WMP Meeting Success!

    Last Thursday was the Watershed Management Planning Meeting Event. Everything came together: the volunteers, the speakers, and the attendees. The presentations were solid, the questions asked and answers given were great and informative, and I think I did a good job of mediating the meeting. Once the meeting started, I knew it was going to go well, but I was nervous about representing all views on this issue. Water issues can get pretty heated and I didn't want to push anyone away from this conversation by saying something wrong. I tried to make my questions very general in order to prevent this from happening and not show an agreeing viewpoint while asking questions because I wanted to be neutral. The panel questions turned out to be really great and even stirred up conversation from the audience. Overall, it was a success!
    I know it may seem like I'm going way out of my way in order to stay neutral, but in our current political climate I think this is so important. Instead of letting my generation become as polarized as generations before us have become, I want to spread this idea of coming at an issue as neutral. This doesn't mean that you can't take a side on an issue; taking sides are how discussion and conversations are successful because there are differing viewpoints to keep the conversation going. In order to have a productive future when it comes to the effects of climate change or the future of our watershed, we need to have an open mind when going after solving it.

WMP Event Planning

    Event planning is off and running! The room is booked, the final details are being worked out, and volunteers are being recruited. I have recruited students from one ENVS class so far and am onto another this afternoon to do the same. I have given group one tasks of emailing clubs on campus, creating posters, submitting PSAs to newsletters and radio stations, and creating a food list to purchase for the event. Each student only has one small task out of these and will give them experience setting up/advertising for an event. Group two will be tasked with distributing posters and flyers around campus and around the community and emailing any of the remaining groups on the list.
    This biggest piece I've been trying to figure out is how to structure the actual event itself. Is a panel the best way to go? What about just presentations? Should we go over the long survey that's available to the public? I want this to not only be an informational event, but an entertaining event as well. I want this to not only be a learning event but an engaging one. Under what event format will I be able to achieve both of these? This is what I'll be working on this week the most.
   

Watershed Management Planning

    One of HCCA's largest goals for this year is looking at watershed management planning as the population of the west continues to grow and the demand for water increases. Since our community is at one of the major headwaters of the Colorado, we have both the responsibility to manage it in a way that provides for our community, but also provides for other communities down stream. The biggest piece of watershed management is planning so that each use of water can be met. These uses range from agriculture to recreation. These management steps are taken in order to protect our current water needs so if implications should arise in the future, the plans to solve them have already been thought through.
    Combining my internship's goal of outreach and connecting Western to HCCA and a service learning project for one of my classes, I have decided to put on a Watershed Management Planning Meeting. The goal of this meeting is to inform students and the community about watershed management, why it's important, and what they can do to help. This meeting will include speakers from all different backgrounds: Julie Nania from HCCA, Jesse Kruthaupt from Trout Unlimited, and Frank Kugel from the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District. They will give short presentations from their point of view on this issue and how the valley is working to move forward on watershed management.
    Students from ENVS 100 classes will be helping me get everything in order. Together, we will make posters, contact clubs around campus, send out PSA's to newspapers and radio stations, and brainstorm how to advertise this event in other ways. It's important to get this topic as far out there as we can because it really can affect everyone. Survey's will be handed out during this event as well. The more feedback we can get about this process the better. The more diverse feedback we can get the even better off that we are! It's so important to get points of view from a large range of people from different backgrounds in order to make watershed management decisions about a resource used by all.