During May, June and July, Andrea hit the road every Monday through Thursday and facilitated meetings across the state of Colorado in an effort to reevaluate how local governments and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) work together on local projects that include federal dollars.

While traveling throughout Colorado with a team from CDOT headquarters and a Federal Highway Administration representative, Andrea met with elected officials and staff from large cities, counties, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, rural towns, mountain communities and everywhere in between to gather input on how to strengthen the ongoing relationships between Local Agencies and CDOT, as well as to identify ways to improve the process and to increase the effectiveness of the program.

As a result of active facilitation, a task force has been convened to recommend how resources can be utilized within the Local Agency Program to efficiently implement transportation improvements in communities throughout Colorado.

To learn more about this project, or if your community, organization or agency could benefit from a similar facilitated process, contact Andrea at (303) 442-7367 x221 or ameneghel@mediate.org

Mediation Process

October 25-29, 2010

TRAINERS: Susan T. Wildau and Mary Margaret Golten

Why choose CDR Associates’ Mediation Process?

Register now for Mediation Process Training

Facilitation and Mediation of Public and Environmental Conflicts: Practical Strategies for Reaching Agreement

November 2-4, 2010

TRAINERS:  Christopher Moore and Jonathan Bartsch

Full description of the course  Register now for Facilitation

Global and Multicultural Negotiation: Winning Strategies for Outstanding Outcomes

November 16-17, 2010

TRAINERS:  Christopher Moore, Peter Woodrow and Susan Wildau

Full description of the course  Register now for Global and Multicultural Negotiation

Location for all of CDR Associates’ training programs: Chautauqua Institute, 900 Baseline Road (in the Community House), Boulder, Colorado. View map

Boulder Lodging Options

Features in Edition Two

• CDR to Present Papers at Prestigious International Mining Conference in June

• New Course Builds Practical Conflict Management Skills for Transportation and  Environmental Professionals

• Idaho, Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Plan Becomes Law

• The Mediation Process Training

• Multiparty Mediation Capacity Building in Romania

• CDR helps the Middle East Desalination Research Center and the Palestinian Water Authority

• CDR Collaborates with UNITAR on Capacity Building

If you haven’t visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, it is one you should really put on your list to see.  Set in the central part of the state in the rugged Rocky Mountains, the 30, 300 acre Park embraces the 53-mile Black Canyon gorge through which flows the Gunnison River.  Whereas the Grand Canyon in Arizona is fairly wide and drops in steps to an incredible depth, the walls of the Black Canyon are sheer, at places only 1,300 feet apart and drop to a depth of 2,425 feet (equivalent to a 194 story building)!  Often the bottom of the Canyon is not easy to see, because it is enveloped in shadows.  Those who are uncomfortable with heights should approach the railing slowly!

An interesting part of the Park’s history is the 30-year conflict and related litigation that surrounds its Federal water rights.  When the Park was first established as a National Monument in 1933 and was later elevated to a National Park in 1999, it was guaranteed adequate water from the Gunnison River to preserve its ecosystem and protect Park purposes.  However the water right was never quantified.  Since the Park’s creation, much has changed on the Western Slope of Colorado – construction of the Wayne Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project (multiple hydropower and water storage dams), agricultural expansion, extensive recreation and municipal growth.  All of the above have led to significant competition and conflict over water. 

In 2003, conservation groups filed litigation contesting an agreement between the Department of Interior and the State of Colorado over minimum streamflows for the Park.  The judge agreed with the plaintiffs and threw out the pact. 

In 2007, the services of CDR Associates’ Partner Christopher Moore were secured by leading parties to assess the feasibility of a negotiated settlement and conduct the mediation. In the fall of 2007, the parties began mediated negotiations assisted by Moore and two CDR Program Managers, Diane Tate and Jennifer Graham.  After 11 months of intensive talks, the parties reached a settlement that guarantees the Park required amounts of water, protects power generation capacities and agricultural needs, and incorporates measures to address flooding concerns in the City of Delta.       

Click here to View CDR Associates’ FIrst Edition of Talking Points, a Glance into the Work We Support.

Features in Edition One

• The Mediation Process Training
• A Training Program for Facilitating Powerful Coalitions
• CDR Partner Serves as Principal Author of A Guide to Designing and Implementing Grievance Mechanisms for Development Projects
• Idaho’s Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Advisory Committee reaches Agreement
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison Mediation Settles 30-year Conflict
• Water Issues and Desalination as a Part of the Middle East Process
• CDR Staff Moderates Gaza Dialogue
• CDR Partner Delivers Keynote Address at International Human Resources Congress

I am excited to share the exciting and profound work that I have been a part of in southeast Idaho.  Working intensely for three years in Idaho has changed the way I approach collaborative natural resource problems, including a renewed respect for the complexities of managing a system as large as the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) and the Snake River. Facilitating conjunctive management (surface and groundwater) disputes are some the most vexing and complicating I have experienced. It has been fascinating, challenging, and rewarding. After such effort, a consensus agreement was reached on the ESPA aquifer management.

Water is a unifying and critical feature of life in southeast Idaho. The ESPA covers 29,000 square miles in southeastern Idaho – approximately 35% of the State’s land, all or part of 20 counties, and an area that is inhabited by 1/3 of Idaho’s population. Irrigated agriculture, cities and counties, fish and wildlife, hydropower, an aquaculture industry, and many others depend on the water in the ESPA and the hydrologically connected Snake River. The economic value of goods and services produced in the ESPA region is estimated at $10 billion in 2006. Agriculture holds the most significant segment of the local economy and is the largest consumptive user of water. Though relatively small compared to agricultural uses, domestic, commercial, municipal, and industrial water use is also increasing. Providing for these uses is vital to the future growth of state and local economies. A decline in the aquifer and Snake River levels has resulted in a significant dispute between water users and created the need for a negotiated plan to manage the resource. In response to ongoing litigation and conflict the Idaho Water Resource Board hired CDR Associates to facilitate the development of a Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan (CAMP).

