Assessing Engagement with Agricultural Producers in the Colorado River Basin

The significance of the Colorado River Basin and the depth of the challenges associated with managing its water are difficult to overstate. Among its many uses, the river supports more than 5 million acres of irrigated farmland, which consumes nearly 80% of available water supplies each year. The agricultural sector involves a complex web of actors: both large and small farms and ranches, Indigenous Tribes (who have rights to about one quarter of the river’s annual flow) agricultural workers, urban consumers, corporations, and others with wide-ranging and sometimes conflicting beliefs and practices. Though it has been widely known for decades that the river is overallocated, climate change is now contributing to water scarcity and uncertainty, exacerbating conflicts about how and by whom Colorado River water ought to be used and managed.

In an attempt to overcome these challenges, federal agencies, state agencies, environmental nonprofits, university research centers, cooperative extension offices and other actors in the Basin have been actively involving agricultural producers in a variety of stakeholder engagement practices. These efforts follow a broader trend of stakeholder engagement in environmental and natural resource management, which has been accelerating since the 1990s. During that same time period, scholars have been studying and learning a great deal about stakeholder engagement, defining categories and frameworks for engagement, identifying the benefits and challenges that come with this approach to natural resource governance, and distilling lessons about design principles that can contribute to more successful outcomes. These principles reflect opportunities throughout the engagement process to promote successful outcomes. They include:

• Identifying stakeholders. All stakeholders should be systematically identified and recruited, given project context and goals. Recruitment should also be designed to ensure adequate reach and representation of targeted groups.
• Facilitating stakeholder engagement. At this stage, it is important to be thoughtful about who convenes and facilitates activities. When possible, agencies and organizations should consider empowering local organizations to lead the process. Additionally, it is necessary to build in time and space to collect and flexibly incorporate feedback into decision-making.
• Evaluating stakeholder engagement. A clear purpose should guide the engagement process, and also determine what measures to use to evaluate its effectiveness. This can inform current as well as future activities.