1.  Colorado Water Workshop, Gunnison, Colorado, May 22, 2007  Aqua Engineering, Inc.  Editor: MaryLou Smith  Producer: Kendal Perez The Stories behind the Stance Telling Our Stories

2. Jenny Russell Telluride, Colorado Attorney at Law “I love the life of the river, and especially the desert river: wondering what’s around the bend and how I’ll handle the next rapid.”

3. Tom Iseman Denver, Colorado The Nature Conservancy “It scared me that something as vital as water might disappear.”

4. Eric Hecox Denver, Colorado Department of Natural Resources Interbasin Compact Negotiations “As a child in East Africa, I learned to seek out the water holes. That’s where the animals were!”

5. Rita Crumpton Grand Junction, Colorado Orchard Mesa Irrigation District “Colorado water was the best water we kids ever tasted.”

6. John Fetcher Steamboat Springs, Colorado Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District “We have more west slope surplus than we can ever use. Why send it on to California?”

7. Neil Grigg Fort Collins, Colorado Colorado State University, Civil Engineering Department “My father was a big river man.”

8. Robert Drexel Gunnison, Colorado Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District “Water was so precious to my grandfather that he refused to allow me to do the irrigating on the home ranch.”

9. Don Magnuson Eaton, Colorado Cache La Poudre Irrigating Company “ I never remember a family gathering where the conversation of the elders didn’t drift to telling stories about water.”

10. George Sibley Gunnison, Colorado Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District “Trying to reach the Colorado River the next day under the scorching desert sun was brutal.”

11. Mary Stirling Denver, Colorado Colorado Water Congress “I didn’t think there would be any place to sail in Colorado.”

12. Dennis Smith Leadville, Colorado Arkansas Basin Roundtable “We raised worms in bathtubs and sold them all day to fishermen that lined the lakes thick.”

13. Jane Rawlings Pueblo, Colorado The Pueblo Chieftain “During the 1950’s drought, there was no flushing for ‘number one.’”

14. Greg Hobbs Denver, Colorado Colorado Supreme Court “My favorite place was a creek… with crawdads scuttling in the water and blue-bellies flashing on and off the rocks.”

15. David Freeman Fort Collins, Colorado Colorado State University, Sociology Department “As I grew of size to help lug water pails, my job was to help my grandmother haul that water.”

16. Kathleen Curry Gunnison, Colorado Colorado House of Representatives “Fourth grade, cleaning trash out of the stream. In that moment I decided to work in the water field.”

17. Jeff Crane Hotchkiss, Colorado Colorado Watershed Assembly “Although warned against it, I drank heartily from high mountain streams simply because I could.”

18. Bill Brown Fort Collins, Colorado Fischer, Brown & Gunn, P.C. “I didn’t know a cfs from an acre foot, but I waded in (pun intended, I suppose.) And I was hooked.”

19. Steve Glazer Crested Butte, Colorado High Country Citizens’ Alliance “I was awakened by seeing a mountain stream being completely diverted for irrigation.”

20. Wayne Vanderschuere Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs Utilities “I realized water had become a passion and not just a job.”

21. Ray Wright Alamosa, Colorado Rio Grande Water Conservancy District “I remember when the lawsuits came that began to restrict our water supply.”

22. Daniel Tyler Steamboat Springs, Colorado Author, Silver Fox of the Rockies “When you can wrap yourself in the oldest running case in the Southwest, why not take on a new mantra? “Waterman!” That’s me!”

23. Melinda Kassen Boulder, Colorado Trout Unlimited “It is not appropriate to treat water like a commodity; it is like air.”

24. Ralph Curtis Alamosa, Colorado Rio Grande Water Conservationcy District “Keeping cattle out of the riparian areas is an environmental idea that just makes sense.”

25. John Barthelow Fort Collins, Colorado US Geological Survey “I’d rather talk about the physics of why removing water from rivers so often heats them up during the summer.”

26. John Wiener Boulder, Colorado University of Colorado “I feel compelled to at least witness well and contribute to showing alternatives and seeing better outcomes.”

27. Ram Dhan Khalsa Grand Junction, Colorado Bureau of Reclamation “Arguing over who should get the water is like two fleas on a dog arguing about who owns the dog.”

28. Doug Kenney Boulder, Colorado Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law “Crossing the Missouri at age six, I was shocked and inspired by the scale and grandeur.”

29. Rio de la Vista Alamosa, Colorado Rio Grande Land Trust “When, I wonder, does a drop of water enter the legal system? We have not yet adjudicated the cloud.”

30. Jack Flobeck Colorado Springs, Colorado Aqua Prima Center “My core belief about water is simple. It’s a gift from heaven.”