Recommendations for Addressing the Needs and Barriers of Hispanic Leadership and Participation in Colorado River Resiliency Decision-making
From March 29 to July 30, 2022, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) conducted a survey to better understand the current and potential Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council (HCLC) members’ participation and awareness of issues pertaining to Colorado River resiliency and water boards.
Through this survey, HECHO’s goal was to find out the top 3 barriers and the top 3 needs for HCLC members/potential HCLC members to become more involved in shaping the resilience of the Colorado River Basin, as well as the top 3 barriers and top 3 needs for HCLC members/potential HCLC members to join water board.
A total of 42 Hispanic/Latinx elected, appointed, and community leaders from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah participated and gave their input about their involvement and knowledge of the issues surrounding the Colorado River and about water boards.
Based on the Colorado River Resiliency Survey findings and additional conversations, HECHO created recommendations to address the barriers directly, including:
Provide relevant education and training to increase understanding of how the Colorado River is managed and to understand what the opportunity of water board membership entails.
Promote water-related policy and/or law education and career tracks, as well as other basic education or certification opportunities and provide financial assistance or scholarships.
Provide compensation for water board positions.
Create a water board mentorship program to support relationship building and learning.
Collect demographic and other data on water board members to assess who has access to decision-making about water and identify the pathways of how water board members come to their service, including an audit of the historical demographics of boards to have a baseline understanding and record of the gaps in ethnic and racial diversity.
Create a leadership pipeline of ethnically and racially diverse leaders through the development of a robust training program offered by water boards.
Increase collaborative approaches and outreach to and input from Hispanic/Latinx and Indigenous water users as part of the implementation of local and state water conservation planning and policy-making.
Develop a public information campaign to inform people about what water boards do, and how they enact changes for the community.
After the survey, HECHO also invited HCLC members to participate in a virtual roundtable in which findings and recommendations were shared and discussed. This meeting turned into a productive and informative session where participants were highly engaged, sharing their experiences in water boards and expertise in water issues, as well as their insights and questions on the Colorado River crisis.
“The Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board oversees the CAP system, the Central Arizona Project, which is the 336 miles of canal systems that deliver water to agriculture, municipalities, and travel communities. It is a very important board as we are experiencing mega drought. Very important decisions are made on this board,” said Ylenia Aguilar, board member of the Osborn School District in Central Phoenix and HCLC member from Arizona, who was just elected as a Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board member.
“Water is complicated and it takes time, and we don't have a lot of minority populations that can make the time... I think that you can't underestimate and there's no way to over emphasize the need to have that relevant education and training,” shared Carmichael Dominguez, Earthkeepers 360 and HCLC members.
“We have a lengthy history of water management and water governance. Acequia is a hydrological system, an ecological system, a governance system and a cultural system. We have a lot of history and a lot of understandings, a lot of folk knowledge and a lot of scientific knowledge because it's based on observation as well,” assured Dr. Eric Romero, professor at the New Mexico Highlands University.
Based on these recommendations and input from Hispanic/Latinx leaders across the southwest, for the next step, HECHO will pursue to catalyze a public conversation about the need for increased diverse representation in water conservation issues and on water boards.