Salt River goes to the city of Phoenix. So any water that is conserved is a benefit to the system as a whole.

[00:22:37] Dave: I asked Tahlia what some of the specifics of WRA's work with the tribe look like. 

[00:22:42] Tahlia Bear: And WRA's um, portion of the work is to support the Water Resources Department in an education campaign to communicate the benefits of water conservation and to educate around the water meters and the importance of conserving water, um, in this very, uh, special area.[00:23:00] 

[00:23:01] Dave: This included a lot of community outreach programs, which are still ongoing. 

[00:23:05] Tahlia Bear: Um, we did host A what, what we were calling a water festival for fourth graders from the schools on the reservation at the end of this last school year. And, uh, we were able to work directly with, um, tribal community members there who provided, uh, educational activities for the fourth graders around water conservation.

[00:23:27] Dave: Lot of this work isn't particularly flashy and involves a lot of administrative things that happen behind the scenes. How long had that been in the works? 

[00:23:38] Tahlia Bear: It had taken us probably almost a year to apply for the work and to, to apply for the grant. And then now we are in the implementation stages, um, this year.

[00:23:51] Tahlia Bear: So it's about two and a half years of work. Um, Kim and I both, uh, traveled to the Fort Apache [00:24:00] reservation. 

[00:24:00] Dave: Kim Mitchell is one of WRA's senior policy advisors. Kim worked alongside Tahlia on the White Mountain Apache Tribe water metering project. Kim was previously on the podcast with members of the tribe to discuss the impact the work has had on their communities.

[00:24:15] Dave: If you'd like to listen to that show, I'm going to leave a link for you in the show notes. 

[00:24:19] Tahlia Bear: Um, and met in person for our very first meeting with the water resources department. And it was a really great way for us to begin relationship building, And, just learn about the water priorities that the tribe has, and of course, to, to see the reservation.

[00:24:37] Tahlia Bear: We worked directly with the Water Resources Department and the director there. And we also had another partner, um, at the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign, who provided us a grant writer who was on contract. For more information, visit www. FEMA. gov And so , WRA was really the facilitator between the [00:25:00] needs, that were going to be put into the grant and communicating that with the grant writer, the contract grant writer.

[00:25:07] Dave: What are the, some of the benefits that you're seeing and that can be expected for the tribal members? 

[00:25:15] Tahlia Bear: Yeah, so, I mean, I think in terms of the water meter installation, some of the benefits are really around just a better accuracy and water billing, water billing, excuse me, and detection of leaks in the overall system, um, and I think in terms of, you know, You know, this project, we have also, um, collaborated with, with the Project WET program, um, at the University of Arizona, who is providing water, water conservation, uh, festival for students in the fourth grade from the tribal schools.

[00:25:47] Tahlia Bear: And so I think from the students perspective, it's a really great, uh, opportunity to have a fun field day with Project WET and do some hands on activities to learn more about where their water comes from and what a [00:26:00] water meter looks like. Um. And I think it's just a really great collaboration to, uh, provide, uh, to help, you know, provide water education resources for a community that, um, really, you know, tries to conserve and use their water wisely.

[00:26:20] Tahlia Bear: When 

[00:26:22] Dave: we're talking water in the West, there's one issue that comes top of mind. It's been making national headlines. The Colorado River. The Colorado has been a personally important place to me since I was young. I have fished, hiked, and skied in the Colorado River Basin dependent on Colorado River water for my whole life.

[00:26:41] Dave: The Colorado begins not far from my home, high in the Rocky Mountains. It flows through the interior west and becomes an essential source of water in the desert. 35 million people across 7 states and 30 sovereign tribal nations depend on the river. 

[00:26:56] Dave: But there's a problem. 

[00:26:58] John Berggren: Climate change is definitely impacting the [00:27:00] Colorado River.

[00:27:01] John Berggren: Things are drying out, things are hotter, uh, and we're seeing that play out in the, the amount of, uh, annual flow in the Colorado River. And it's also been clear that we just have unsustainable demands for this river. We've known this for many, many decades that, uh, there's more water allocated from the Colorado than is actually physically available.

[00:27:20] John Berggren: Meet John 

[00:27:21] Dave: Burgum, WRA's Regional Policy Manager, and one of the people who is trying to figure out how to fix the situation on the Colorado. 

[00:27:29] John Berggren: Right now, everyone, uh, involved in how the Colorado River is managed from the federal government to the states. Um, to water users on the ground, uh, to tribes, to, to Mexico, to, and to, uh, NGOs like ourselves here at WA.

[00:27:45] Dave: When John talks about NGOs, he's referring to non government organizations. These are organizations and non profits like us at WRA who engage in activism but aren't part of the government. There's a variety of environmental and conservation non profits [00:28:00] working together to try to find a solution to the problems on the Colorado River.

