Carpe Diem West

Filing Period

Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012

Signed

May 14, 2013

Return Version

2012v2.0

Gross Receipts

$588,294

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Healthy Headwaters ProgramOver the last year, Carpe Diem West has engaged key water leaders and built the Healthy Headwaters Leadership Team, brought that group together around a policy platform to protect headwater regions, and generated a new and significant level of commitment and focus on headwaters protection among these leaders. This work has reached an important turning point, as we move beyond the initial phases of building the network, and turn to framing the issues and policy and practice campaigns designed to change the way Western water is managed in the era of climate change. Goal #1: Build and sustain a strong and diverse alliance of water utilities, public land managers, scientists, conservationists, businesses, recreationists, and others who are united around a common goal of headwaters protection. Major ActivitiesThis goal is well underway to being met. At the Healthy Headwaters Leadership Convening in April 2012, the Healthy Headwaters Leadership Team launched the Healthy Headwaters Alliance, a coalition working to promote the health and resilience of headwaters that provide water security to communities across the American West. The Alliance formally includes five water utilities in as many states, eight conservation organizations, three research institutions and a number of state and federal agency officials. The broader network attending our convenings and engaging in our activities includes dozens of additional water, business, agency and conservation leaders. Major network development activities for this program over the last twelve months have included: April 2012 -- Convening in Phoenix, with approximately 50 attendees at the Salt River Project facility, largely focused on the wildfire/water connectionMay 2012 -- Development and adoption of the Healthy Headwaters Policy Platform (see below)November 2012 Convening in Portland, with attendance of approximately 50, previewed the political/policy landscape for headwaters protection efforts following the national election. Like prior convenings, the meeting took advantage of the locale to emphasize local successes and grow the network; it also introduced a renewed focus on developing a more specific shared agenda to support headwaters projection and project implementation.February 2013 4-day trip to Washington, DC with a delegation of the Healthy Headwaters Leadership Team, meeting with approximately three dozen people at USFS, US EPA, CEQ, OMB, Western Governors representatives and various Capital Hill briefings. The convenings have been invaluable in bringing people into the network, sharing information, and breaking down the silos in which people inevitably work in their daily efforts to provide a strong sense of not only shared goals, but shared challenges. The convenings serve as an opportunity to brainstorm with others wrestling with similar problems and issues, but in somewhat different contexts. Thus, for example, many people were intrigued in Portland to learn that Eugenes internal cost-benefit analysis concluded that it was in the economic interest of the utility to financially incentivize local farmers to become organic producers, thus limiting the amount of toxic pesticides entering the watershed. Similarly, Earth Economics project to change national accounting standards to allow utilities to account for investments in their headwaters on their capital instead of operating budgets generated considerable interest and discussion.The recent Washington, DC meetings in particular served three key purposes; (1) introducing the Healthy Headwaters Alliance to key decision makers and making them aware that this unusual coalition of utilities, conservationists and others is accomplishing significant on-the-ground work; and (2) helping those whose primary focus is the Western US to better understand both the availability of the federal scaffolding for their work and the challenges and barriers to more productive and effective federal support; and perhaps m

Activity 3

Colorado River Futures ProgramThe Colorado River Futures Program has carved out a unique niche in the crowded field of states, agencies, utilities, NGOs, researchers and opinion leaders with a stake in the 240,000 square mile Colorado River Basin. Working through a Kitchen Cabinet, Carpe Diem West has focused its efforts over the last two years on governance issues, working to develop a forum for stakeholders to address Basin-wide issues. Our two reports, Governing Like A River Basin and Thinking Like A River Basin attracted considerable positive attention and gave Carpe Diem West a platform from which to convene a number of meetings this fall around the question of next steps for the Basin States, the Bureau of Reclamation and outside interests (tribes, conservation groups, small farmers, etc.) following the release of the Bureau of Reclamations Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study (Basin Study). These efforts have left Carpe Diem West well situated to help design and possibly convene a stakeholder forum, something that scholars, activists and others have been calling for in the Basin for more than two decades.Goal #1: Continue to Build Out & Engage the Network of Colorado Basin Leaders.Major ActivitiesWe have added several new Colorado Basin leaders to our network including representatives from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Ten Tribes Partnership, and the National Young Farmers Coalition. Goal #2: Continue to explore & develop ideas for improved water governance that gives voice to a full range of affected stakeholders.Major ActivitiesCarpe Diem West convened three meetings around the topic of developing a functional stakeholder forum at the Basin level in the fall of 2012.Salt Lake City, Sept. 2012 invited group of about 25 water interests, conservation groups, academics, Department of Interior officials, tribal and agricultural representatives (summary attached)Los Angeles, November 2012 meeting with the Colorado River Basin Study Project Team and a large number of member StatesLas Vegas, December 2012 reconvening of the Salt Lake group with the addition of more Basin State representativesCarpe Diem West has also developed a closer working relationship with key Department of the Interior officials both in the region and in Washington, DC over the grant period and is now well-positioned as a key advisor on the stakeholder and governance issues.The convening in Salt Lake City in September 2012 exceeded expectations. There was general agreement among participants about the need for a stakeholder process to address water solutions at the Basin scale. Participants were all interested in making a Colorado River Basin Water Dialogue happen, and even developed a draft mission statement as a group: To engage Colorado River Basin leadership to explore water-related issues, develop and promote solutions at the basin scale. The purpose of this Dialogue is to serve as a resource, inform decision-making, and provide a supplemental role to build political consensus and ownership around solutions. Convening participants were so engaged that the representative from the Metropolitan Water District volunteered to host a meeting to discuss the Basin Study with the Project Team at the Metropolitan offices in Los Angeles on Monday, November 5, 2012. Again, interest in the development of a stakeholder forum was strong, if somewhat more muted on the part of some of the State representatives. Nevertheless, there was no strong opposition and the idea was moved forward.The convening in Las Vegas at the Colorado Water Users Association conference in December 2012 coincided with the release of the Basin Study. While convening participants agreed that a broader stakeholder forum could be a valuable next step, the consensus was that time was needed to absorb the findings of the Basin Study. Unfortunately, the Department of the Interior released a draft Secretarial order est

Filer

EIN

94-3373078