Bob Appel “Friend of the Arkansas” Award

Sandy served and worked to improve the condition of the Arkansas River and waters tributary to it from the time he moved to Huerfano County in 2004 until he passed away in September 2024. Sandy’s 34-year career in Colorado water law was followed by retirement to Huerfano County. Instead of spending his retirement, as he put it, “hunting, fishing, shooting clays, and finishing a book on a Civil War general,” Sandy devoted his time to community affairs.
Sandy’s career and contributions to water law and water resources management are unparalleled and made him an outstanding candidate for this prestigious recognition. After a long and illustrious career in water law, many people would choose to enjoy their well-deserved retirements. But by all comparison, Sandy simply started another career. Sandy had an intimidating resume of experience and knowledge of Colorado water management to challenge on any subject, yet he was cordial and professional to work with.
His leadership and involvement with the development and operation of the Huerfano County Water Conservancy District’s blanket plan for augmentation was instrumental in advancing critical water projects in the Huerfano and Cucharas River Basins. Sandy’s leadership in handling the water side of post-wildland fire response as well as addressing critical storage needs also set an example for all Colorado communities on how to tackle and make progress on what can feel like complex and insurmountable problems.
Sandy’s long-standing dedication to sculpting the water landscape in the Arkansas Basin was fully evident and appreciated by his fiery spirit, knowledge and dedication to his craft.

Jim came to the South Eastern Colorado Water Conservancy District at a very difficult and tumultuous time; but over the past 22 years he has a long list a great accomplishments for the benefit of the Arkansas River and southeast Colorado. Many of those successful endeavors and projects are well known and include the long awaited Arkansas Valley Conduit that will provide 50,000 residents in the lower valley with safe drinking water, a 7.5 megawatt clean energy hydroelectric power plant located at Pueblo Reservoir and the establishment of the Excess Capacity Master Contract providing storage space for non-Project water in Pueblo Reservoir.
Jim's creative thinking has produced lesser-known, but most important, benefits to the Arkansas River Basin including the 2009 Federal legislation that allowed for Project miscellaneous revenues to be utilized as an important funding source for the Arkansas Valley Conduit as well as other District features. Jim proposed a pilot program for the first right of refusal for agriculture project water that has allowed farmers to control and better utilize their project water return flows. During Jim's tenure, his innovative and thoughtful thinking has created many solutions to challenging problems we have faced with both drought and a growing population. That problem solving has greatly benefited both the District and the Arkansas River.

Bill has dedicated his entire career to serving the public, 26 years of which were focused specifically here in the Arkansas River Basin with the Colorado Division of Water Resources, where he has worked tirelessly to support and ensure the best management of water all through the lens of preserving and protecting the prior appropriation system. There are countless examples where his ability to understand and explain complex water issues and see how they are intermixed and intertwined has facilitated regional solutions for the most challenging of water issues.
Bill has worked with and for water users representing every area of the basin, from municipalities to the agricultural community, from small well owners and small ditch owners to recreational interests and on behalf of the State in interstate compact matters. In each interaction, even when unpopular or contentious, he persisted with a heart for service and desire for the best possible outcome for water users. The position of Division Engineer represented for Bill an opportunity to promote cooperation and consensus building in a unique way. By making himself available to the water users to know and understand their issues and concerns he was able to build a bridge where one could have easily otherwise built a wall.

Roy retired in 2021 from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation after more than 30 years. He was manager of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project since 2008. He entered the position in a phase of the Fry-Ark Project that could have been very divisive and unproductive for Arkansas Valley water users. But through his level-headed approach to conflicts that arose, his elemental knowledge of the Fry-Ark Project, and his behind-the-scenes guidance and leadership, Roy saved the valley many times from more needless fighting.
This is how Roy likes to think of water:  “Water is one of the basic needs, and I intend to meet our obligations to those who are entitled to receive water in the basin. I would like to see the dialogue between competing interests progressing toward a basin solution.”  The point is, he never said or did anything to make a conflict worse, and very often he helped people progress toward solutions for those problems.