[00:28:04] John Berggren: Everyone is trying to figure out new guidelines for managing the Colorado River. There's a set of guidelines that have been in place since 2007 but they expire in 2026 and so we are in the midst of a multi year process to update or replace those guidelines with a new set of guidelines that will last another 10 or 20 years.

[00:28:26] John Berggren: Everyone agrees we need to do more and that's what we're trying to negotiate is how Um, do those new guidelines or rules come together in a way that can address climate change, can address those unsustainable demands, and can keep the health, um, of the river and keep the river functioning as well. 

[00:28:45] Dave: So, that kind of leads into my next question, which is what would WRA ideally like to see in these new agreements for how the river is managed?

[00:28:54] John Berggren: So, at a high level, what we would like to see, Is the river itself [00:29:00] being considered in the actual guidelines? The way it works currently with the, with the existing set of rules is they determine, you know, major, um, allocations to the states, how much each state gets from the river. They determine the, the big reservoir operations, how much water is. released from Lake Powell and Lake Mead, for example, but that's what, that's what they do is they look at that big picture. How much water do the states get? And what are our major reservoir operations? What they don't do is factor in the health of the river into that big picture decision making. Um, currently there's a, there's a, um, host of different programs, um, Federal and state, um, efforts, uh, kind of across the basin to actually consider river, the river's health, but they're, they're separate from that big picture annual year to year state to state, uh, decision making process.

[00:29:56] John Berggren: And so what we'd like to see is as [00:30:00] Each year when you develop who's going to get how much water and, and, and when, uh, factor in the river's health. And so if we can incorporate, um, you know, think how the river's needs in the Grand Canyon when determining Lake Powell releases, for example, we would like to see that.

[00:30:17] John Berggren: If you're going to be releasing water from upper basin reservoirs downstream for water supply or infrastructure purposes, we would do that and time it in a way that benefits native fishes, that benefits key reaches, benefits, um, you know, areas of the river and tributaries that need extra water.

[00:30:39] Dave: John says the current situation isn't great. It's long been unsustainable and the river has come to its breaking point. He's also deeply involved in WRA's work to advocate for the Colorado. One of the ideas WRA has is something called the conservation reserve. He says this is one of the ways we can manage the river holistically and consider its overall health.

[00:30:59] John Berggren: In this [00:31:00] conservation program that would incentivize users to conserve water, and when they conserve that water, it gets stored in either Lake Powell or Lake Mead, um, protecting those, those reservoirs and helping keep it elevated, and while it's stored there, it could be moved between the two reservoirs to benefit Grand Canyon.

[00:31:18] John Berggren: And so if you need water in Lake Powell, you can move it up there and then you can release it as part of a high flow experiment, for example, that really benefits,, the Grand Canyon ecosystem and, and, and recreational benefits as well. Um, so it's a somewhat innovative tool to incentivize conservation and use that conserved water for environmental purposes.

[00:31:40] John Berggren: And I would say we in our. Partners have been talking about this idea for at least one or two years, and there's been a lot of, you know, we developed, we and our partners developed this concept at a very high level. What it would, what it would look like. We got feedback from, um, federal and state decision makers.[00:32:00] 

[00:32:00] John Berggren: We got feedback from partners. We talked to, uh, engineers. We had folks model it. We, we actually got, a consultant to do a comparative analysis in, for Australia, because there's a similar program in Australia. And so we try to see if there are any lessons learned there. Um, and we started with this big high level concept about a year and a half ago, or two years ago.

[00:32:22] John Berggren: And then just this spring, it was fully fleshed out in our proposal that we submitted to the Bureau of Reclamation. So some of these can take years to go from a concept to an actual. Policy recommendations. Some are quicker, um, but we don't, uh, we want to make sure our ideas are thought through, that they will have the benefits that we want, that we've thought through the potential hang ups, the potential challenges, um, both, you know, Logistically and politically, and we want to work with partners, work with decision makers to make sure they're on board so that when we advocate for a policy, it's more [00:33:00] likely to be adopted.

[00:33:04] Dave: A vibrant Colorado River is one fueled by a resilient snowpack and managed in sustainable collaboration with the needs of the landscape. With the work WRA is pursuing, that reality is a possibility. All winter, I get to ski the snow that becomes the Colorado. And from that lens, it's clear how interconnected all of these systems are.

[00:33:22] Dave: The future of the river sits on us recognizing that interdependence. This work is ongoing, and I asked John how long this work takes, or might take. 

[00:33:33] John Berggren: So right now in the process, and it's a, it's a, a federal, um, process, uh, uh, NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act, which folks Uh, might be familiar with.

[00:33:44] John Berggren: It's an environmental impact statement process. So there's a big federal action and the federal government means to do um, uh, environmental impact statement to determine if their federal action is going to adversely infect environmental resources. And so we're in [00:34:00] the middle of that big federal process.

