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)