Terry is highly regarded for his expertise in water matters not only in the Arkansas Basin, but across the state of Colorado.  Having served as an outstanding general manager for the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District for many years, he has also answered the call to wider service via Colorado Water Congress, the Arkansas River Basin Round Table and the Inter-Basin Compact Committee, to name but a few organizations he has capably served.  Terry is always willingness to share his  knowledge of the Arkansas Basin and particularly the innovative Blanket Augmentation Program operated by the Upper District with a variety of audiences in pursuit of enhancing the water literacy of individuals and groups over the years.  Terry has enlightened hundreds of Colorado citizens about the creative solutions to water supply challenges that have been implemented by the Upper District.  Those of us whose water learning journeys have taken place during Terry’s tenure have benefitted immensely from his generosity, wisdom, and most of all, friendship.

Working throughout the State of Colorado and the Arkansas River Basin water communities for 20 years, Jean retired in 2016 from the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District as their Program – Project Coordinator.  She was responsible for developing and implementing many of the District’s projects including the Arkansas River Watershed Invasive Plants Plan, the Arkansas Valley Conduit and Excess Capacity Master Contract projects and the conservation and outreach programs.  She also managed the District’s grants portfolio.  She was a founding board member of Xeriscape Colorado and represented the Arkansas River basin on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Water Wise Council and the Tamarisk Coalition.    
She recently served as the Program Manager for the Arkansas River Basin Water Forum for many years and currently is on the Board of Directors.  Jean also assists the Arkansas Basin Roundtable as the Public Education, Participation, and Outreach (PEPO) Coordinator whose mission is to inform, involve, and educate the citizens of the Arkansas River Basin about local water resources.  Jean is very interested in staying involved with water activities and in finding ways to ensure a sustainable water supply for the basin and the state.  

Through the leadership of Ken Baker and Denzel Goodwin, the citizens of Chaffee County and western Fremont County formed the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District in 1979 and included Custer County in 1982. Ken became the first manager and legal consultant for the UAWCD. During his career as the manager and legal council for the UAWCD, Ken was instrumental in developing the District into a leader in protecting water for the Upper Arkansas Basin. He developed and established the first of a kind "blanket augmentation plan" in Colorado, a unique administrative process for augmenting domestic, municipal, and commercial structures. Today this augmentation plan protects water rights from depletion impacts in nearly a two-­million-acre service area in the Upper Arkansas Basin.  Ken continues to actively serve the water community as a consultant to the UAWCD especially as an advocate for the protection of water resources in the Arkansas Valley on legislative issues. 

Gary was on the board of directors for Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District and the City of Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation. He retired from Colorado Springs Utilities as the Chief Water Services Officer where he was responsible for all water and wastewater operations. With over 35 years of experience within the water industry, he was an integral contributor to the careful management of the Arkansas River basin. His career spanned a variety of leadership roles from water supply acquisition, water and wastewater infrastructure planning and engineering, and developing regional partnerships.

During Bernard’s 30 years in veterinary practice he studied the effects on animals consuming grasses and water exposed to acid mine drainage.  His research began in 1975 and the results of this research were the basis for the Upper Arkansas River Restoration Project.  The Project is pioneering a Natural Resource Damage Settlement process (the first in the country), that is currently restoring 11 miles of the Arkansas River and 5 miles of the Lake Fork of the Arkansas River in Lake County.  Dr. Smith was honored posthumously.

Lorenz has worked for over thirty years in agriculture, natural resources, and water management in the Arkansas River Basin. His work has included outreach pertaining to irrigation and water management with Colorado State University Research and Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Greg  worked for over 20 years helping to ensure improvement of the Arkansas River’s wild brown trout fishery, habitat improvement, performed aquatic education for schools, establishment and monitoring of quality fishing regulations, recovery of native cutthroat trout, protection of stream flows, and support for water quality standards. His superior professional abilities and his high level of achievement have been recognized by his peers, other agencies, conservation groups, area educators, commercial businesses, and the public. Most recently his tireless work for the protection and enhancement of the Arkansas River fishery has contributed to the designation of the Arkansas River, from Leadville to Parkdale, as a Gold Medal Trout Water Fishery.

As a Division 2 Engineer for Surface Water, Steve joined the Division of Water Resources in 1979, and has been division engineer since 1988. During that time, he has dealt with some of the most vexing problems of water administration on the Arkansas River. Most defining his career has been the Kansas v. Colorado federal lawsuit, which was filed in 1985 and was finally settled by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009. Witte still serves as the secretary of the Arkansas River Compact Committee, which meets annually to work out differences and assure compliance between the two states. During his tenure, the Arkansas Valley has seen new restrictions on well pumping and in ensuring surface water improvements like sprinklers, drip irrigation and ditch lining do not increase water consumption. He also has had to monitor changes in water rights after Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Aurora converted agricultural rights to municipal uses. Most recently, he has managed split river calls during difficult drought periods.

