About Water Literate Leaders of Northern Colorado
The Colorado Water Center, in cooperation with the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado launched a non-partisan Water Literate Leaders of Northern Colorado program in September 2017. Modeled after highly successful programs such as Leadership Northern Colorado and Water Education Colorado’s Water Fluency Program, this program is for those who hold or aspire to political office, or other roles, including boards and commissions, which can impact regional water policy.
Program participants:
- Actively learn about complex Northern Colorado water issues from all angles including: agriculture, urban, environmental, recreation, and business via presentations, dialogue and field trips
- Interact and dialogue with regional water leaders for an inside view of issues affecting Northern Colorado’s water future—and participate in visioning activities
- Build active connections with key stakeholders in the region and state
Water Literate Leaders draws on the expertise of regional water leaders from such entities as:
- Big Thompson Watershed Coalition
- Cache la Poudre Water Users Association
- Colorado Division of Water Resources
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Colorado State University
- City of Evans
- City of Fort Collins
- City of Greeley
- City of Loveland
- Ditch and Reservoir Companies
- Ducks Unlimited
- Larimer County
- Local Area Chambers of Commerce
- Northern Water
- Rocky Mountain Flycasters
- The Nature Conservancy
- Town of Wellington
- Town of Windsor
- Tri-Districts
- University of Northern Colorado
- Weld County
- and others!
Program Lead
Karen Schlatter is the Associate Director of the Colorado Water Center. She leads the development and implementation of the Center’s outreach and engagement strategy, specializing in stakeholder engagement, watershed planning and management, water quality issues, and dialogue facilitation. Prior to joining the Water Center, Karen led landscape-scale restoration efforts in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico for a decade, including riparian habitat restoration, environmental flow releases, community engagement, and binational partnerships. More recently, she worked to improve water management in Florida through projects related to water, climate change, agricultural management practices, and wildlife corridors. Karen has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from McGill University and a Master of Science in environmental studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. She served as an agricultural extension volunteer in the Peace Corps in Paraguay.
Program Assistant
Benton Roesler
Graduate Student, Colorado State University
Master in Public Health
