I am the executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, a nonprofit that works on public-interest water issues in Nevada and Utah by tracking water-right filings and regulatory decisions, engaging in technical review and legal processes, submitting formal comments and objections, and showing up to hearings and legislative meetings to argue for due process and responsible water management long before water is lost. I review proposed groundwater pumping and surface water allocations, work with attorneys and hydrologists when technical expertise is needed, and push for public participation so people are aware of what’s at stake instead of finding out after decisions are made. I spend my days analyzing data, challenging over-allocations and procedural lapses, and doing outreach so communities understand how water law and policy decisions affect their rights and the environment around them.

I work to protect the water that sustains life in the desert. When we’re fighting over water in the West, what we’re really fighting about is how much conflict there can be. We can allow a little bit of conflict, but you can’t have a lot. I feel like we have the law on our side, we have precedent on our side, and we have the people on our side too. We’ve been working very hard to protect our ability just to participate, to have a say in what happens to our water. If we’re not nurturing that ability, we’ll lose it. You can’t reverse the impacts of water being lost.

We’re seeing an arid shift that requires a mental shift. It’s comfortable to not think about it. It’s inconvenient to think about it. The challenge is that we live in bubbles. Not everyone can drive out to the remote springs or hit that mountaintop. So how do we get to the working single mother with three kids in East Las Vegas? Because they have a right to know this is part of their natural history. This is part of who they are.