Alan began working at the water board as a summer helper in 1961, getting full-time employment as a pump station operator the next year. He moved up quickly to his first management position in 1969. He was appointed executive director in 1982. As executive director, Hamel guided the upgrade of the water system from the treatment plant to service lines. When he was president of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Board, the district developed the controversial Preferred Storage Options Plan, which would study enlargement of Lake Pueblo. In 2009, he led a successful bid by the water board to purchase 28 percent of the Bessemer Ditch as a source of future water supply. “What I’m most proud of is the culture we’ve developed, and the employees we’ve developed,” Hamel says. “You can’t deliver a safe, reliable supply of water without the participation of the whole organization.”

Bud was the water resources division manager for the Pueblo Board of Water Works, “as walked this basin literally from top to bottom and even across the Continental Divide where an important part of the water in this basin is imported from, O’Hara joined the water board in 1977 as an engineer, and began working in water resources in 1982. A division devoted to water resources was formed in 1986. While gaining substantial supplies of water for Pueblo, O’Hara also worked to see that the needs of everyone, on both sides of the mountains, are met. Some of the professional associations O’Hara  joined and helped lead over the years include the Colorado Water Congress, Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co., Colorado River Headwaters Forum, Busk-Ivanhoe System, Front Range Water Utility Council and the American Water Works Association.  O’Hara is a “gentle giant of the Arkansas River”.

Allen served as the longtime superintendent of the Colorado Canal and Twin Lakes Company. He was honored posthumously. Ringle had a hand in water decisions in how the Arkansas River was operated from Twin Lakes in Lake County to farms in Crowley County over his 30-year career. He started with the companies in 1981, just a few years before Aurora and Colorado Springs completed their purchases of the vast majority of shares on the Colorado Canal. By that time, most of the Twin Lakes system had already been purchased by various municipalities. “Allen would be humbled,” said Scott Campbell, president of the Twin Lakes and Colorado Canal companies, in accepting the award on behalf of Ringle’s wife Carol, two children and grandchildren. “Allen loved what he did.” Ringle’s greatest asset was his knowledge of the Twin Lakes and Colorado Canal systems, which include Lake Henry and Lake Meredith in Crowley County, as well as Grizzly Lake and Lost Man Reservoir on the Western Slope.

As a farmer for more than 50 years, Genova was  a longtime advocate for agricultural water rights. He was recognized for his work on the winter water storage program, which he regards as his most significant accomplishment. Genova served on the Arkansas Valley Ditch Association (1970-1990), as a board member of the Bessemer Ditch for 38 years, and the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District for 20 years. Genova was appointed by Gov. Roy Romer to the Arkansas Valley Compact Administration (1993-1997). He was also president of the Pueblo County Farm Bureau (1969-1970) and a member of the Colorado Cattle Feeders Association and Colorado Water Congress.

Reed is an outfitter from Buena Vista, Reed has spent more than 30 years working on both recreational and environmental issues associated with water, originally as one of the first to represent the fledgling whitewater rafting industry on the Arkansas River. In the mid-1980s, he was involved in the formation of the Arkansas River Headwaters Recreation Area, and subsequently helped to develop the voluntary flow program for the Upper Arkansas River in 1990. Reed was also instrumental in forming the Buena Vista State Wildlife Area Habitat and Access Improvement Project. He was a founding member of Collegiate Peaks Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited. He has also served on the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the Arkansas Basin Roundtable.

Paul was recognized for his years of work on projects up and down the river. As a state water expert and hydrologist for Colorado State Parks, Flack was also instrumental in organizing the Arkansas River Basin Water Forum from its inception.

As a Fremont County Rancher, Goodwin had a storied history of involvement on water issues throughout the state dating back 50 years in the Arkansas Valley. He was integral to the formation of the Fremont County Water Users Association in 1956, later bringing one of the earliest groundwater cases to trial under the auspices of the association. In 1979, Goodwin helped to found the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, serving as its chairman for 25 years. He later served for 16 years on the Board of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

As the coordinator of the Lake County Open Space Initiative, Conlin was recognized for bringing local, state, and federal partners together to preserve 7,600 acres of ranchland near the Arkansas River headwaters. This area is highly regarded for its important for its recreational, wildlife, historical, and aesthetic value.