2025 Southwest River Basin Tour
June 3 – 4, 2025
Tour Description
WEco’s 2025 Annual River Basin Tour will be held June 3 – 4, 2025. The tour will focus on the Southwest River Basin. Click here to sign up for the tour!
What you’ll experience on the tour:
- Riding on a comfortable, climate-controlled coach bus with fellow tour participants through a beautiful part of Colorado!
- Exposure to local water characteristics, uses and values, plus the priorities and projects of the Southwest Basin Roundtable.
- Visiting multiple natural, municipal, and agricultural sites around the Southwest River Basin.
- Tours of natural and built infrastructure between Silverton and the Ute Mountain Reservation, ranging from multi-stakeholder reservoir projects, acid mine drainage cleanup, innovative farming practices, wildfire mitigation work, and much more.
- Speakers with broad perspectives discussing water issues and how water ties into other sectors.
- On-the-ground examples of novel techniques driving water innovation and sustainability.
- Two full days of learning and exploration!
Event Details
Tour highlights:
- Bow and Arrow Farm
- McPhee and Jackson Gulch Reservoirs
- Lake Night Horse and the Animas La Plata Project Pump Station
- Silverton environmental cleanup efforts
- The nexus between government and tribal water projects and multi-stakeholder cooperation
- And more!
Schedule (A rough schedule is outlined below. Find a draft itinerary here!):
June 2
Arrival for those staying in Durango the night before the tour
June 3
Jackson Gulch Reservoir – reservoir administration, stream management planning, wildfire planning, and more
Ute Mountain Ute Bow and Arrow Farm – farm operations, drought year resiliency, and future plans for the farm
McPhee Reservoir – watershed health, connections to other watersheds, and an overview of the area
Group Dinner in Durango – Carver’s Brewing
June 4
Lake Nighthorse – partnerships and collaborations between entities on the Animal La Plata project, recreation on the lake, and more
Santa Rita Pump Station – WAPA discounted energy and operations of the pump station
Kendall Mountain Center – Mountain Studies Institute on wildfire preparedness and Bureau of Land Management on wetland protection
Gladstone Trailing Plant – mining cleanup in the Silverton area and current challenges
Cost and inclusions
Registration Fee*
- Early Bird WEco Members: $450 (available April 22 – May 15)
- Early Bird Non-WEco Members: $500 (available April 29 – May 15)
- WEco Members: $500 (May 15 – registration close)
- Non-WEco Members: $550 (May 15 – registration close)
On the registration page, there will be a dropdown to help you identify whether or not you or your organization are a current member. If you are not a member, but are interested in joining today, click here!
*Registration includes the full two-day tour. Due to the nature of a bus tour, with limited seats and a complex tour route, we are unable to offer one-day registration.
Scholarships
A limited number of partial scholarships are available, thanks to support from our sponsors. Please contact Sabrina Scherma by email at sabrina@wateredco.org if you are interested in being considered for a scholarship. Students, teachers, elected officials and staff from nonprofit organizations will be prioritized for scholarships.
Meals and Lodging
This two-day tour includes lunch and snacks on both days plus dinner on June 4. Hotel booking is not included in the tour registration fee. We will be staying at the Holiday Inn & Suites in downtown Durango, and the cost of the hotel is $209/night. After you register, we will send information about booking your stay at the hotel we will be departing from and staying at for the one overnight, using our group rate. The bus will depart from and return to the hotel at the end of each day. Participants electing to stay somewhere else will be responsible for their own travel to and from the hotel starting/ending point.
For questions about the tour, please contact Sabrina Scherma by email at sabrina@wateredco.org or call 720-325-1088.
Title Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Sponsorships still available! Contact Juan Pérez Sáez at juan@wateredco.org.
Bus Sponsors
Lunch Sponsors
Scholarship Sponsor
Sponsorships still available! Contact Juan Pérez Sáez at juan@wateredco.org.