The Poudre can run through the radical center

Perhaps fools rush in where angels fear to tread, but with a little effort, reasonable people can meet someplace in the middle.

We’re happy that local organizations are making that effort around one of the most important – and contentious – issues facing Northern Colorado.

Water, and more specifically water storage, has always been vital to the growth of the arid West. In recent years, it has also become an issue so divisive that neither the economic-development-minded governor nor groups dedicated to regional problem-solving dare mention it in public.

As Steve Porter points out elsewhere in this edition, the near-drought conditions along the Front Range that have allowed wildfires to rage this spring are offset by mountain snowpack well above average. Our inability to take full advantage of those resources while they are available is frustrating, to say the least.

The solution isn’t simple, although decisions made today will shape the region for generations to come. UniverCity Connections, Colorado State University and the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado have taken a great leap toward creating a shared understanding of the complex topic through a series of educational sessions called The Poudre Runs Through It.

Mary Lou Smith, a policy and collaboration specialist with CSU’s Water Institute, has coordinated the nonpartisan program brilliantly. It has engaged thoughtful community members reluctant to participate in other “water forums” that seemed to inevitably devolve into bickering between various factions with their unshakable views.

When residents who share an honest concern for the future of their region can put aside their differences long enough to see what they have in common, they can begin to solve shared problems. They form a “radical center,” working for a solution rather than fighting to “win.”

The final public dialogue portion of the program will be held in two sessions in Fort Collins: Monday, April 11, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Timberline Church on South Timberline Road, and Saturday, April 16, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at The Drake Center on West Drake Road. These sessions, facilitated by CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation, will be where we all can discuss alternatives for Northern Colorado’s water future.

To prepare for the public deliberation and to see recordings from previous sessions of The Poudre Runs Through It, go online to www.univercityconnections.org/.

If you attend, bring your passion for our region, but leave your partisanship at home.

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