Water is for Fighting About
Mary-Anna Holden is a former New Jersey BPU Commissioner and Butch Howard is a former South Carolina PSC Commissioner.
To fully understand water scarcity and the Colorado River Basin would require days of studying river-flow history, culture, western water rights, hydropower, agricultural and industrial water usage, and recreation. The NARUC Committee on Water discussed this river’s dwindling resources at the Summer Policy Summit held in July 2026, less than two weeks before the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued its overdue water supply management alternatives, and on what water utilities are doing to ensure sufficient supply for customers.
New Mexico Commissioner Greg Nibert moderated a discussion among panelists EPCOR Water Resources Manager Victoria Samwich, California Water Service Chief Water Resource Sustainability Officer Ken Jenkins, and Arizona Water Company Water Resources Manager Terri Sue Rossi, whose companies have learned to pivot in long-range planning, creative conservation, and communication within communities.
The drought is so dire that any and every measure must be considered to resuscitate the health of the Colorado River and its water supply. What is clear is that these companies can’t afford the luxury of waiting for the federal government to solve this long-standing problem.