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Tour March 16, 2022 - 7:30am - March 18, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2022
Field Trip - March 16-18

The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

This year’s tour took place while the river was experiencing extraordinary and historic turmoil, and during the centennial of the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The compact divided the river’s watershed into two basins, established the water allotment for each basin and provided a framework for management of the river.

Tour attendees gather at a farm in the Coachella ValleyAlready plagued by more than 20 years of drought, officials and water users face unprecedented conditions fueled by climate change. A poor snowpack and extreme dryness sent Lake Powell and Lake Mead plunging to record low elevations, prompting the first-ever shortage to occur in 2022. Despite Drought Contingency Plans enacted just a few years prior, experts agreed urgent actions are required before the set of operating guidelines expire in 2026.

This 3-day, 2-night tour journeyed along the Lower Colorado River from Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to the Salton Sea and the Coachella Valley, and included a boat trip through scenic Topock Gorge. Along the way, experts discussed challenges related to what has been the most contested, beloved for recreation and meticulously managed river in the United States. Click here for details on our COVID-19 tour precautions.

Contact Programs Director Nick Gray via email with any tour questions.

What attendees said about this tour:

“This tour was so well put together. You guys did a spectacular job. The topics were relevant, the speakers good, the other participants fun and knowledgeable. You could offer consulting services on how to do tours!”

“I highly recommend this tour to others. I feel this coming-together is very important to the future of water cooperation in California and the West. The tour helped me meet water users that I knew vaguely, and turned them into real people with real issues and real lives.”

“Great range of speakers. Great to meet fellow tour participants. Interesting locations to visit. Intensive (in a good way).”

Planned Stops Included:

  • Hoover Dam
  • Lake Mead
  • Central Arizona Project’s Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant
  • Havasu National Wildlife Refuge
  • Whitsett Intake Pumping Plant on the Colorado River Aqueduct
  • Farms in the Palo Verde, Imperial & Coachella valleys
  • Imperial Dam and the All-American Canal
  • The Salton Sea

Planned Topics Included:

  • Law of the River
  • Drought conditions & contingency planning in the Colorado River Basin
  • Lower Basin state perspectives – Arizona, California & Nevada
  • The Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA)
  • Warren H. Brock Storage Reservoir & lining the All-American Canal
  • Binational water management 
  • Agricultural water use, drainage issues & salinity
  • Urban use, history & development
  • The Colorado River Basin Study
  • Endangered species & the Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP)
  • Salton Sea restoration 
  • Climate change

Tour Start and End Point:

The tour started at 7:30 a.m. on March 16 in Las Vegas and ended at the Ontario International Airport in California at 6:30 p.m. on March 18.

There was a ticket called the “California Option,” which was an inclusive ticket that started and ended the tour in California. It was designed for state agency employees, but was open to any participant who wanted transportation aboard the tour bus the day before the tour, March 15, from Ontario Airport in Southern California to Las Vegas and a hotel room that night in Las Vegas. Meals on March 15 were not included.

Pricing Details:

General – $925 (one person, single-occupancy room)

Early Bird – $875 if you registered by Feb. 18

California Option – $999 (included transportation & lodging on Mar. 15)

Fee included all tour meals, transportation, materials, snacks and hotel accommodations once the tour began. Participants were responsible for their own transportation to and from the tour’s beginning and end points.

A limited amount of scholarship funding was available to pay for a portion of the tour. 

COVID-19 Protocols:

The Foundation continued to monitor developments with COVID-19 and anticipated a return to low levels of infection rates by the tour start date based on the projections.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result (PCR or antigen) within 72 hours of the tour start date was required from all participants.

Precautions were implemented during the tour including enhanced sanitation protocols, a mask requirement aboard the motorcoach and within indoor spaces, and a modified itinerary to maximize the use of outdoor/open-air venues when possible.

Despite these mitigating circumstances, an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 existed in any place where people gather. All participants should have considered their personal choices around harm reduction and risk tolerance in the face of current variants and the likelihood of additional variants emerging in the future.

Acceptance of an assumption of risk waiver was required during registration for the tour.

We asked participants not to attend if, within 72 hours of the tour start date, they experienced symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g., a fever of 100.4F or higher, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking muscle pain/achiness, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, nasal congestion, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue or any other symptoms associated with COVID-19 identified by the CDC).

Regardless of vaccination status, participants were required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of the tour start date IF they  tested positive or were exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 within 5 days of the tour start date.

Cancellation and Refund Policy:

Deadline to cancel and receive a refund was three weeks prior to the first day of the tour due to hotel, meal and transportation commitments. Substitutions were allowed up to five business days before the tour. Eventbrite fees were nonrefundable and the remaining amount was subject to an additional 10% processing fee.

