Date: June 10, 2019

To: Laura Spann Southwestern Water Conservation District 841 E Second Avenue Durango, CO 81301 [email protected]

From: Steven Ruddell 788 Animas View Drive Durango, CO 81301 [email protected] H: 970-403-3429 C: 202-380-6417

Re: Letter of interest: Southwestern Basin Roundtable, at-large member

Please accept this letter as an expression of interest in filling an open seat as an at-large member on the Southwestern Basin Roundtable.

I am the Founder and Principal of CarbonVerde, LLC (2009), a forestry and natural resources economics consulting firm with headquarters in Durango, Colorado. I have spent my 40-year career mainly as a professional forester and environmental economist with work in public and private forest management, market and economic research, manufacturing management, sustainable forestry consulting, and market-based mechanisms.

Within Southwest Colorado, I have specific interest in the linkages between healthy national forests and domestic drinking water supplies. Within the State of Colorado, I am also interested in the effective implementation of the Colorado Water Plan and our Drought Contingency Plan.

I currently serve, 1) as a Director on the board of the Animas LaPlata Water Conservancy District, and 2) as a Commissioner on the Durango Utilities Commission. I was recently appointed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board to its Economic Considerations and Local Government Demand Management Work Group to study the feasibility of a Demand Management program within Colorado, should that be required. In March, I co-authored a policy concept paper titled, “Establishing a reverse auction exchange to achieve Colorado’s share of the 500,000 AF maximum storage at CRSP Initial Units under an Upper Basin Demand Management program”.

Now that I am retired, I intend to spend more time using my natural resources and economics background to help educate people on common sense market-based conservation policy. I hold a BS in Forest Management from Utah State University, an MS in Forestry, and MBA in Supply Chain Management from Michigan State University, and have completed three years of post-graduate work towards a PhD in Natural Resource & Environmental Economics.

Thank you for considering my interest in being an at-large member of the Southwestern Basin Roundtable.