Original article can be found at听听听
Originally published on July 11,听2018听By Grace Hood听
Eighty percent of Colorado is experiencing some form of drought or dryness. That means dry river basins, hungry wildfires and parched farmland across the state. Some have already started comparing conditions to听听drought.听
It鈥檚 also prompting a closer look by historians into how communities have survived and triumphed over water scarcity 鈥� instead of the old Western yarn that 鈥渨ater is for fighting.鈥澨�
Back in 1999, some of Colorado鈥檚 most powerful politicians stood on top of the windswept sandy hills of what would soon become听. It was an attempt to conserve not only the land, but an underground aquifer and streams.听
鈥淚 think the feeling was, 鈥榠f we鈥檙e going to save this resource, the time is now. We鈥檝e got to act,鈥欌�� said Michael Geary, a historian who wrote 鈥�.鈥澨�
Just the year before, voters defeated Amendments听听and听, which would have paved the way to export water out of the rural San Luis Valley where the sand dunes are found. The famous photo happened when a ring of state and federal lawmakers shooed away the media and other park employees. Rep. Scott McInnis, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar and Senators Wayne Allard and Ben Nighthorse Campbell spoke alone, out in the open, for more than a half hour.听
The summit on the sand led to Allard鈥檚听. It was a moment when Republicans, Democrats, ranchers and the environmental groups like the Nature Conservancy听.听
鈥淭here was a great sense of relief that they got this through when they did. And that they did something that was very worthwhile,鈥� Geary said.听
Historians at the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚听Center of the American West听want to know why some communities rally around water resources, and others fail. In the San Luis Valley, the community first fought over water then later banded together to save it. Patty Limerick, the director of the center, said tales of fights over water are both predictable and leave people beaten down.听
鈥淏ut water also causes some people in some circumstances to say, 鈥榳e鈥檝e got to pull it together,鈥欌�� she said.听
The Center has looked at historical examples of cooperation tracking back to the 1930s Dust Bowl. They鈥檝e also looked at more recent cooperative agreements that have occurred along the Colorado River basin since 1999.听
, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration senior advisor and drought expert, pointed out that, in many cases, reaching a crisis point 鈥渁ctually allowed us to create systems to be more efficient, to protect our watersheds, has actually led us to produce very positive outcomes.鈥澨�
Crises don鈥檛 always force people to work together. Nearly 20 years ago in Oregon, conflict arose when the federal government stopped farmers from pumping water to protect endangered fish. After years of fighting, a diverse group of tribes, ranchers, farmers, environmental groups and state governments banded together to sign the听Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement听in 2010.听
鈥淚t was quite remarkable that people were able to find common ground and come together,鈥� said Brian Cannon, history professor at Brigham Young University.听
Just like with the Great Sand Dunes, Congressional approval was needed. But Republicans became wary of a deal to remove dams from the river. Cannon said there were misunderstandings among stakeholders. The agreement unraveled in 2015 and Congress never approved it.听
鈥淥ne of the things we can learn is that the negotiations took place behind closed doors,鈥� said Cannon, who indicated that proprietary business issues prompted the lack of clarity among the听general public. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 one thing we can learn is the value where it鈥檚 possible of transparency in negotiations,鈥� Cannon added.听
A different version of the Klamath plan continues to move forward. A corporation has听. But this provides little help to irrigators who have struggled with water supply due to endangered fish in the past.听
In Colorado鈥檚 San Luis Valley, historian Michael Geary said the region is gearing up for another fight. The Bureau of Land Management has听听that could expand oil and gas drilling within one mile of the park. That has听. Now, the BLM will consult with the Navajo Nation, which is a local landowner, before making their final decision.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy [to think] black and white, us versus them,鈥� Geary said. 鈥淏ut that really doesn鈥檛 get anybody anywhere. What gets people somewhere, and hopefully it鈥檚 a place they want to be, is dialogue.鈥澨�
There鈥檚 still work to be done on the agreements that helped create Great Sand Dunes National Park. This is the final year of a study to determine the park鈥檚 rights to conserve its underground water resource. If approved, the water right would exist in perpetuity.听