During our initial interviews with stakeholders an analogy was made multiple times between Idaho and the Middle East. One stakeholder said, “the ESPA issue is a lot like the Palestinian/Israeli conflict – there are no real answers to the problem, and the culture of fighting subsumes most legitimate policy discussion and debate.” Contrary to this operating mindset, a CAMP was initiated and developed through tough negotiation and compromise among water users.

The CAMP Framework (2006) resulted in increased recognition that supply of and demands for water are out of balance, making more deliberate and coordinated management of surface waters of the Snake River and the underground waters of the ESPA a necessity. The declining trends are a result of changes in surface water irrigation practices, extended drought, and groundwater pumping.

The Framework also called for an Advisory Committee to recommend a plan to the Board. The ESPA Advisory Committee (2007) comprised of representatives from irrigation companies, groundwater users, spring water users, hydropower, land developers, environmental/conservation interests, well owners, county assessors and mayors of cities within the ESPA. This forum allowed the diverse and divergent interest groups to express their differences and work together in spite of their differences. The Advisory Committee met 18 times over the course of 2 years. Through difficult and complex negotiations the Committee developed agreement on the management actions, priorities, and funding strategies.

The CAMP sets forth a long-term plan for managing water supply and demand in the ESPA and a phased approach to implementation. The CAMP hydrologic vision is to achieve, in increments, a net ESPA water budget change of 600 thousand acre-feet (kaf) annually. It is expected that this hydrologic goal can be achieved by the year 2030 through implementation of a mix of management measures including, but not limited to, aquifer recharge, ground-to-surface water conversions, and demand reduction strategies. The intent of the CAMP is to guide actions which stabilize and improve spring flows, aquifer levels, and river reaches across the Eastern Snake Plain. To learn more about the ESPA, check out www.espaplan.idaho.gov.

Outside of the fascinating work, personal highlights included eating fish and discussing and learning about the religious and historical development of the Idaho surface water development and later the groundwater irrigation. Stevo’s in Burley and Jakers’ restaurants are recommended. Travel on the other hand is usually quite difficult, though one of the most enjoyable flights is an early morning jump from Idaho Falls (near Yellowstone and the Wyoming border) to Denver. Taking off in the dark with the sky waking up to cast a surreal light on the Grand Tetons and Jackson Lake is something to see.

It was a pleasure to hear from our stakeholders, including thoughts from the following:

“In summary, we supports the balanced, collaborative approach of CAMP, and wants the plan implemented in a way that maximizes benefits to fish and wildlife. We hope that CAMP will become a model for collaborative, stakeholder-driven problem solving on challenging natural resource issues.”

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve as a member of the CAMP committee. I was privileged to meet and serve with a very dedicated and knowledgeable group of fellow citizens in a process that was dynamic and productive for all concerned.”

Thanks for your interest in the ESPA. Talk to you soon,

Jonathan Bartsch

Recently, the government introduced a new recovery strategy – Hamutuk Hari’I Futuru – a component of which is to assist IDPs to return to their communities. To facilitate returns, the Ministry of Social Solidarity recruited a cadre of Community Dialogue Facilitators to conduct talks between returnees and host communities. But their job is not easy. They mediate truces, conditions for return, de-escalation of inter-gang conflicts and conditions for returnees to repossess their houses and property. To do their job well, they need a range of conflict resolution skills, and that where CDR comes in. With the support of the Asia Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme, we have conducted a rapid situation assessment and designed and presented a customized and culturally appropriate seminar for Community Dialogue Facilitators on mediation of community and land and property disputes, and developed a comprehensive long term capacity building training plan for them. Our current work complements CDR’s previous initiatives in the country – training  Legal Aid lawyers in mediation procedures, and consulting on dispute resolution systems design with the government’s National Land and Property Directorate to develop a new system to resolve land disputes arising from years of Portuguese and Indonesian colonial rule and the violence at the time of Independence. In spite of the difficult situation we can see progress. People are going home, receiving small payments from the government to rebuild their lives and homes, reconciling with their neighbors and property ownership issues are gradually being sorted out.

Beyond work, what is it like to be in East Timor? It is a lot like being in an Asian Latin American country – probably due to 400 years of Portuguese influence. East Timorese are very vivo and upbeat. It’s really fun to be with them. Dili, is somewhat run down, but there is lots of construction going on, and at certain times of the day, significant traffic. The Chinese government is making a big footprint here, having built the new Foreign Ministry building, and are in the process of constructing the National Land and Property Directorate and the President’s Office. There is also much more traffic – UN SUVs everywhere, which race up and down the street with great abandon.

As there are many military and police here, there are also lots of guns. Coming from a society where armed forces and law enforcement personnel are both lower in numbers and profile, and keep arms more hidden, it is always a shock to see so many of them. Two days ago, a woman soldier at our hotel brought her automatic rifle to dinner, laid it at her feet in the dining room while she ate and later took it to the veranda for an after dinner drink!

Our hotel is a small and very simple two-story affair, built in a tropical style with rather small rooms but a spectacular second-story deck. It is the home of a contingent of New Zealand United Nations’ soldiers and police. Each evening, the New Zealanders engage in Maori (the local indigenous people of NZ) martial arts.  They jump around like Maori warriors, shake make-believe spears, make faces, stick out their tongues, make loud grunting noises and stamp and hit the ground with their feet and hands. Very impressive. We bet that in the past this ritual would really scare the heck out of an enemy force! It is great to watch.

Well that is all for now. Will write more next week. Hugs to all, Chris and Susan