ALAMOSA — For the past six years, Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center at Adams State has been offering to the public, free of charge, the annual Rio Grande State of the Basin Symposium, a day-long event focused on a variety of factors that are impacting the state of the Upper Rio Grande Basin and the San Luis Valley. From its inception, the purpose of the symposium has been to assemble a group of professionals and community members to discuss the most crucial issues related to water in this region.  

This year’s symposium will be held on Saturday, March 29 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on the campus of Adams State University in Alamosa.  

For decades, water scarcity has been top of the mind for water users, engineers and experts in the water world located in the Valley. But as becoming increasingly evident, there is great truth in the adage “water touches everything”.  

The topic of water is one that should be of interest, if not concern, to all communities everywhere, but especially so in the San Luis Valley where 80% of the economy is based on agriculture.  

There is general consensus that 2025 is going to be a “bad water year” with snowpack well below average levels. Against that backdrop, the title of this year’s symposium takes on special significance: “Seeking Tomorrow’s Wisdom.” 

As described by the Adams State Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center, this year’s program will include “reports on the current water year and climate from members of the Division of Water Resources and Colorado’s Climate Center.” 

Experts on forest and soil health will also join to discuss the economic impacts the Rio Grande and Valley ecosystems provide to the region. A future producers panel will highlight Adams State students sharing their thoughts about embarking on careers in the agricultural industry. 

Representatives from the Colorado Water Conservation Board will discuss emerging tools in measuring snowpack.  

The keynote speaker is Kevin Fedarko. A former staff writer covering foreign affairs for Time and senior editor for Outside, Fedarko has traveled the globe writing about wilderness and adventure for publications including National Geographic, Esquire, and The New York Times.  

He is best known for his writing about the Grand Canyon captured in “The Emerald Mile” (2013) and “A Walk in the Park” (2024), summarized as “an immersive account of the challenges of a grueling 750-mile hike through the Grand Canyon.” In his own words, Fedarko describes the experience as “a misguided odyssey through the heart of perhaps the harshest and least forgiving, but also the most breathtakingly gorgeous, landscape feature on earth.” Fedarko’s books will be available for purchase and signing following his presentation.  

To register for the event, go to https://events.adams.edu/event/199527-2025-rio-grande-state-of-the-basin-symposium. For those unable to attend in person, the event will be livestreamed. 

The Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center at Adams State University was founded in 2015 by Ken Salazar and his family in honor of their parents. The vision is to engage and advance the conservation of land, water and historic and cultural attributes at the headwaters of the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley. 

The Salazar Center works to deepen the engagement between Adams State University’s faculty and students and the region’s active network of conservation organizations, agencies, districts and caring community members.