Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment

05/14/2026

On Friday, May 1st and Saturday, May 2nd, the Wind River Water Resource Control Board (WRWRCB), Gina Guy Center for Land and Water Law, and Getches-Wilkinson Center hosted the 2nd Annual Wind River Water Forum. Gathering at the Frank B. Wise Building in Fort Washakie, this year’s forum focused on water management issues and solutions led by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho of Wind River Reservation. Attendees engaged throughout the forum, and both in-person and remote attendance was roughly four times that of last year’s inaugural Wind River Water Forum. One message rang clear from this year’s Wind River Water Forum: dedicated interest in responsible and thoughtful water management at Wind River Reservation is growing – starting first from the local community but also expanding to a diverse national audience.

Read the full report and access recordings of the event: https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/2026/05/14/wind-river-water-forum-2026

University of Colorado Law School
University of Wyoming

05/12/2026

Water researcher, Doug Kenney of the GWC at University of Colorado Law School, said while this proposal is designed only as a "short-term bridge," it's a comprehensive package containing many items that Upper Basin states are likely to view as "just a repackaging of ideas that are already contested."

In particular, he cites proposals that would continue releases annually from Upper Basin reservoirs into Powell, and that would eventually raise releases from Powell to Mead from this year's low level of 6 million acre-feet a year back to 7 million as they had been in the past.

He also cited the Lower Basin's effort to have federal water conservation funds diverted into the Lower Basin. And he cited the proposal's request for the Upper Basin states to offer "verifiable water contributions of their own."

"Whether or not these are objectively good ideas, it seems pretty clear that they are not points of agreement around which a deal — even a short-term deal — is likely to quickly coalesce," Kenney said.

Even if that happens, it is a bridge to a long-term fix for the river only if the seven states use the next few years to adopt a comprehensive solution, he said.

The river's current operating rules, which expire Sept. 30 after 20 years, were supposed to serve as a similar bridge, "but to no avail."

"Overall, I applaud the effort of the Lower Basin to move the ball forward, but I have a hard time believing that this will be the framework that finally leads to a 7-state truce and a stabilized system," Kenney said.

A proposal from Arizona, California and Nevada to shave their take from the Colorado River for the next 30 months is drawing favorable reactions from a large majority of outside

05/11/2026

An important element of the Colorado River compact to note are groups that were excluded from the agreement.

Chris Winter, executive director of the Getches-Wilkinson Center at the University of Colorado Law School, said those consequences persist, pointing to ties between the ongoing lack of clean water and sanitation on many reservations and unresolved federal water rights.

“So much work has gone into trying to elevate the interest of the tribes in this conversation,” Winter said. “They were not at the table in 1922. … That in and of itself was a form of systemic injustice that has continued to have ripple effects.”

Winter said the tribes still do not have significant input in current negotiations, a situation he described as “unacceptable.”

“The compact really only includes the Lower Basin and the Upper Basin states, and then the federal government is in the middle trying to help them reach an agreement,” Winter said. “The tribes should have a much more meaningful seat at the table.”

Winter described the federal government’s role as complex, including roles as an operator, mediator and trustee.

“The first thing the federal government has to do is figure out how to operate the dams and reservoirs in order to protect the infrastructure,” Winter said. “But the federal government also has a trust responsibility to the 30 tribes in the Colorado River Basin. The federal government should be operating as a trustee and helping the tribes ensure that they can realize the promise of their federal reserved water rights.”

He also said Congress still maintains its authority, even though it has barely been tapped.

“Congress still retains residual authority to pass new laws, to grant new authorities to the Secretary of the Interior, to change the rules of how all this happens and to provide funding necessary to implement conservation measures,” Winter said.

https://collegian.com/articles/featured/2026/05/category-news-a-river-running-out-100-years-of-the-colorado-river-compact/ #

Roughly half of Colorado’s Front Range water comes from the Colorado River Basin. The allocation of this water is governed by the Colorado River Compact, which is currently struggling under conditions the river no longer matches. Since 2000, the Colorado River’s flows have fallen 20% on average....

