Moving Upstream:
Protecting Our Water Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Colorado Springs Leadership Institute, Colorado Springs Utilities, and El Pomar Foundation’s Pikes Peak Heritage Series will hold a panel discussing the past, current, and future state of water in the Pikes Peak region and Colorado. This event aims to educate and bring awareness to how our community and its leaders are working to effectively distribute and conserve our resources to ensure a sustainable water future. Key topics include: history of water in the region with information about the Colorado River Compact, how Colorado Springs gets its water, and current and future planning of water directed by our local and state leaders.

Registration in now closed. 

Event Schedule

3 p.m. Check-in

3:30 – 5 p.m. Presentation and Panel

5 – 5:30 p.m. Reception: Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, soft drinks and a whiskey tasting 

Presenting Organizations

Colorado Springs Leadership Institute: CSLI was formed in 1996 with the purpose of increasing the quality and quantity of the leaders in our community. The program provides a platform where established leaders come to network, share ideas, problem solve and form collaborative relationships. Working collectively, CSLI graduates have a meaningful impact on our community

Colorado Springs Utilities: A community-owned not for profit utility provider of electric, natural gas, water and wastewater services, Colorado Springs Utilities has been a community partner for nearly 100 years and built value for more than 500,000 customers through operational effectiveness, customer loyalty and competitive services.

Pikes Peak Heritage Series: A program of El Pomar Foundation, the Heritage Series was launched in 2015 with a mission to celebrate and raise awareness of the natural assets of the Pikes Peak region.

Moderator

 Karen Palus, Executive Director of CSLI

Drawing on extensive and diverse executive management experience working with non-profits over the past 30 years, Karen is a proven strategic visionary with a clear sense of purpose and a track record of establishing operational excellence. Karen holds a Master of Public Administration with a focus on non-profit management from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor of Science from the University of South Florida.

 Karen most recently served as the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Director for the City of Colorado Springs. She served nearly 500,000 residents, offering recreational, historical, and environmental programs. 

Karen implemented a new park system master plan, opened the city’s first new community park in over a decade, completed a departmental economic benefits study, increased visitation across all park attractions, addressed equity through regional collaborative efforts, oversaw the acquisition of thousands of acres of open space and helped her last two departments achieve national accreditation. She also spurred the largest neighborhood park redevelopment in city history at Panorama Park.

Panelists

Bill Tyner, Former Division Engineer at Colorado Division of Water Resources and owner of Tyner Engineering & Sciences, LLC

Following retirement from Division of Water Resources in December 2022, Bill began to do some private consulting under the company name of Tyner Engineering & Sciences, LLC and has done work primarily for the Lower Arkansas Water Management Association, the large well association located in Lamar, Colorado.

Bill served as a Professional Engineer employed by the State of Colorado from 1985 until 1996 and by the Colorado Division of Water Resources from 1996 through 2022. He became the Division Engineer in Division 2 on July 1, 2018. He previously served as Lead Engineer of the Ground Water Information Team in the Arkansas River Basin during the initial implementation of the rules that govern the use of high capacity wells and as Assistant Division Engineer responsible for Surface Water Operations in the Arkansas River Basin.

Bill received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University in 1982.

 

Abby Ortega, General Manager of the Infrastructure and Resource Planning Department at Colorado Springs Utilities

Abby Ortega leads the four-service planning for Colorado Springs Utilities, which serve nearly a half-million people in the Pikes Peak region. Abby has worked for Colorado Springs Utilities for over 20 years and has been in the water resources industry for 29 years. Abby’s work has given her a diverse and thorough knowledge of Colorado Water Law, a strong understanding of the unique opportunities and challenges we all face, and a deep knowledge of resource planning in Colorado. Abby’s engaging style and unquestioned integrity has allowed her to build relationships throughout the state. She has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer. She was selected as a Woman of Influence by the Colorado Springs Business Journal in 2018. Abby has served on the Twin Lakes and Colorado Canal Company Boards, the Fountain Valley Authority Board and represents Utilities on a number of additional committees.

 

Dr. Eric Perramond, Professor of Environmental Science and Southwest Studies at Colorado College

Eric Perramond is a human-environment geographer, and a political ecologist, and is a Professor of Environmental Science and Southwest Studies at Colorado College. Eric received his Bacherlor's degree in 1992 at Mary Washington (VA), Masters in 1994 from LSU (LA), and completed his PhD work in 1999 at the University of Texas at Austin where his work focused on the dynamics of private ranching in Mexico. That work led to his first book on the "Political Ecologies of Cattle ranching in Northern Mexico: Private Revolutions" (2010, University of Arizona Press).

Matt Heimerich, Board Member for the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District 

Matt and his wife Karen moved to Crowley County in 1987, where she grew up. They bought their first farm in 1988. Together with Karen's brother and his son, they raise alfalfa, milo, oats, forage sorghum, winter wheat, and triticale on 1,500 acres of irrigated land.

Matt has served as a county commissioner for three terms and represented Colorado water users on the Arkansas River Compact Administration.

Today, he is the Vice President of the Colorado Canal and Lake Meridith Board of Directors. He is also on the Water Education Colorado Board. He is a member of the Arkansas Basin Roundtable and was recently appointed to represent Crowley County on the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Board.

Check back for additional panelists as they are added.