Secretary Salazar Presents Colorado River Collaborators with Partners in Conservation Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today presented a Partners in Conservation Award to a huge collaborative partnership involving the Colorado River Basin states, Mexico, numerous Federal, state and local agencies, tribes, nongovernmental groups and private citizens for adoption of new, interim operational guidelines for managing the Colorado River in 2007.

“In the midst of the worst drought in more than a century, they formed an agreement that promises a future of cooperation in the Colorado River Basin for the next two decades.,” Secretary Salazar noted. The Colorado River provides water for more than 23 million people and two million acres of irrigated land in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

The Colorado River award was one of 26 national awards to individuals and organizations presented at a ceremony at Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C. to honor “those who achieve natural resource goals in collaboration and partnership with others.”

The 26 Partners in Conservation Awards recognize conservation achievements resulting from the cooperation and participation of a total of 600 individuals and organizations including landowners; citizens' groups; private sector and nongovernmental organizations; and federal, state, local, and/or tribal governments.

“The Partners in Conservation Awards demonstrate that our greatest conservation legacies often emerge when stakeholders, agencies, and citizens from a wide range of backgrounds come together to address shared challenges,” the Secretary said. “In the case of the Colorado River, the partnership included literally thousands of people in 5 agencies of the Department of the Interior; 16 Indian nations, tribes or communities; city and state agencies in seven states; water districts; universities; and nonprofit conservation groups.”

“These 26 awards recognize the dedicated efforts of individuals from all walks of life, from across our nation– and from across our borders with Canada and Mexico,” Salazar noted. “They celebrate partnerships that conserve and restore our nation's treasured landscapes and watersheds, partnerships that engage Native American communities, and partnerships that engage youth.”


The list of organizations receiving this award follows.

Colorado River Interim Guidelines (multi-state)
Nominated by the Bureau of Reclamation

Ak-Chin Indian Community

AMEC Earth and Environmental

Arizona Department of Water Resources

Arizona Water Banking Authority

Arizona Water Institute

Brown and Caldwell

Brownstein Hyatt Faber Schreck, LLP

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bureau of Reclamation

Central Arizona Water Conservation District

City of Needles, California

Coachella Valley Water District

Cocopah Indian Tribe

Colorado River Board of California

Colorado River Commission of Nevada

Colorado River Energy Distributors Association

Colorado River Indian Tribes

Colorado River Water Conservation District

Colorado State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Colorado Water Conservation Board

CU – Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems

CU – NOAA Western Water Assessment

Defenders of Wildlife

Environmental Defense Fund

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

Fort Mojave Indian Tribe

Gila River Indian Community

Hualapai Tribe

ICF Jones & Stokes

Imperial Irrigation District

Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

International Boundary and Water Commission

Kaibab Paiute Tribe

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

The National Center for Atmospheric Research

National Park Service

National Wildlife Federation

The Nature Conservancy

Navajo Nation

New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission

Pacific Institute

Palo Verde Irrigation District

Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Quechan Indian Tribe

San Carlos Apache Tribe

San Diego County Water Authority

Sierra Club

Sonoran Institute

Southern Nevada Water Authority

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, L.L.P.

Southern Ute Indian Tribe

State of Arizona

State of California

State of Colorado

State of Nevada

State of New Mexico

State of Utah

State of Wyoming

Tohono O'odham Nation

Tonto Apache Tribe

U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

University of Arizona Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Upper Colorado River Commission

Utah Division of Water Resources

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

Western Area Power Administration

Wyoming State Engineer's Office

Yavapai-Apache Nation (Camp Verde)