WE?RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER: SHARED RISKS AND COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS IN THE COLOR

On Tuesday, February 3rd at 3:00 p.m. there will be a free community presentation titled, "We're All in It Together: Shared Risks in the Colorado River Basin, and How Collaboration across Borders Can Help" in Clarkdale. The presentation will be at the Verde Valley Campus of Yavapai College, Building M, Room 137, 601 Black Hills Drive. The event is sponsored by the Verde River Basin Partnership (Partnership), and will be followed by the Partnership?s quarterly meeting, which the public in encouraged to attend. This event will be a unique opportunity for the residents of the Verde River Watershed to learn from someone directly involved in current events on the Colorado River. Speaker Jennifer Pitt, Project Director for the Environmental Defense Fund's Colorado River Project, will discuss the current status of Colorado River Basin water supply, risks to water users under the ?Law of the River,? and emerging opportunities for collaborative solutions. The Colorado River is the principal water resource in the arid Pacific Southwest, including portions of Arizona. Ms. Pitt will give an overview of reservoir supply status and projections in the Colorado River Basin, as well as the implications for water users in Arizona and elsewhere. She will also review examples of new agreements and initiatives that Colorado River Basin water managers are implementing to improve water supply reliability including the System Conservation Pilot Agreement, Contingency Planning agreements, and the US-Mexico agreement known as Minute 319. Jennifer Pitt?s work with Environmental Defense Fund focuses on protecting and restoring the Colorado River Delta and to reform water policy throughout the basin. She works with water users throughout the Colorado River Basin to develop practical programs to restore river habitats and to dedicate water to environmental resources. Ms. Pitt's expertise includes the legal and policy framework for Colorado River management, the economics of water use and water transfers, and the science of river restoration. She helped negotiate the bi-national Minute 319 water-sharing agreement that allowed for the 2014 Colorado River Delta pulse flow. The Partnership is a scientific and educational resource raising awareness among citizens and community leaders about the workings of Verde River Watershed?s interconnected groundwater and surface water systems, and the life they support. To find out more about Partnership events or to browse reading materials about the Verde River Watershed, please visit www.vrbp.org.