With the federal government ticking toward a deadline for new Colorado River operating rules, one of Utah's top conflict-resolution specialists says the fastest route to a deal might be to bring in an outside pro to run the talks.
Danya Rumore, a leading facilitator for thorny environmental disputes, argues that the seven basin states should hire trained "collaborative process designers" who can cool tempers, build trust and help negotiators juggle both urgent reservoir decisions and long-term policy questions at the same time.
In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Rumore, director of the Environmental Dispute Resolution Program, said the program is shifting from the University of Utah to Utah State University this summer. She added that a third party should be "authorized and resourced" to conduct a situation assessment before any formal negotiations begin, warning that without that groundwork negotiators can get stuck in legal posturing and short-term panic.
What Rumore Means By 'Process Designer'
Rumore is not looking for a traditional mediator who simply steps in once everyone is already at the table.
"I would recommend we think in terms of collaborative process designer, not mediator," she told The Salt Lake Tribune. She said many mediators do not have the background to handle a multi-state, science-heavy negotiation on something as complex as the Colorado River.
In her version, a process designer would help train negotiators, map out each party's mandates and legal constraints, and structure the talks so participants can "go slow to go fast" and land on steps that can actually be implemented rather than theoretical grand bargains.
Why States Are Asking For Outside Help
Upper Basin officials from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico have already gone public with their interest in an independent moderator to help break the deadlock with the lower basin, as reported by KJZZ.
Colorado's chief negotiator, Becky Mitchell, told KJZZ she wants negotiators to "lay down their swords" and stop treating litigation threats as bargaining chips, a sign of just how strained the talks have become.
Federal Clock And The Practical Stakes
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a draft Environmental Impact Statement in January that lays out five alternatives for operating the river after 2026 and said the NEPA process could lead to a final decision later this summer if the states do not reach their own consensus, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
The seven basin states already missed a mid-February target to hammer out a shared proposal, a miss that raises the odds of federal intervention and potential lawsuits, Axios reported.
Legal And Political Hurdles
Rumore cautions that designing any kind of mediated process on the Colorado River is no small task. The basin's tangled web of water law, the international obligations involving Mexico and the sheer number of stakeholders all add layers of difficulty to how any talks would be set up.
Analysts and negotiators have also warned that if the states cannot agree and a federal plan is imposed, litigation becomes a very real possibility, a scenario that regional reporting has been flagging with growing urgency, according to KJZZ.
How Mediation Could Start
Rumore recommends that a well-resourced, independent assessor begin by conducting confidential one-on-one interviews with the key players. The goal would be to map out what each party really needs, where they are constrained and where there is actual wiggle room that is not obvious from public posturing.
From there, she suggests focusing on concrete, small-bore actions first, such as emergency operations, targeted conservation purchases or limited pilot programs. Those early steps, she argues, can help build trust and prove that the states are capable of cooperating before they dive into the high-stakes allocation frameworks that will shape the basin for decades.
What to watch next is whether the basin states can agree on any kind of facilitator and whether officials at Reclamation or the Interior Department move ahead with their own plan this summer. Until that is resolved, Rumore says training negotiators in collaborative skills and lining up early, achievable wins may be the most realistic way to stay out of court and end up with an agreement that can actually be carried out on the ground.
