Water and the West
Some 40 million people in the American West rely on water from the Colorado River. But the river’s flow has diminished, and those decreases will likely continue. What does this mean for the American West in general and Arizona in particular? Will booming metro areas—Maricopa County, for example—have to halt their growth? Will vast expanses of agriculture disappear? Or is there reason to be optimistic about the West’s water future?
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Discussants
Grady Gammage Jr. is one of the founders of Gammage and Burnham and has had a varied and diverse 40 year career in law and public policy in Arizona. His practice has focused on the political aspects of real estate, development and public policy. In the early 1980s, he was the primary private sector representative in working on the innovative Urban Lands Act, which made state trust land available for commercial and residential development. Gammage served on the Central Arizona Project Board of Directors for 12 years.
Sarah Porter is the inaugural director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy. She is also an attorney, having graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree and obtaining her JD from Arizona State University (ranking third in her class). She clerked for federal appellate Judge William Canby and was a litigator for Brown & Bain; Coppersmith Gordon Schermer Owens & Nelson, PLC; and Osborn Maledon PA. She left her law career in 2006 because she wanted to contribute to a collaborative effort to address Arizona’s natural resource challenges.
Liam Julian | Moderator
Liam Julian is director of public policy for the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy. He was previously managing editor of Policy Review magazine in Washington, D.C. His writing and commentary on public policy topics has appeared in a variety of publications such as The Washington Post, The Atlantic, City Journal, and National Review and on programs such as NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Mr. Julian also spent time working with the College Board, where he oversaw development of Advanced Placement curricula, including the redesign of the AP U.S. Government and Politics course. From 2006 to 2013, he was a Hoover Institution research fellow at Stanford University.
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy. Our nonpartisan nonprofit offers a platform of civil discourse to allow contrasting views to be discussed and explored.
