CRB Celebrates Retirement of Executive Director Chris Harris

At its August 14 meeting, the Colorado River Board celebrated the career and retirement of CRB Executive Director Chris Harris. Chris will be retiring at the end of August after more than 24 years with the Board and a 40-year career in the Colorado River Basin.

Chris joined the Colorado River Board as Environmental Program Manager in 2000, after 14 years with the Arizona Department of Water Resources. During his time with the Board, Chris served as Deputy Director, Acting Executive Director, and, since 2017, Executive Director. Among Chris’s many contributions to the Colorado River Basin, he was instrumental to the completion of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program in 2005, a unique fifty-year federal/non-federal partnership to conserve endangered species and create habitat along the Lower Colorado River. Chris also spearheaded California’s plan to create 400,000 acre-feet of conserved water annually from 2023-2026, which was a foundational to the Lower Basin Plan finalized this April.

At the August meeting, the Board named Deputy Director Jessica Neuwerth as the Acting Executive Director while the Board begins its search for a new Executive Director.

Colorado River Board Elects New Officers

January 11, 2022

At its January 11th meeting, the Colorado River Board of California elected JB Hamby, representing Imperial Irrigation District, to serve as Board Chairman and Jim Madaffer, representing San Diego County Water Authority, to serve as Board Vice Chairman. As Chairman, Hamby serves as California’s Colorado River Commissioner.

“This is a historic time of reckoning on the Colorado River where growing demand over the decades exceeds a shrinking supply due to chronic drought and aridification,” Hamby said. “Protecting California’s stake on the Colorado River is vital to our future in Southern California. I look forward to working closely with the board’s member agencies — both agricultural and urban — to develop solutions that respect the Law of the River for the benefit of all Californians.”

Board members also congratulated outgoing Chairman Peter Nelson and Vice Chairman David Pettijohn on their tenure and service to the Board and the State of California.