The Colorado Water Conservation Board, one of Colorado’s top water policy agencies, has a new leader: Southern Ute tribal member Lorelei Cloud. The 15-member board sets water policy within the state, funds water projects statewide and works on issues related to watershed protection, stream restoration, flood mitigation and drought planning. On May 21, board members elected Cloud to serve a one-year term as chair, making her the first Indigenous person to hold the position since the board was formed in 1937. Cloud said her new role gives Indigenous people a long-sought seat at the table where water decisions are made. … Part of the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s purpose is to protect Colorado’s water interests in dealings with other states, like the water sharing agreements among seven states in the Colorado River Basin. … She represents the San Miguel-Dolores-San Juan basin in southwestern Colorado, which is part of the larger Colorado River Basin, a key water source for about 40 million people across the West.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• WAMU (Washington, D.C.): The Colorado River’s water-sharing treaty is expiring next year. How close is a new deal?
• Salt Lake Magazine (Salt Lake City, Utah): Water woes: The future of the Colorado River
• Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.): Low snowpack stirs 2018 fire season flashbacks, but wet monsoon season may offer hope
• NPR: Snowflakes, death threats and dollar signs: Cloud seeding is at a crossroads
• Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.): Opinion: Is cloud seeding harming wildlife & water? Time to ask hard questions