Colorado River Water Users Association

What Colorado River Water Users Association does

The Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded on January 13, 1945, in Las Vegas, Nevada, that serves as the principal convening forum for stakeholders involved in Colorado River use and management. CRWUA's core function is hosting an annual conference in Las Vegas each December (most recently held at Caesars Palace) where water leaders from the seven Colorado River Basin states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—alongside the Ten Tribes Partnership and federal agencies such as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, gather to discuss allocation, shortage management, drought contingency, and long-term water sustainability. The organization develops and adopts formal resolutions addressing major Colorado River policy issues and curates an institutional archive through annual reports (published continuously since 1996), oral histories of basin water leaders, and online stakeholder resources.

CRWUA operates without a proprietary technology platform, software product, or digital service offering; its technical footprint is limited to a WordPress-based website (crwua.org) and social media accounts on X and Instagram for member communications and event promotion. The organization is funded through recurring membership dues from nearly 1,000 members—comprising state water agencies, irrigation districts, municipal water authorities, federal agencies, and tribal governments—supplemented by conference registration fees. Its go-to-market model is event-driven and membership-driven rather than sales-driven, with annual conference participation serving as the primary engagement and renewal mechanism.

Governance is provided by a Board of Trustees with designated seats for each of the seven basin states plus the Ten Tribes Partnership, currently led by President Keith Burron, Vice President Crystal Tulley-Cordova, Secretary-Treasurer Bryan Seppie, and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Mitch Bishop. The organization has 11–50 employees and operates with a lean staff model relative to its institutional footprint across the Colorado River Basin, which serves approximately 33 million people reliant on the river for water supply.

Name

Colorado River Water Users Association

Legal name

Colorado River Water Users Association

Website

https://crwua.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Colorado River Water Users Association is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization founded in 1945 that convenes nearly 1,000 water leaders from the seven Colorado River Basin states and the Ten Tribes Partnership at an annual Las Vegas conference to discuss and adopt resolutions on Colorado River management.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Resource Management

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Reforestation (BPAGAGAD)

Keywords

• Water resource management
• River basin governance
• Water policy advocacy
• Interstate water allocation
• Water stakeholder forum

Headquarters

HQ city

Las Vegas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: CRWUA is funded through membership dues from nearly 1,000 members from throughout the Colorado River Basin, including water agencies, government entities, and stakeholders from upper and lower basin states.
2. Annual Conference: The organization hosts an annual conference in Las Vegas where registration fees contribute to operational funding. The conference serves as the primary forum for discussing Colorado River management issues.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CRWUA is a non-profit membership association that provides a forum for exchanging ideas and perspectives on Colorado River use and management. Its primary offerings are an annual December conference in Las Vegas that convenes nearly 1,000 water stakeholders from seven basin states and the Ten Tribes Partnership, and a membership program granting access to policy discussions and the adoption of resolutions on Colorado River allocation, shortage management, and drought planning.

Product overview

CRWUA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization (not a product/technology company) that provides a forum for exchanging ideas on Colorado River use and management. The organization hosts an annual conference in Las Vegas, publishes annual reports, maintains oral histories of water leaders, and develops resolutions addressing Colorado River issues. It serves members from throughout the Colorado River Basin (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming) and represents nearly 1,000 members who discuss important river management issues. The organization does not offer technology products, software platforms, or digital services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CRWUA Annual Conference

Quantifiable outcome

• The Colorado River's reservoirs can store more than 60 million acre-feet of water, approximately four years of average annual river flow
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Ten Tribes PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992The Colorado River Basin Tribes Partnership (Ten Tribes Partnership) was formed in 1992 by 10 federally recognized tribes with reserved water rights in the Colorado River Basin. The member tribes include Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Nation, Navajo Nation, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, Quechan Indian Tribe, and Cocopah Indian Tribe. The Partnership formally joined CRWUA in 1996 with the goal of actively participating with the seven Basin States in negotiations relating to the Colorado River. The tribes collectively have water rights to roughly 20% of the mainstream flow.
• U.S. Bureau of ReclamationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Bureau of Reclamation coordinates with CRWUA through its Upper Colorado Region (headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT) and Lower Colorado Region (headquartered in Boulder City, NV). Reclamation operates all major dams on the Colorado River and works with CRWUA members to identify and implement collaborative solutions to Colorado River water issues. CRWUA provides a forum for Reclamation to engage with state and tribal stakeholders.
• Upper Colorado River CommissionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Upper Colorado River Commission is an interstate administrative agency created by Congress under the 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. It includes commissioners from all four Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming) and the federal government. CRWUA provides a forum for Commission activities and stakeholder engagement.
• International Boundary and Water CommissionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe IBWC was created in 1889 between the U.S. and Mexico to address water issues along the border. CRWUA engages with IBWC on matters related to the 1944 Mexican Treaty committing the U.S. to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually to Mexico.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Western States Water Council: Interstate council representing 17 western U.S. states on water resources policy. Functions as a parallel convening forum to CRWUA at multi-basin scale, with overlapping state water agency membership and a similar consensus-based advocacy mission.
• National Water Resources Association: National trade association representing water users, irrigation districts, and state water agencies. Operates a similar membership/conference model to CRWUA at national scale, with a closely aligned water-user advocacy mission.
• WateReuse Association: Membership organization advancing water recycling and reuse, with strong Western U.S. presence. Shares CRWUA's water-policy convening model at smaller, more specialized scale and overlapping member base among Western water agencies.
• National Rural Water Association: National nonprofit supporting small and rural water and wastewater systems. Shares CRWUA's water-user advocacy and convening mission, but operates at small-system rather than basin-state scale.
• National Ground Water Association: Membership association for groundwater professionals and contractors. Comparable to CRWUA as a water-focused professional association with a similar dues-plus-conference model, paralleling surface-water basin coordination with groundwater equivalents.
• Family Farm Alliance: Western U.S. advocacy organization representing irrigation districts and agricultural water users. Shares CRWUA's agricultural water-user membership base, advocacy mission, and Western-state geographic focus.
• Interstate Council on Water Policy: Coalition of interstate water resources agencies and compact commissions, including Colorado River Basin compacts. Operates as a convening body parallel to CRWUA's interstate water coordination role at national scale.
• Ground Water Protection Council: Nonprofit association of state groundwater agencies. Comparable as a state-agency-membership convening body on water resources, paralleling CRWUA's surface-water coordination role with a similar governance and consensus model.

Broad incumbents

• Water Environment Federation: International water quality and wastewater organization. Comparable as a water-sector membership association, but much broader in scope covering wastewater treatment and water quality rather than interstate basin allocation.
• American Water Works Association: International nonprofit representing drinking water utilities and professionals. Comparable as a water-sector membership association, but much larger (~50,000 members), urban-utility-focused, and global in scope rather than basin-specific.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/crwua_water
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=MrWO9VvZ_v4
• Instagraminstagram.com/crwuawater
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/colorado-river-water-users-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Colorado River Water Users Association