[00:34:01] John Berggren: This spring the Bureau of Reclamation, who's facilitating, running the process, solicited input from anyone saying, we want to hear your ideas for how these new guidelines should look and how they should what should be in them what should not be in them how we allocate water and how we incentivize conservation and other related programs.

[00:34:21] John Berggren: And so this, Spring the upper basin states, they submitted an alternative. The lower basin states submit an alternative. And then we and our coalition , NGO partners, we also submitted an alternative. and then a few other groups submitted letters , in concepts and ideas , and criteria for what they want to see in new guidelines.

[00:34:39] John Berggren: And the Bureau of Reclamation took those Submissions, those alternatives, and they're building them into their model, which is how they're going to run and develop the environmental impact statement to see how they perform. And so right now, Reclamation is working with each of those alternatives to make sure that they're building the model correctly.

[00:34:57] John Berggren: They've got the assumptions correct. And they're performing [00:35:00] as expected by the people who, who made those proposals. Know, this proposal kept Lake Powell higher, but Lake Mead got shorter. This proposal had fewer lower basin shortages, but Lake Powell got pretty low. This proposal did X, Y, and Z.

[00:35:13] John Berggren: And so they're trying to do this comparative analysis. Of all these alternatives so they can see what performs well what doesn't and what would they like to what would they ultimately include in the next set of guidelines. Our alternative includes a whole bunch of different ways to embed environmental values in those guidelines and so they're building those models around that.

[00:35:31] John Berggren: And we're working with the Bureau of Reclamation to make sure that That model is being built, um, how we, uh, uh, expected it to be, and later this year, Reclamation will share those, those alternatives and say, here's what we're going to analyze in this environmental impact statement process. And then sometime next year, they'll release a draft environmental impact statement.

[00:35:54] John Berggren: And then by the end of next year, when the current guidelines expire, they'll release a final environmental impact statement, which will say, [00:36:00] here is our, um, Here's what we chose. Here's the alternative we chose for these reasons, and these are going to be in the new guidelines, which, like I said earlier, could be a 10 20 year period for these new guidelines.

[00:36:15] John Berggren: So in other words, the alternatives that are being developed and modeled now Are going to shape how the Colorado River is managed for the next 10 or 20 years. And so when you think about climate change, when you think about , demands and you think about the impacts we're already seeing on the river, when you think about the river no longer reaches the Delta on a regular basis.

[00:36:34] John Berggren: And you think about you know, just two years ago, we almost like pal almost crashed to the point of not being able to release water. downstream. When you think about all that, these new guidelines which are going to guide the river and how the river is managed for the next 10 to 20 years are incredibly important.

[00:36:59] Dave: This work, like [00:37:00] a lot of the issues WRA focuses on, is ongoing. Like John said, the work on the Colorado is going to be a chalkstone for the health of the West and its communities over the next 10 years. It's moments like this where WRA works the hardest to advocate for the people and climate of the West.

[00:37:16] Dave: We get excited for these moments because it's in these moments where we see hope for a brighter future. It's a future where fewer children have asthma, more of the economy runs on clean energy, we have easier access to sustainable water infrastructure, and we treat our rivers like living, flowing ecosystems, not plumbing systems.

[00:37:35] Dave: When I'm asked why I love working at WRA, It's because I'm able to see ahead to what's possible. Sure, I look outside and I see shorter winters and more wildfires, and that is the reality now. I can imagine a future reality where we live in sustainable collaboration with our region and our landscapes, not conflict.

[00:37:55] Dave: It's that hope that drives our fight against climate change.[00:38:00] 

[00:38:03] Dave: If you want to learn more about our work and what tangible regional climate action looks like, you can visit our website and check out our 2023 impact report page. We detail a lot of the issues discussed here, as well as provide resources for how you can stay involved. Speaking of that, if you want to stay involved, particularly on the Colorado River works, you Which is going to arrive at some fairly critical moments over the next few months.

[00:38:27] Dave: You can stay tuned here on our social media channels and join us on our email list.

[00:38:53] Dave: WRA would like to thank our sponsors who make this podcast and our work to fight climate change in the west a reality. Our [00:39:00] impact sponsor is First Bank. Our premier sponsor is Vision Rich Partners. Our signature sponsors include Kind Design, Scarpa Footwear, Sweep, and Torch Clean Energy. That's all for today's episode of Two Degrees Out West.

[00:39:14] Dave: Do you like what you heard? Bring others into the conversation. Share this show with family, friends, and group chats alike. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X to stay up to date with the latest climate news in the West. Want to learn more about WRA's vision for a bright climate future? You can find show notes, a transcription of this episode, and more climate advocacy resources online at westernresourceadvocates. org. Thank you for [00:40:00] listening.