Lorelei Cloud Elected Chair of CWCB

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) elected Lorelei Cloud to chair the state’s water policy board for 2025. The election of an indigenous person, a Southern Ute tribal member, is a first for CWCB, which was formed in 1937. Lorelei has served on the CWCB since Governor Jared Polis appointed her to a three-year term in 2023.

Lorelei has represented the San Miguel-Dolores-San Juan Basin in southwestern Colorado, which is part of the larger Colorado River Basin, a key water source for about 40 million people across the West. San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) is located within the San Miguel-Dolores-San Juan Basin.

Colorado Water Conservation Board administrates the Colorado Water Plan, which guides the decision-making of directors of San Juan Water Conservation District. One of the CWCB’s responsibilities is to protect Colorado’s water interests in dealings with other states, like the water sharing agreements among seven states in the Colorado River Basin. The Colorado River Basin’s water supply has been seriously strained by over two decades of prolonged drought, rising temperatures and an unyielding demand for water.

Colorado and the other six basin states have been at odds over how water should be managed in the Colorado River Basin’s driest possible conditions. Tribal officials have been working to ensure their priorities are considered in the high-stakes negotiations. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 is being re-negotiated to account for 21st Century supply and demand in our hotter and drier environment. Until recently, negotiations have excluded tribal nations with water rights. The election of Cloud increases the voice of native nations in the talks which are set to conclude in 2026.