Oral Histories Project [DRAFT]
Since 2001, the Colorado River Authority, the public education affiliate of the Colorado River Board of California, has funded a series of interviews of leaders involved in managing the Colorado River for California.
The project resulted in a video and transcript for each interview, summarized and viewable below.
Videos are all viewable on the Colorado River Authority’s YouTube channel.
Transcripts can be found on this site on the search page.
Individual Oral Histories
Doug Noble - Attorney, CRB
The oral history of Douglas Noble focuses on his personal and professional journey. Born in Santa Monica, California, in 1943, Noble pursued political science at Claremont Men’s College and law at Stanford, later joining the Peace Corps in Guatemala. There, he worked on rural credit cooperatives, an experience that profoundly influenced his worldview. Upon returning, Noble joined the California Attorney General’s office, initially in criminal appeals, then transitioning to public resources.
His career highlights include representing the Colorado River Board and working on significant water law cases like the Arizona v. California dispute. Noble’s tenure spanned decades of legal and political negotiations over water rights, highlighting challenges such as balancing interests of state agencies and Indigenous tribes. A defining moment was his argument before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding water allocations and tribal claims.
This oral history reflects Noble’s lifelong commitment to resource management and public service, blending legal expertise with diplomatic acumen to navigate complex water rights issues in the western United States.