05/08/2026

An incredible day celebrating the 2026 graduates! We're going to miss seeing you in the building and trust that you will continue to make us so proud!

05/04/2026

The GWC is thrilled to recognize Andrea Shipton as the winner of the 2026 Natural Resources Law Outstanding Student Award. Andrea Shipton won the prestigious University of Colorado Law School The Wyss Foundation Wyss Scholarship, which is awarded to an outstanding student who is dedicated to career in public interest land conservation. She served as the Managing Editor of the Colorado Environmental Law Journal, and she also led the adventure club.

GWC Chris Winter shared, "Andrea was in the field seminar last year, and I think I’ll always remember the Spotify listening parties in the long car rides. I won’t go into more details, but it was eye opening. But I’ll also remember her love for being outside, exploring, and connecting those experiences to the study of law and policy." Andrea, congratulations and thank you.

https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/2026/04/20/andrea-shipton-receives-natural-resources-law-outstanding-student-award

05/01/2026

📢 Early Bird Registration Ends Today!
Join GWC and Water & Tribes Initiative on June 4th and 5th for the 2026 Conference on the Colorado River at University of Colorado Law School.
Register Now: https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/2025/12/01/june-4-5-2026-conference-colorado-river

04/29/2026

The GWC is thrilled to recognize Patricia Alquiza for this year’s Gary C. Bryner Distinguished Service award. The Bryner Award honors a graduating student who shares Gary’s passion for natural resources law and especially his kindness and generosity to others and the deep sense of humanity that he practiced in his daily life.

We’re so pleased to recognize Patricia A. because she has brought a quiet strength, compassion, and grace to her work here at University of Colorado Law School. Chris Winter, GWC executive director shared, "I had the pleasure of spending 9 days with her during last year’s Advanced Natural Resources Field Seminar as we traveled across the Colorado Plateau. And I got to see how Patricia not only supported her friends on that trip, but also how she brought that same sense of caring and compassion to the natural world and especially the friendly dogs on the Hopi Reservation. For a second, I was afraid she was going to bring a couple of them with us on the rest of the trip." Patricia, thank you for everything you do.

https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/2026/04/20/patricia-alquiza-receives-gary-bryner-distinguished-service-award

04/22/2026

Join the Wind River Water Resource Control Board, the Gina Guy Center at University Wyoming College of Law, and the Getches-Wilkinson Center at University of Colorado Law School for an in-depth discussion of water management issues facing Tribal Nations on the Wind River Reservation and elsewhere across the United States. This event is open to the public, both in-person and virtually.

A full agenda will be released soon: https://www.uwyo.edu/law/centers/center-for-land-and-water-law/events/wind-river-water-forum.html

04/21/2026

Federal officials ordered emergency water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir and cut flows from Lake Powell to protect infrastructure amid extreme Colorado River drought and record-low snowpack. Chris Winter executive director of the GWC at University of Colorado Law School, warned the measures raise legal risks and underscore the urgent need for long-term reductions in water use as climate change shrinks the river’s supply.

Photo credit: Caroline Llanes / Rocky Mountain Community Radio

https://www.aspenpublicradio.org/environment/2026-04-20/severe-colorado-river-drought-leads-to-water-releases-from-upper-basin-reservoirs-and-reduced-flows-from-lake-powell

04/20/2026

As climate change shrinks Colorado River flows, seven Western states remain locked in a high-stakes fight over water allocations, with expiring agreements pushing the dispute toward the Supreme Court. Anne Castle, a senior fellow at University of Colorado Law School's GWC, said warming has created a roughly four–million–acre-foot gap between supply and demand that the current system cannot absorb.

“The ideal agreement among the states would be one that is based on the actual supply of water in the system so it would look at the natural flow of the Colorado River and divide that between the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin. It wouldn’t rely on fixed volumes. It would be based on how much water there actually is in the river and divide that up proportionately.”

As a changing climate bakes and dries up the Colorado River, the seven basin states can’t agree on how to share the declining water resources.