Stewarding our Water Future Conference

Ogallala Commons invites you to register for our upcoming regional education event, a "Stewarding Our Water Future" Conference on March 26-27, 2026, at the Burlington Community Center in Burlington, CO!

Thursday, March 26th features a full day of conference presentations and exhibitions from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm, followed by a couple of Field Tours on Friday morning, March 27th (finishing with lunch then adjournment at 1pm Mountain Time.

The conference is presented by Ogallala Commons, with generous grant funding from the Gates Family Foundation.

Purpose of the Conference:

With irrigation prospects and domestic well levels dwindling, along with greatly reduced surface water in our rivers and tributaries, it’s easy to get discouraged about future water resources in the eastern Plains of Colorado.

For more than a century, human communities made a living by extracting large amounts of water from local landscapes. But going forward, our well-being and survival will depend on how well we keep water circulating in the landscapes, finding ways to rehydrate our soils, our streambeds and grasslands.

The purpose of this conference is: 1) to shift the public conversation about water depletion toward a more hopeful narrative built on a wide range of innovative solutions, and 2) to expand the stakeholder coalition focused on improving the water realities we leave for future generations. 

In addition to more than seven sessions featuring 11 speakers on March 26th, the second day will offer three Field Tours on Friday morning, March 27th, conducted in the Burlington area (make sure you choose a tour when registering).  There is also an option for attending only one day of the conference or only the Field Tours.

Click on the Registration button below, and before February 25th, you can get the Early Registration price of $50 for a tour day or $60 for both days! 

On Feb. 25th, the Regular Registration $75 for both days.

Registration at the door for both days is $85.

Please contact me (Darryl Birkenfeld) for scholarship availability or with registration questions.

We hope to see you at our gathering in late March!