We recognize that unexpected conflicts with our tours can occur from time to time. The Water Education Foundation recommended considering arranging travel insurance from a provider of your choice soon after tour registration to protect against such unfortunate events.

Continuing Education Credits:

Continuing education credits were available for California attorneys for an additional fee, and were potentially available for water plant/wastewater plant operators and other vocations/professions.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Tour Sponsors

Sponsors June 18, 2014

Bureau of Reclamation – Lower Colorado Basin
Major Sponsor

One of five Reclamation regions, the Lower Colorado Region serves as the watermaster for the last 688 miles of the Colorado River, as well as Hoover, Davis and Parker dams.

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Sponsors June 18, 2014

California Department of Water Resources
Major Sponsor

California Department of Water Resources

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is responsible for managing and protecting California’s water. DWR works with other agencies to benefit the state’s people, and to protect, restore and enhance the natural and human environments.

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Sponsors February 28, 2018

Stantec
Trailblazer Sponsor

At Stantec, our business objective is to maintain our position as a top tier global design and delivery firm. Our local strength, knowledge, and relationships, coupled with our world-class expertise, have allowed us to go anywhere to meet our clients’ needs in more creative and personalized ways. With a long-term commitment to the people and places we serve, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and advance the quality of life in communities across the globe. 

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Sponsors March 10, 2022

Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe
Traveler Sponsor

Home of the Quechan (Kwatsáan) Indians, the Fort Yuma-Quechan Reservation is located along both sides of the Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona, and borders the states of Arizona, California and Baja California, Mexico. Largely an agriculture community encompassing 45,000 acres, the Tribe leases its thousands of acres for agriculture to both Indian and non-Indian farmers.

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Sponsors June 18, 2014

Southern Nevada Water Authority
Tour Sponsor

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is a cooperative, not-for-profit agency formed in 1991 to address Southern Nevada’s unique water needs on a regional basis. Collectively, SNWA member agencies serve more than 2.2 million residents in Southern Nevada. As the wholesale water provider, SNWA is responsible for water treatment and delivery, as well as acquiring and managing long-term water resources for Southern Nevada to provide world-class water service in a sustainable, adaptive, and responsible manner to our customers.

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Sponsors February 7, 2022

Central Arizona Project
Tour Sponsor

Central Arizona Project (CAP) is Arizona’s single largest resource for renewable water supplies, delivering Colorado River water to Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties where more than 80% of the state’s population lives. CAP carries water from Lake Havasu near Parker to the southern boundary of the San Xavier Indian Reservation southwest of Tucson. It is a 336-mile long system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines.

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Sponsors April 4, 2017

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Tour Sponsor

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a regional wholesaler that delivers water to 26 member public agencies – 14 cities, 11 municipal water districts, one county water authority – which in turn provides water to more than 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.

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Sponsors February 7, 2022

Palo Verde Irrigation District
Tour Sponsor

Palo Verde Irrigation District (PVID) occupies about 131,298 acres of land in Riverside and Imperial Counties, California. Colorado River water diverted through PVID canals is lifted onto the Palo Verde Mesa by private pumps to irrigate a portion of the acreage in the district. The remaining acreage is irrigated from deep wells developed by the landowners. Its long, hot growing season is ideal for agriculture; crops are grown and harvested year round.

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Sponsors June 18, 2014

Imperial Irrigation District
Tour Sponsor

IID has two core businesses and one overarching mission – to keep the lights on and the water flowing. These two basic functions of IID, both having to do with meeting our customers’ essential needs, require extensive planning, teamwork and, above all, consistency. 

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Tour March 16, 2022 - 7:30am - March 18, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
View map
Profile August 13, 2018

Nick Gray
Programs Director

Nick manages many of our workshops, conferences and tours of key water regions across California and the Southwest, bringing attendees up close to dams and other water infrastructure, wildlife areas, farms and other sites involved in water.

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This item appears in:
  • Topic List: Agriculture
  • Topic: Climate Change
  • Topic: Colorado River
  • Event Calendar
  • Topic: Drought
  • Topic: Water History
  • Topic: Nevada
  • Topic: Water Rights
  • Past Tours & Events
  • Topic: Energy and Water
  • Topic: Floods
  • Topic: Hoover Dam
  • Los Angeles
  • Topic: Groundwater
  • Topic: Salton Sea
  • Topic: Water Quality
  • Topic: Lake Mead
  • San Diego
  • Topic: Hydropower
  • Topic: Recreation
  • Topic: Surface Water
  • Topic: Southern California
  • Topic: Tribal Water Issues
  • Topic: Water Supply
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