Allyship in the Colorado River Basin with Sonoran Institute
This blog post was written by Kristine Zeigler based on her recent trip to the Colorado River Basin.
Spending quality time with allies who share power with you and your organization is becoming the norm here at Planet Women. While there is no clear playbook on sharing resources and power in environmental conservation, perhaps my recent experience with Sonoran Institute CEO Mike Zellner will demonstrate a new way.
On paper, my five-day itinerary in Denver looked like a typical set of meetings between funders, nonprofits, and partners focused on the Colorado River Basin. The visit in May and June 2023 was capped off by an opportunity for me to speak at an inclusive and energizing event at the home of Sonoran Institute board member Barbara Green and her partner Tim Fink.
In practice, Mike threw open his networks to Planet Women and introduced our startup to incredible potential collaborators and community-centric supporters, including the Mighty Arrow Family Foundation and the Gates Family Foundation, among others.
Co-Creating a “Shescape” to Map the Path to a Better Future for the Basin
Along the way Mike and I firmed up our shared priorities and established a vision for Planet Women and The Sonoran Institute to co-create the first Shescape for the Colorado River Basin. A Shescape encompasses a distinct set of ecosystems that are an environmental priority, where gender equity and inclusion are integrated as a fundamental component of conservation strategy, action and funding. The idea of a “Shescape” was invented by Planet Women’s collaborator Jamie Bechtel and team member Karl Morrison!
The Shescape framework will allow our organizations to evaluate the Colorado River Basin by looking at all the groups working with women and examining the traditional conservation threats, challenges, biodiversity, and socio-economic data in order to inform a multiracial, multigenerational, multicultural and inclusive roadmap to 2026.
In 2026, a number of important agreements governing the Colorado River are set to expire, so new agreements will be negotiated. This is a critical moment to ensure all voices are heard and that nature’s needs are accounted for alongside the needs of Native Tribes, local communities, agriculture, and industry.
Connecting with Women Water Leaders in Colorado
Denver is clearly a crossroads of talented, resilient, and powerful female leaders. Between hearing women leaders in the water sector speaking at the state’s drought summit, meeting with the first Tribal member appointed to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and speaking to caring and concerned volunteers, I was so impressed by the brilliant women involved with water in Colorado.
Take Chela Garcia-Irlando, the inaugural Executive Director of the Next 100 Coalition. Chela is leading a collaborative national network of Black, Indigenous, People of Color leaders from community-centered conservation, outdoor recreation, environmental education, public health, and environmental justice organizations. It’s women like Chela who are co-creating a shared vision of a more inclusive lands and ocean conservation movement. Chela recently joined Planet Women’s CEO Network—welcome, Chela!
Or Ashley Mueller, Laurel James, and Emily Hagler of the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, based in Northglenn, Colorado, who assist Native American and Alaska Native Tribes with the conservation, protection, and enhancement of their fish and wildlife resources. One of Ashley’s programs, The Native American Environmental Awareness Summer Youth Practicum, is for Native American students in grades 10–12.
Through the program, students come together to gain hands-on and in-lecture experience in the interdisciplinary components of natural resource management and Indigenous knowledge. Ashley recognizes the significance of this practicum experience for students, whose participation may mean living away from home for the first time or taking their first commercial flight. Her passion for sharing the importance of professional natural resource management and its interconnectedness with culture is clear.
Laurel James from the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society with Kristine Zeigler . © Kristine Zeigler.
Lorelei Cloud is the first Tribal Member to be appointed by Governor Polis to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Lorelei is a passionate advocate for the rights of the original inhabitants of Colorado. The Ute people, she said, have been left out of the State’s history. For example, few people know that the Indigenous lands in Colorado totaled some 56 million acres. Today Lorelei’s Southern Ute tribe comprises just 1,100 square miles. Although seven rivers run through her reservation’s border, 600 tribal members must pump and haul water from communal wells to their homes.
Despite the Tribe’s Colorado River water rights, a backlog of maintenance means that only 25 percent of the federal canals overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are currently operational. But obstacles don’t scare Lorelei. She is looking ahead and calls upon us all to create the trust and conditions required for innovation and renegotiation. And she wants to be sure that the next generation understands water so they are ready to lead when she is no longer here.
Lorelei Cloud and Kristine Zeigler. © Kristine Zeigler.
Mike and I also met with the woman that Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper says knows more about water or about the Colorado River than almost anyone: Anne Castle. Last September, Anne was appointed by President Biden as the Federal Commissioner of the Upper Colorado River Commission. Anne reflected that being a woman in water is so much easier now. “I haven’t been the only woman in the room in a long while,” she said. Childcare was a major factor in her career. One of the important reasons Anne was able to accept President Barack Obama’s nomination to become Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at Interior where she had responsibility for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey was because at that point, her youngest child was on the way to college.
Co-Hosting A New Kind of Water Convening
Over the last few months, I’ve asked women in the water sector what they need most as the 2026 deadline comes up. What I heard was the need for a new kind of convening. To create this space, Planet Women and Sonoran Institute, in collaboration with the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network, San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation, The Chapter House, & The Nature Conservancy, will be hosting:
Women and Water, A New Story Begins–Healing, Learning, and Storytelling for the Colorado River Basin. This gathering will be held November 13, 2023, to coincide with the US Water Alliance’s 11th Annual One Water Summit taking place November 14-16, 2023.
We know that a Colorado River that meets the needs of people and the rest of nature is essential for everyone. Yet, many nonprofits overlook opportunities to make a greater impact on conservation and gender equity by coordinating actions.
As we move toward 2026, we are fortunate to have remarkable women and male allies leading local, state, tribal, and federal organizations, agencies, and departments that are addressing the Colorado River and mega-drought. When we link arms together, we have the greatest chance for a thriving future. Thank you to Mike Zellner, the Sonoran Institute and all the wonderful women leaders we met with in Colorado! You inspire me.