(WASHINGTON)Interior
Secretary Gale A. Norton will deliver the opening address to about 250
participantsat the Water 2025 Conference in Denver on Friday, June 6,
2003. A media availability will be held at 10:30 a.m. following her
remarks. The event is at the Radisson Hotel Denver Stapleton Plaza.
The conference, Water 2025:
Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West, is the first of nine consulting
sessions in Western cities aimed at expanding the dialog on ways of
preventing the chronic water supply problems facing many communities
in the coming decades. Other speakers include Mark Rey, Undersecretary
for Natural Resources and the Environment at the Department of Agriculture,
Colorado Governor Bill Owens, Interior Assistant Secretary Bennett Raley,
and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys.
Discussion panels will be
led by New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid (State and Local
Perspectives); Bureau of Reclamations Betsy Rieke (Approa-ches
to Resolving Conflict ); and Rita Maguire, Arizona Center for Public
Policy (Getting Beyond Crises Management ). A list of panel participants
is attached.
Water 2025 is a blueprint
for Interior and other federal agencies to work with state and local
officials, water user groups, environmental organizations, tribes, and
others in a strategic, focused approach to predicting, preventing, and
alleviating water supply crises and conflicts. More information on the
Denver conference and Water 2025 proposal is at www.doi.gov/water2025.
Who: Interior Secretary
Gale A. Norton.
What: Keynote Address and Media Availability on Water 2025 .
When: 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 6, 2003.
Where: Radisson Hotel Denver Stapleton Plaza, 3333 Quebec Street,
Denver, CO. Keynote in Arapahoe Ballroom; Media Availability in Conference
One. Media check-in at registration desk in lobby.
Water
2025: Panel Participants
State and Local Perspectives on Water 2025
State and local leaders discuss the interaction between state and federal
agencies in finding local solutions to complex water issues.
Patricia Madrid, Panel Chair,
New Mexico Attorney General
Karl Dreher, Idaho Department of Water Resources
Representing the Western States Water Council
Greg Walcher, Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Ron Gastelum, Metropolitan Water District
Chips Barry, Denver Water Board
Approaches to Resolving Conflict
This panel will identify innovative methods of dealing with contentious
water issues at the local level.
Betsy Rieke, Moderator, U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation
Mike Applegate, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District
Dan Luecke, Environment and Water Resources Consultant
Rod Lewis, Gila River Indian Community
John Sullivan, National Water Resources Association
Getting Beyond Crises Management
This panel will examine the
tools, policies, and practices in minimizing and preventing future water
crises.
Rita Maguire, Moderator,
Arizona Center for Public Policy
Jim Martin, Natural Resource Law Center
Bill Pauli, California Farm Bureau Federation
Melinda Kassen, Trout Unlimited
Craig Smith, Family Farm Alliance