WEBVTT

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You're on.

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ELIZABETH COOPER: OK,
good morning and welcome.

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Thank you for agreeing
to meet with me to serve

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on this advisory group to
develop a regional water

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strategy for our
metropolitan area.

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I've called this meeting to
give you my advice for how

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to proceed in this process.

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During this meeting, I will
first clarify our goals

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in this process.

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Then I did devise some
challenges that I see

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and what we stand
to lose if we don't

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conduct this process wisely.

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Next, I'll give my
thoughts on the strategy

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to follow to make a sound
and politically viable

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regional plan.

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And I'll talk about what I
think success in this process

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would look like for you to keep
in mind prospectively as you

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carry out the planning process.

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So our goal is to
develop a strategy

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for administering
water that balances,

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and to whatever extent
possible, actually

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meets the needs of the
diverse stakeholders

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from the industrial,
residential, agricultural, and

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conservation sectors, as well
as our partners in government.

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I also believe that a
second, but still important

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goal is to get through
this process in a way

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that this diverse
group of stakeholders

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feels good about the causes
they took part in, has learned

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from it, and thus
is encouraged too

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and has a skill set
to collaborate again

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in the future.

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As you know, we
face some challenges

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to developing this plan.

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With current distribution
and used water supplies

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are tight and are
insufficient to meet

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the needs of development that we
hope will return to our region

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with economic rebound.

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If we don't develop a
strategy to as far as possible

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meet the needs of all the
stakeholder groups involved,

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we will see rising
conflict that could really

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strain the relationships
in this community

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and ultimately tear it apart.

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I'm also concerned that if we
don't act wisely and proceed

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in a way that everyone
is on board with,

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our process could be
undermined by parties

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who feel disenfranchised
or who don't want

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to collaborate on a solution.

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So how do we navigate this
delicate task with our eyes

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open to arrive at
a sound solution?

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I'm very confident in
your abilities and those

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of the experts that you talk
to make sound difference

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about a plan to share
and distribute the water,

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but I don't want to just rely on
expertise to engineer the best

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solution to this problem.

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I want a plan that is developed
to be the result of an informed

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consensus that has the
backing of everybody

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needed to implement it.

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Political viability is
one key factor we need,

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and an expert solution won't
necessarily get us there.

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You have been
selected to be part

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of this advisory group
because of your expertise

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and credibility to
deal with this policy

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and decision-making effort.

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You have the authority to
convene a credible process.

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However, I think we will end
up with a stronger and more

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politically viable
solution if we directly

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involve stakeholders
who we see as

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likely to be in conflict over
the decision-making effort.

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I suggest you bring in
a professional neutral

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facilitator who can aid
in involving stakeholders

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in the proposal
generating process

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and who could help
solidify participants

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confidence and the
neutrality of the process

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since disagreements are likely
to be politically charged.

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Here's how I
suggest you proceed.

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Hire an experienced
neutral as I said.

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Begin by conducting
situation assessment.

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This means meeting with
representatives of each

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of the stakeholder groups.

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I previously
mentioned and anyone

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else who thinks they should
be included in the process

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and discuss with them what
their needs are for water, what

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their interests are,
and how they'd like

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to see a regional plan develop.

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After you've conducted
that assessment,

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distill down the
results of your research

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and communicate to the public
the parameters of the problem

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and what are some of the
preliminary avenues that could

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be pursued to reach a plan.

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Ask stakeholders groups
to select representatives

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to participate in a formal
consensus building process.

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Conduct joint fact
finding about uses of

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and needs for water in the
region and help participants

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explore strategies that
conceptualize water

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as a flexible resource where
it can meet multiple groups

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needs simultaneously.

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Here you can bring in
your own expertise.

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And by all means,
we want everyone

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to agree together on
the facts that we're

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going to use to make the
recommendations together.

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Invent options based on the
results of the information

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gathering.

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Help participants
in the process.

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Find ways to add value to the
resources you're dealing with

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and invent mutually
acceptable solutions.

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If necessary, bring other issues
besides water to the table.

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These groups
intersect and overlap

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in a number of areas that
affect our planning strategy.

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And it might be that if we
add in other ingredients,

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we're able to package
solutions that are

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more acceptable to everyone.

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Excuse me.

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Help representatives
caucus the various options

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with their constituencies
and clarify their interests

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and needs and help them package
options together in a way

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that everyone can agree to
and have them all endorse

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an agreement for a strategy.

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And then they will turn that
recommendation over to you

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to formalize and then that's
what we would implement.

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After we engage in this
process, how will we

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know that we've succeeded?

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All groups can sign
on to the agreement,

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and all agree that it is a
better arrangement than having

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no agreement at all.

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And participating
groups will have

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learned about each other's
needs and each other in a way

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that they can see that
coming to consensus

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is not necessarily
a zero-sum game.

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I think that this is the
best strategy not only

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because collaboration improves
the quality of the decision,

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but it also makes it
more implementable.

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It should help neutralize
the process politically

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if it has extremely
widespread support.

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Both the media and
the state government,

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who have been less than
favorable about developing

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a regional water plan would
have a hard time criticizing it

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if everyone really backs it up.

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This has been a brief
overview, and I'm

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happy to address questions
and discuss in more detail.

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Thank you.

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LAWRENCE SUSSKIND: Thank you.