The Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District (RBWCD) applied for a right-of-way (ROW) to use public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) White River Field Office (WRFO) to construct and operate a new water reservoir known as the Wolf Creek Reservoir. The WRFO has determined that this project will be evaluated through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that would also require amending the 1997 White River Resource Management Plan. Prior to beginning the EIS, the WRFO worked with the Department of Interior Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution office to contract with The Langdon Group to conduct an impartial situation assessment (SA) that elicits input from a wide range of potentially affected interests.

The WRFO administers more than one million BLM surface acres in northwest Colorado’s Rio Blanco, Moffat, and Garfield Counties. The RBWCD serves the White River Basin in the western portion of Rio Blanco County.  The WRFO has determined that the project will be evaluated through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that would also require amending the 1997 White River Resource Management Plan.

Prior to beginning the EIS, the WRFO worked with the Department of Interior Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution office to contract with The Langdon Group to conduct an impartial situation assessment (SA) that elicits input from a wide range of potentially affected interests; evaluates prospects for collaboration among Cooperating Agencies as well as collaboration with other potentially affected interests including Tribes; and proposes a Recommended Engagement Plan (REP) for meaningful involvement of the diverse group of potentially affected interests at different stages of the process.

The project team conducted 73 confidential interviews with individuals between March 13 and April 7, 2023. Participants were identified with the BLM and from participant interviews. Interviews occurred in-person when possible, and by phone or via video conference if preferred and when in-person was unfeasible. To solicit input that is valuable and constructive, the interview format was conversational with active listening, allowing the interested party to steer the discussion, while ensuring the WRFO objectives for the SA were met.