IRes Delegation Brought Indigenous Resilience Voices to One Water Summit 2023
Almost a thousand top water leaders from across the United States, including Hawaii, met in Tucson, AZ, between November 14 – 16, 2023 for One Water Summit 2023. This is the premier national conference focused on sustainable, integrated, and inclusive approaches to managing water—our most precious natural resource.The conference was organized by The US Water Alliance in partnership with Tucson Water, and included plenary sessions, learning labs, field trips, workshops and engaging networking opportunities.
UA Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes) assembled a delegation of UA professors, students and partners including the Haury Program, Tohono O’odham Nation’s Water Resources Department and EcoTruths for Indigenous Youth to jointly attend this conference, observe and reflect. “IRes typically has participated in Indigenous focused conferences like AISES or SACNAS, or events that are targeting Indigenous leaders. This is our first time attending a national conference that is not focused on Indigenous communities. We are taking this conference as an opportunity to better understand how we can work as a team and what our role is in a national environmental conference that isn’t focused on Indigenous communities,” shared Torran Anderson, IRes Outreach Coordinator and delegation organizer. The delegation also had a chance to meet with Mami Hara, CEO of US Water Alliance, and provided feedback to the organizers on how to better engage with local tribal nations, and integrate indigenous voices and values into gatherings like this.
Nancy Petersen, Assistant Director of the Haury Program added: “At the opening plenary session, “Tucson’s Water Story,” Dr. Chief, Director of IRes spoke on the Indigenous relationship to water highlighting the cultural and spiritual connections to water that is often missed by western science. By doing so she set the tone for the whole conference - which was reinforced by the IRes delegation throughout the conference - on creating opportunities for increased understanding of the value in Indigenous perspectives in any conversation about water.”
For information or to engage with UA IRes, please visit their website or contact Torran Anderson, IRes Outreach Coordinator at torrananderson@arizona.edu .
Photo credits:
- IRes Delegation to One Water Summit 2023 visiting with Mami Hara, US Water Alliance CEO (photo by Nina Sajovec)
- Dr. Chief, IRes Director speaking on the opening panel at One Water Summit 2023 (photo by Cara Shopa)
