Contact:   Nancy Dallett, Project Coordinator
December 12, 2001
Arizona Humanities Council
602.257.0335 ext. 23
ndallett@aol.com  

     

ARIZONA COMMUNITIES PLAN WATER WARS LECTURES

 Water Rights Attorney, Bill Swan, to Speak in Yuma, Parker, Page and Phoenix  for Moving Waters Project

WHAT: Water Wars: An Introduction to the Law of the River. The Water Wars Lecture, the first of a series of public programs for Moving Waters, will provide the context and history of the complexity of Colorado River water rights.  The lecture will cover the critically important 1922 Colorado River Compact, the "bill of rights" that allocated the river's resources and set the stage for waging water wars that continue today.

WHO:  Bill Swan, Attorney and Consultant Law of the Colorado River and Water Rights

WHEN/WHERE        

WHY:  The Water Wars Lecture is part of a seven-state humanities council project, Moving Waters: the Colorado River & the West, to explore the
history and meaning of the Colorado River.

Although 25 million people are dependent on the Colorado River, few are aware of its presence.  In the past, decisions about the river were made by big business and government. Today, the public has an opportunity to take part in those decisions which makes it important for people to understand the river through its lore, literature and complex history of legal rights.

HOW:  Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming are participating in this far-reaching project which is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation.